Covid-19: Regional Fertility Centre to resume some services

Some fertility treatments that were paused because of the coronavirus pandemic are to begin once more.

Services at the Regional Fertility Centre are due to resume at a reduced capacity, the Belfast Trust has confirmed.

Patients at the top of the frozen embryo transfer waiting list are due to be contacted this week.

The trust said staff who had been redeployed in the pandemic would return to the centre as soon as possible.

In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatments were paused last March at the height of the pandemic.

At that stage, a number of women were contacted by phone as part of the Belfast Health Trust's plan to scale back on operations and procedures.

Treatment for 33 patients was postponed and patients arriving for appointments were told to discontinue stimulating injections.

• 'I lost hope of my IVF treatment after Covid-19'

• Belfast Trust postpones fertility treatment

In the summer, as the pandemic crisis eased, treatments were resumed for a short while.

At this stage, some women - conscious of time passing and the impact on their hopes of success - decided to go for private treatment.

In early autumn, as the number of Covid cases started to rise, the trust's services were stalled again.

Last August, a decision was taken to extend eligibility by a year to anyone on the waiting list.

The aim was to reduce pressure on women who would otherwise breach the upper age limit without having had the opportunity for treatment.