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Zika Bobby
Foremost fertility centre, Bridge Clinic, has marked its 20 years anniversary, with the celebration of live births of 2, 559 babies through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).
Founded by Dr. Richardson Ajayi, a renowned consultant obstetrician and gynecologist, Bridge Clinic now boast of Invitro Fertilisation (IVF) clinics in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.
Speaking with newsmen, the clinic’s marketing executive, Chinelo Diko-Okonkwo, said as part of the clinic’s anniversary, support and renovation of orphanages are in top gear.
“Every day, we have clients who visit our clinic requesting help to conceive a child, and we celebrate each time we get the news that a baby has been born. We want to help children who are not as privileged as part of how we express our gratitude to our clients for the joy and success that they have brought to all of us at the Bridge Clinic over the past 20 years,” she said.
After a tour of the facility, Dr. Babatunde Ogunniran, consultant gynaecologist, said Bridge Clinic was proud of the milestone it has recorded, considering the risk factors surrounding the IVF practice and the challenges presented by couples.
He said the success rate of IVF has improved globally over time. “At the rate of 35 per cent, it means three out of 10 women will actually get pregnant through IVF,” he said.
Ogunniran said with recent innovations and technology, the story of infertility has changed in Nigeria, as the fertility clinic records an improved success rate of about 52 per cent live births.
He said the clinic has helped many families become parents, leveraging on the expertise of its team of consultant gynaecologists, embryologists, medical officers and nurses.
“Though there are no strict regulations as regards IVF in Nigeria, the clinic adheres to best ethical practices in its treatment guidelines for couples to match up with international standards,” he said.
He advised couples to ensure improved lifestyle modification, which affects reproductive outcomes, noting that many men have been discovered to suffer from low sperm count and poor motility during analysis of samples or random parameters of semen.
He added: “A lot of dietary changes are happening throughout the world. We are advised to stop taking alcohol and smoking. We are advised to live well and exercise well, which is very important.
“We have had situations where men come in for semen analysis and we don’t find sperm at all, which is also as a result of poorly treated sexual transmitted infection due to poor sexual habit, which leads to male infertility.”
