LUTH celebrates birth of first IVF baby

The Assisted Fertility Centre (AFC) at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, on Tuesday celebrated the birth of its first In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) baby born through assisted reproductive technology.

Osato Giwa-Osagie, professor and coordinator of the centre, made this known during a verification visit by a team from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Abuja.

He said, “We are officially announcing the birth of a baby through our efforts in this centre.

“The baby boy, whose parents want to remain anonymous, was born on November 5.

“We are very glad, especially as our effort is working; we want to increase the number of our successes, as such, we call on the government for more support and funding.’’

Mr. Osagie said of all the 45 IVF clinics in Nigeria, only five were government-owned, adding that they were located in Abuja, Ilorin, Benin, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja and LUTH in Lagos.

“The National Hospital, Abuja, is the first public IVF Centre; there are only five of such public health IVF centres in Nigeria.

“We need more centres to help more people; we can help other centres to stand, especially as we have the expertise and nurses who are available to train others.

“We also need more public sector involvement in the funding of IVF Centres,’’ Osagie said.

Also, Moshood Tijani, the Head, Monitoring and Evaluation of FRC, commended the efforts of the centre.

According to him, the feat has shown that much can still be achieved in Nigeria with adequate funding and support.

He called for support to enable more government-owned hospitals to set up IVF centres.

In her remarks, Kuburat Lemomu, the Matron of the AFC, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the treatment for the mother of the baby commenced in January.

“We started the process in January and the recovery was in February.

“The treatment cycle took six to seven weeks and she was tested positive for pregnancy in March.

“The mother of our baby started her ante-natal care with us, after which she left for Canada, and that is where she was delivered of the baby,’’ Lemomu said.

She encouraged couples who needed assistance with conception to avail themselves of the services of the centre. (NAN)