Good news for infertile QC-area couples

 

Inevitably, the question arises in every woman’s life: to have children or not? Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois women can explore infertility options closer to home thanks to the University of Iowa Hospital & Clinic’s Center for Advanced Reproductive Care, located at the Mississippi Medical Plaza in Davenport, IA.

“Our reproductive technology is just now successfully catching up with the cultural expectations of many women who delay childbearing until they are ready,” says Paul Figge, M.D., Davenport, a fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinologist and member of the Mississippi Valley Health Network.

“The challenge is that biologically, women lose their reproductivity after age 35. This can be a cause of great concern for women who are busy achieving other life goals and still want to become mothers,” he says.

According to Dr. Figge, between 15 and 20 percent of the reproductive population needs help in getting pregnant. In fact, one out of every 100 babies born in the United States is a result of advanced reproductive technology. Dr. Figge, one of only eight fellowship-trained reproductive endocrinologists in the state of Iowa, has spent more than 20 years treating and counseling women through the often confusing and emotional world of infertility treatments. Until now, many Quad City women who wanted advanced fertility treatment had to make numerous and lengthy trips to fertility treatment clinics in Iowa City or beyond (especially for the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) process).

“I saw a tremendous need to serve women in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, and so began a relationship with the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,” explains Dr. Figge.

The Center for Advanced Reproductive Care – Quad City Campus, located at the Mississippi Valley Medical Campus, 3400 Dexter Court, Davenport, serves as a satellite center for women and their families to explore different fertility issues, options and treatments along with the convenience of monitoring care, so frequent trips to Iowa City during the IVF process are no longer necessary.

“We are thrilled to be able to serve women of the Quad Cities,” adds Bradley Van Voorhis, M.D., Professor and Director of both the U of I’s IVF Program and the Reproductive Endocrinology & Infertility Division. “The University of Iowa’s IVF program is more than 20 years old, and in the last 15 years, our success rates have gone from 20% per pregnancy rate cycle to 60% in women under 35. Our program is three times more successful than it was 20 years ago.”

Monitoring during ovulation cycles can now be done at the Quad City campus. And, while egg retrieval and embryo transfer are still done at UIHC, the number of trips outside the Quad Cities is minimal to accommodate couples’ busy schedules.

“The Quad Cities is very fortunate to have the combined expertise of Dr. Figge’s reproductive fellowship training and the resources of the University of Iowa Hosptials & Clinics,” added Dr. Van Voorhis.