‘Mild’ IVF that’s safer for mothers and babies could slash NHS costs

A GENTLE form of IVF could cut hundreds of pounds from treatment bills without reducing a woman’s odds of having a baby, a leading fertility doctor says.

A medical review found women who have the ‘kinder’ treatment, known as mild IVF, are just as likely to get pregnant as those undergoing conventional IVF.

Study author Geeta Nargund, medical director of Europe’s largest IVF clinic, said it would also be safer for women and their children and could save the NHS millions.

In conventional IVF, women are given high doses of the hormone FSH to boost the number of eggs they produce and so, it is believed, increase their odds of becoming pregnant.

However, the powerful drugs can cause ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, a potentially fatal condition. They may also raise the chance of premature births.

Mild IVF also uses FSH but around half the amount. This not only makes it safer, it also cuts the typical £5,000 price of IVF by around a quarter, said Professor Nargund, of the Create chain of fertility clinics.