On the Agenda: IVF advance raises pregnancy rates

About the IVF treatment

Doctors have developed a laboratory that mimics conditions found inside a womb. Keeping conditions similar to those inside a woman's body reduces the risk to embryos when undergoing checks outside of an incubator - where any change in temperature and air quality can be harmful.

PR strategy

The Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life released its three-year study to the media showing a minimum 27 per cent increase in clinical pregnancy rates compared with the old method. The results of the study were also published in the online journal Public Library of Science One. The centre made available for comment two of its professors, Mary Herbert and Alison Murdoch. It stressed that many women have to go through multiple courses of IVF treatments without success. The in-house team also pointed out the new technology will reduce not only the financial implications of IVF treatment but also the emotional turmoil of repeatedly failing to become pregnant.

Media coverage

The story was covered widely by national newspapers including the Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph. American news channel Fox News covered the new treatments as well as the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times.

£3-15k - The normal cost of a course of IVF treatment in the UK*

45% - Chance of success compared with a 35 per cent success rate under the old system*.

*Source: The Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life