Fertility Road Issue 03

FERTILITY ROAD
NEWS
The latest developments from the fertility world
£5.5m FERTILITY CENTRE
OPENS IN LIVERPOOL
The biggest fertility centre in the UK has
unveiled a new, state-of-the-art extension.
The Hewitt Centre for Reproductive Medicine at Liverpool Women’s
Hospital opened the new £5.5million unit in October, which includes
a laboratory, sperm bank, egg freezing equipment and dedicated
recovery services. The new facility is good news for both NHS and
private patients, both of whom are able to use its facilities.
The family of the centre’s founder – pioneering fertility doctor
Jon Hewitt – were present at the launch of the new extension. Hewitt
established the specialist clinic in 1989 but sadly died of lung cancer
aged 47 in 2002. Jon’s wife Jenny said she was delighted that the
new extension would “allow his good work changing lives to continue.”
Jon had previously worked at the UK’s first ever fertility clinic – Bourn Hall in Cambridgeshire. It was on moving to Liverpool in
1985 to work as a consultant at the Royal Liverpool Hospital that Hewitt realised there was the need for designated fertility clinics
to be set up across the UK and went about creating the first in the North West of England. The pioneering Hewitt Centre has
come a long way since its formation. Back in 1989, a team of three doctors carried out 100 cycles of IVF every year at the Royal
Liverpool Hospital. Now over 2,000 treatments are performed and the Hewitt Centre employs over 75 members of staff.
The new extension cements the Hewitt Centre’s status as the busiest provider of NHS fertility services in the country, and speaking at
its launch, Director of Clinic Charles Kingsland commented: “I am delighted with the outcome and the work done over the last three
years to deliver such a magnificent facility. It is such a relaxed, comfortable atmosphere, and that is what we wanted to create.”
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
has produced a guide for men, focused on addressing a
dramatic fall in male fertility over recent years.
COOL
IT
BOYS!
It reveals that as many as one in five healthy young men aged between 18 and
25 in the UK have an abnormal sperm count and in ‘primary infertility’, namely
failure to achieve pregnancy after at least a year of unprotected sex. It also
details how 40% of infertility cases result through problems with the man.
Scientists agree that the testes should be a couple of degrees cooler than
the rest of the body to help boost sperm production. Simple recommendations
outlined in the guide include avoiding excessively hot showers, and saunas,
whilst avoiding tight fitting underwear that may risk damaging sperm.
HFEA also say that men should drink no more than the national alcohol
recommended limit – 21 units a week – to avoid compromising their reproductive
health. It is clinically proven that excessive alcohol consumption (and
the use of illicit drugs) damages sperm production.
The causes of male fertility problems are vast and include obstructive
problems (blockage in sperm-carrying tubes), testicular injury and disease,
varicocele, medical disorders which reduce fertility, not to mention environmental
toxins/radiation and genetic disorders. Research has even shown
that too many hours of cycling can have a detrimental effect on sperm levels
– so men may want to consider ‘saddling up’ less often!
At a recent European fertility conference, Professor Niels Skakkebaek of
the University of Copenhagen, likened declining levels of male fertility to the
rise of global warming in terms of its threat to the future global population.
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