Monday, August 22, 2016

Fertility: National Hospital Reduces Cost of IVF

The National Hospital, Abuja, at the weekend said the hospital has drastically reduced the cost of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) to help couples encountering challenges in giving birth to children.

Chief Medical Director (CMD) of National Hospital, Abuja Dr. Jafaru Momoh, stated this during a one day seminar on IVF in the hospital.

Speaking against the backdrop of affordability and accessibility of IVF, Momoh explained that the decision to cut IVF cost was aimed at giving couples the opportunity to have their own children without the pains of exorbitant prices associated with IVF.

According to Momoh, “The bottom line of access in Nigeria is affordability; that is cost. We have been enlightening the public. National Hospital IVF programme is less than one fourth of the cost of IVF in the lowest private hospital cost range.

“For the technical feat, we are talking about N350,000, you’ll buy your drugs; that’s all. But you’ll spend close to N2 million in some private hospitals.

“We have recorded over 500 pregnancies and over 350 actually delivered in this hospital from the IVF programme. Of course, you know that IVF is what you commonly referred to as test tube baby,

“People should not mistake it to mean that we grow babies in a test tube; it is the natural process of giving birth that has been replicated at the laboratory at a very early stage and the baby is transferred within 48 hours, immediately it fertilizes, to the mother’s womb to carry the pregnancy.

“Therefore, there should be no stigma. People should be proud to say technology gave humans, which is knowledge given by God,” Momoh stated.

He added that they want to collaborate with other hospitals that can not do this, particularly, government hospitals. He urged them to refer their patients to the National Hospital.

IVF: Hospital puts Nigeria on medical map

State-of-the-art theatre at Lily Hospital, Warri, Delta State
Our facilities, services, make medical tourism unattractive, say doctors...




Hundreds of hitherto barren partners are now having babies through the delicate breakthrough process known as In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) at Lily Hospital in Warri, Delta state.

The Guardian learnt that over 200 babies have been delivered through IVF at the privately-owned Hospital, which is reportedly pioneering the method in the Niger Delta region and has acquired state-of-the-art medical equipment for IVF births as well as paraphernalia for urology, orthopedic, otorhinolaryngology (treatment of ear, nose and throat) and key-hole surgery among others – all in the effort to end medical tourism by Nigerians.

The facilities at the Lily Hospital are said to be a relief to Nigeria’s deficient health sector as medical experts from other parts of the world including doctors from India team up with Nigerian doctors to give specialist medicare to patients, several of who are tourists from outside Nigeria.


Director of the IVF programme at the Lily Hospital, Dr. Louis Alekwe, told The Guardian that over 200 babies had been successful delivered via the IVF procedure at the hospital. He said even barren women over 50 years old have had babies including women who don’t have womb – as a surrogate mothers could be arranged to bear the pregnancy.

According to the doctor, even if a woman does not have a womb another woman could be made to carry the pregnancy for her. “That is if the woman’s eggs and the man’s sperm were used the IVF process the baby will look exactly like the man or woman because it is a genetic thing; the genes you are look at.”

He explained: “Many couples come here with their marriage at the brinks. We try to counsel them that what they really need is hope. There is really no reason why anybody should not have a child now; most people can be helped. If they can come forward most people can be helped. There are very few you cannot do anything for. There are always fears.”

Alekwe recalled a touching IVF case he handled at the hospital involving an elderly man married to a woman of about 34 years. Despite marrying for several years they remained childless.

“The man didn’t believe they could have baby through IVF. The woman came to me I checked her out and she was okay, then I invited the husband the man kept refusing. The woman broke down and cried. Later the man came we checked him there was no sperm in the ejaculate but we discovered that every other thing was okay with him. So it might have been a blockage of the testis and where the sperm comes out from. So we said let us try the testis if we will find sperm and when we found sperm – the man was happy! It was like a major victory, we had her IVF done and the woman had a beautiful baby girl.

“The husband did not believe he felt that what we were doing was a scam until the pregnancy came out and he believed. After then she had had two other babies through IVF.”

He disclosed that there are cases where the man’s testis is not producing sperm and that the man will have to decide whether to accept a sperm from another man – as there is hardly medical remedy to the condition – and that it is quite difficult to accept by some men.

On the common belief in Nigeria that childlessness was always the fault of women, the doctor said infertility is not only a problem associated with women but that it cuts across both men and women on 30 per cent ratio.

“It is more difficult for the men to accept- most of the time the women are willing, even when you tell a woman she doesn’t have eggs she is always willing to accept eggs from the other women, men find it much more difficult. Some women come here with the two tubes blocked, we go ahead and do the IVF. The normal process of conception is the man sleeps with the woman and deposit sperms there, they travel and get into the tubes the woman releases her eggs. The eggs enter this tube so the sperm and the egg meets there and they form the baby, so if this is blocked there is no way the egg and sperm can meet naturally. The usual cause of blockage most times is infection,” Alekwe said.

It was learnt that Nigerians and non Nigerians come from the United Kingdom (U.K.), Ireland, Canada, United States (U.S.) and other African countries on medical visit to the hospital because they reportedly discovered that even though the standard are the same as those in the advanced countries services are cheaper especially when air fares are factored in.


Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, recently commissioned the massive four-storey edifice housing the Lily Hospital with its modern medical equipment ranging from dopler scans, CT scans, 3D and 4D scan, ECG, Spirometry and Audiometry, and he said that with the up-to-date equipment he saw at the hospital that there was no need for Nigerians to embark on medical tourism.

A computerised tomography (CT) scan uses X-rays and a computer to create detailed images of the inside of the body. An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a test that records the electrical activity of the heart. Spirometry is a test that can help diagnose various lung conditions, most commonly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). An audiometry exam tests your ability to hear sounds.

Similarly, the operating officer at Lily Hospitals, Dr. Austin Godwin Okogun, told The Guardian that with the advancement in the medical sector in Nigeria there was no need for Nigerians to travel out of the country to seek medical aid as several private hospitals in the country including Lily were now equipped with latest tools to manage any medical condition.


Friday, April 15, 2016

IVF Pioneer urges more centres


UBTH
Determined to help address and reduce issues related with reproductive health that has plagued women in Nigeria and beyond, a joint pioneer of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF)/Test Tube Baby technique in Nigeria, renowned scholar and University don, Prof. Osato Giwa-Osagie, has tasked the public sector to establish more IVF training centres in public hospitals across the country.

Giwa-Osagie said the move when successfully actualized would help to assist persons who do not have enough cash to fund two or three IVF cycles, which is sometimes required to achieve pregnancy through IVF method.

In the absence of insurance coverage for infertility or grants to assist infertile couples succeed in the field of reproduction, the medical expert asserted that of the 47 IVF centres in Nigeria, 42 of them were privately owned, with five owned and managed by government.

Speaking at the University of Benin Town and Gown symposium lecture titled: “The impact of IVF test tube-babies in Nigeria,” Prof. Giwa-Osagie, said the advancement in science has made it possible for women who have blocked tubes, which is the number one cause of infertility to access treatments that works.

Giwa-Osagie said among the government controlled health care centres where the IVF has become functional include the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), National Hospital, Abuja, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). He said the IVF training centre in LUTH has just been re-opened after 30 years.

On his part, Vice-Chancellor, University of Benin, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, in his remarks, said the symposium was born-out of the need to sustain and improve reproductive health practice, as the institution under his leadership is determined to assist in resolving global problems through academic research.

Giwa-Osagie noted that the major cause of infertility is infection urging that, “there should be effort to always ensure that our women deliver safely and in hygiene environment under the expertise of qualified care provider including certified nurses and doctors.

He cautioned on the need for women to practice personal and environmental hygiene to achieve success in reproductive Health stressing that, “Each IVF circle has about 70 percent failure rate and 30 percent success rate.”

According to him, “Persons born without functioning ovaries or who do not release eggs, as well as others who have never experienced their menstrual circle in their lives can now have babies with IVF, while men who either have low sperm count or without sperm can have babies as well, by a process whereby their sperm is harvested from their testis and subjected to laboratory examination.”

 

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Nigeria records first baby by frozen egg

Baby Tiwatope
Nigeria has recorded the birth of its first baby conceived through the oocyte (egg) freezing protocol.

The feat was recorded by The Bridge Clinic, Lagos, on February 16, with the delivery of a male child, named Tiwatope.

The oocyte was preserved through cryopreservation, which is the cooling of cells and tissues to sub-zero temperatures to stop biological activity and preserve the cells for future use.

Human oocyte cryopreservation (egg freezing) is a process in which a woman’s eggs (oocytes) are extracted, frozen and stored. Later, when she is ready to become pregnant, the eggs can be thawed, fertilised and transferred to the uterus as embryo.

According to the fertility physician with The Bridge Clinic, Dr. Emmanuel Owie, who broke the news, Tiwatope’s birth was significant in many respects, as he puts the  country on the global map in the practice of oocyte cryopreservation, a new offering in the in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) space.

 

Monday, February 29, 2016

59-yr old has first baby after 30 years of marriage at St. Ives

'God is a faithful & covenant keeping father; we appreciate your loving kindness towards us. 'Pst. & Dcns. Abodunde E.S