A Halifax mum of two is setting up a support group for mums in West Yorkshire who ware being treated through our new service Yorkshire Fertility.

Sarah Banks, 35, who conceived her son, Jack, in her second round of fertility treatment at the assisted conception unit at Calderdale Royal Hospital, is starting up the group. (Her daughter Millie, was a natural surprise just 14 months later!)

She reckons mums and dads need all the support they can get outside hospital as well as the care from the doctors and nurses when they are going through fertility treatment.

She said: “Couples don’t talk about what they are going through. They just don’t. In our case, all our friends were getting pregnant at the same time as we were trying and it wasn’t happening for us.  I think 14 babies were conceived in that time.  We were desperate for a family we really, really wanted and we had no control.

“I have since met other families who have been through the same thing and we all said if we had known each other when we were going through it, we could have shared our experiences so we didn’t feel we were so isolated.”

The support group will be called the Yorkshire Fertility Support Group and will be held on the third Monday of every month at the Elsie Whiteley Centre, Hopwood Lane, Halifax 7-8.30 pm and anyone interested is welcome to attend.  The first is on November 21.

There will also be a launch event on November 2 – also at the Elsie Whiteley Centre -  where Yorkshire Fertility’s “babymaker” consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician Martin DeBono will be the guest speaker.  Yorkshire Fertility is an expansion of the former existing assisted conception unit based at CRH, which helped Sarah through her treatment. Yorkshire Fertility covers a much wider area helping couples in the Dewsbury, Wakefield and Bradford areas.

Our  consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Martin DeBono, said: “ At Yorkshire Fertility we appreciate the anxieties that couples go through as they embark on fertility treatment. Sarah's support group is a very welcome addition to this and it is so fantastic to have someone like her who is able to offer such support to our couples.”

Sarah, a former buyer for greetings cards for Marks and Spencer, and husband Andrew, Chief Operating Office at Matalan Direct, from Blackley, Elland, had tried for four years before they started treatment with us. Theirs was complicated as Sarah had previously undiagnosed polycystic ovaries and they underwent  ICSI* treatment to increase their chances.

On the first round, they went to Hebden Bridge on the day they were due to find out if it had been a success or not. It was also their wedding anniversary.

Sarah recalls: “ It was after the first floods and Prince Charles was in the town to support the clear up. The TV cameras were filming him and in the background there we were on the mobile to the unit finding out it hadn’t worked.”

But good news was to follow. They found out the second round had been a success…. in a car wash. They gave the required blood test first thing in the morning and had then been driving around to pass the time until the result was available. They hadn’t told anyone they were due to find out that day to take the pressure off them.

Sarah, adds: “This time the hospital rang me and they were so lovely. We were in the car wash and I said: “You can’t be serious” and Andy was saying: What’s going on? It was unbelievable moment we will never forget. We didn’t want everyone asking us what the result was so we didn’t tell them what day it was due. Not even my mum who we went to tell straight after!”

The pregnancy went well with Sarah, luckily, feeling fine throughout and enjoying every minute of it.  She had had some support from a life-coach, which helped her when any worries kicked in.

Baby Jack, now three, was born five days late via emergency caesarean section weighing 9lbs 7 oz.  Fourteen months later they conceived naturally their daughter Millie. Millie, now one, was also born five days late, by emergency caesarean section and weighing 9lbs 7 oz!.

Sarah, said: “ For us, it is over but I know there are many women out there going through it where everyone around them seems to getting pregnant easily and they are feeling very isolated. There is pressure on the relationship yet a friendly chat with someone going through the same could make all the difference.”

if you are interested contact Sarah by email on: sarah@sarahbanks.coach