Understanding Success Rates

When comparing the success rates of fertility clinics it is important to ensure you are comparing data that has been calculated using the same criteria. Success rates show the number of cycles carried out by a clinic and the number of clinical pregnancies as a result. The pregnancy is confirmed with a scan by ultrasound. Success rates should be used as a general guide to performance and other factors are important when choosing a clinic.

Fertility clinics use different methods to measure their success and there are many different factors at play. It all depends on the stage of the procedure that the couple reaches, maternal age and various other factors that will affect the outcome. Because of these differences, published success rates can be misunderstood and misleading when used to compare clinics or to understand your chances of conceiving. You can get a better idea of a clinic’s success rates in comparison to other clinics by examining the pregnancy rates for all stages of treatment.

An important statistic to examine is the “live-birth” rate per transfer or ongoing pregnancy. This will tell you how many women give birth to a baby based on the number of women who started treatment. Ask for the “live-birth” per cycle start and per embryo transfer (twins, triplets, and other multiple-births are considered one delivery).  This will give you an idea of the actual success rate of the clinic. Ask whether the statistics refer to cumulative cycle data or current cycle data.  Data should be broken down by age and diagnosis so that you can easily compare the statistics to your own circumstances.

Yearly data will also illustrate the quality and stability of the clinic’s program. Consistent data will reveal the true quality of the clinic you are considering. Ask for quotes on their most recent statistics for your age group and diagnosis and this should be based on live birth rate or ongoing pregnancy per initiated cycle.

At NewLife there are no selection criteria for patients. Our specialty is treating difficult and complex cases! We don’t select patients based on their chance of success but will provide an honest and open assessment of what will and will not work.

NewLife tailors each treatment to the individual needs of every patient in order to provide each patient with the very best chance of success. Thanks to our specialist Doctors, Embryologists, Nurses, and top of the range facilities, the NewLife Fertility has been consistently producing high success rates above the national average year on year.

Cumulative clinical pregnancy rate refers to the success rate (clinical pregnancy) which result from all the eggs collected in one IVF cycle. Clinical pregnancy refers to a pregnancy that reaches the point it can be seen on ultrasound (i.e. 6-7 weeks gestational age and beyond).