Appointments & Assessments

Delivering expert information that is entirely specific and personal to you is at the core of Balance Fertility. Our expert input is based on the integration of our combined knowledge and experience with your situation. We welcome the opportunity to work directly with you and address your infertility issues.

Fertility & Preconception Care Clinic

The Balance Fertility and Preconception Care Clinic is open to male and female fertility patients and those suffering from conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

We focus on diagnostic, personalised medicine to assess the many underlying health factors that can contribute to difficulties conceiving – or to the worsening of symptoms for conditions such as PCOS, which can vary from person to person.

Conditions such as infertility and PCOS are complex. There may be many issues – including inflammatory, metabolic, hormonal and immune function. We aim to address these through dietary and lifestyle changes.

Subfertility can be a way for the body to protect itself by stopping a woman getting pregnant when conditions are difficult. That makes it even more essential to optimise your health before trying for a baby.

Many common health problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression have origins during development in a mother’s womb as a result of underlying biological dysfunction.

This is why it is important for the future health of the baby to get things right both before and during pregnancy.

How We Work

1. Questionnaire

When you make an appointment, we send you a questionnaire in advance of your appointment. This allows you to provide details of your medical history, as well as details about your lifestyle and diet, so that any solution is based specifically on your situation.

2. Initial Consultation

A thorough hour-long session in which we analyse your questionnaire and make recommendations for testing based on the answers you give. We also want to know more about your underlying health and the factors that may affect your condition.

3. Fully Tailored Programme

Based on your test results, we offer a programme to help your symptoms and address any underlying causes of infertility. We also look at the physical and emotional aspects of your health. The result is a response to your symptoms that is unique to you.

Fertility Assessments

For couples or individuals who wish to conceive now, prepare for a pregnancy within the next two years, or assess their fertility for future conceptions, we offer a full health and fertility assessment.

This includes a detailed analysis of your health, diet and lifestyle, including the “modifiable” factors that can affect your fertility (in other words, the things that are under your control).

It also includes a medical assessment including ultrasound scans, blood tests for key markers of ovarian function, semen analysis and any other medical test or procedure that is appropriate for you.

  • Health, Dietary and Lifestyle Assessment

    The first part of the Balance Fertility assessment is a detailed review of your health, diet and lifestyle and any symptoms you are experiencing.

    We offer a series of diagnostic tests that assess the many factors that you can control that can affect your fertility.

    This gives you an opportunity to optimise your health, physical and emotional wellbeing before you try for a baby, rather than simply offering a medical assessment of your fertility that you can do nothing about.

    The integration of this approach with the best that medical care can offer – from Adam and Grace, who are leading experts in their respective fields – is what makes Balance Fertilitydifferent.

  • Medical Assessments

    It is important that all couples wishing to conceive have a detailed medical assessment. This includes a careful history of any past and current problems, an examination and tests to assess general health and reproductive health.

    For women, these include a measurement of various hormones and other components of the blood that are important for fertility and a healthy pregnancy, an ultrasound scan to look at the uterus and ovaries and possibly an assessment of the fallopian tubes.

    Men require at least one semen analysis and also fertility-related blood tests.

  • Ovarian Reserve and AMH

    There is a big variation in how quickly different women experience a decline in their fertility (from normal fertility, to subfertility, sterility and menopause), it’s helpful for a woman to have an accurate picture of her own fertility – and how age may be affecting it.

    To assess a woman’s fertility before she tries to conceive, we use a combination of ultrasound scan and blood tests to measure hormones which give an idea of her “ovarian reserve”.

    There are two main hormones we measure: anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), the best indication of “ovarian reserve”; and follicle stimulating hormone (FMH), which still gives useful information about ovarian function.

Fees for Tests & Appointments

Fees

Service Price
Initial consultation £150
Includes one-hour consultation, analysis of questionnaire, recommendations for testing and one follow-up email
Follow-up consultation £150
Includes one-hour consultation, review of test results and one follow-up email
Personalised programme
Diet, lifestyle and supplements
£150
Short telephone review
15 minutes for short queries only
£25
Supplement protocol only £25

 

Test Costs

Test costs will vary from person to person, depending on the issues identified. We aim to use results from blood tests that are usually available on the NHS via your GP where possible, including hormone testing. If cost is an issue, we can work with blood tests via your GP and a plasma mineral profile as a minimum. The more information we have, the more we can tailor a programme to you. We do not add any charges to the test costs, so there is no financial gain for us in you having more tests. The plasma mineral profile is £68 per person (total costs for a couple £136). Typical costs for tests for two people are £459.

Place of work

Adam Balen is a fulltime NHS consultant and clinical lead of Leeds Fertility at The Leeds NHS Teaching Hospital Trust and Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the University of Leeds. Grace Dugdale runs fertility and preconception care courses at Leeds Fertility for patients of the IVF unit and works closely with the doctors, nurses and embryologists in reproductive medicine.

Grace Dugdale and Adam Balen’s joint work is based at The Nuffield Leeds Hospital where they hold practising privileges. The Nuffield Leeds Hospital is regulated by The Quality Care Commission (CQC) and subject to the same level of scrutiny and review as NHS hospitals.

Nuffield Health is a Registered Charity. Nuffield Health’s objective is to advance, promote and maintain health and healthcare of all descriptions and to prevent, relieve and cure sickness and ill health of any kind, all for the public benefit. Registered Charity Numbers 205533 (England and Wales) and SC041793 (Scotland).

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is causing my fertility problems?

    There are often underlying biological factors, as well as known medical problems. As the body ages, various cell functions begin to work less well. This process can be accelerated by damaging lifestyle habits that, in turn, also affect fertility.

  • How can Balance Fertility help?

    Our fertility and preconception care programme assesses the overall health and fertility of a couple to look at what might be preventing you from conceiving.

    We aim to get you in the best possible health before you undergo treatment and provide evidence-based guidance. This gives you peace of mind you are doing the right things for your individual circumstances.

Balance Fertility

We bring a new insight to fertility and reproductive health, one that is based on a balanced, holistic and evidence-based approach.

info@balancefertility.co.uk
Address
42 Merchants Quay
East Street
Leeds
Yorkshire
LS9 8BA

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    Testimonials

    “I had my NHS scan last week and confirmed my due date, it feels like a dream come true!”

    Note: This patient conceived naturally after failed IVF cycles and multiple miscarriages.

    “Words cannot describe the gratitude and in indebtedness we feel for helping us to create our little miracle, our beautiful baby boy.”

    “We would like to thank you so much for the wonderful care and support given to us whilst seeking treatment with you. We are so happy that you gave us the chance to be parents and welcomed our wonderful son into the world.”