Paropakar to launch IVF service today

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Paropakar Maternity Hospital will formally launch its In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) service from tomorrow, the hospital said.

The hospital has screened seven suitable women, aged 30 to 41, from 22 patients to undergo the procedure to give birth to ‘test-tube baby’.

Dr Ashwini Trikha, an expert on IVF service, informed that the hospital has prepared the women for the procedure. “The hospital carried out ovum pick-up on Friday and will perform embryo transfer tomorrow,” said Trikha.

In-vitro fertilisation is a process in which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the womb. It is what doctors resort to when other methods of assisted reproduction fail. The process involves hormonally controlling the ovulatory process, removing ova (eggs) from the woman’s ovaries and allowing sperms to fertilise them in a fluid medium. The resulting fertilised egg is placed into the woman’s uterus for further development of the foetus.

Former Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal had inaugurated the IVF centre in August 2011. “The hospital is now ready to provide full-fledged IVF service,” said Dr Shila Verma, director at the hospital. She informed that it took about a month of preparation. She informed that the hospital sent four doctors and two nurses to learn the process in India.

Dr Verma added that the government is providing the service at a reasonable price for people with low income. The price for the service is Rs 1.6 lakh at the hospital. So far, the facility is not available at any other government hospital.

While Om Mani Tamang, born on March 3, 2005 at Om Hospital and Research Centre Pvt Ltd, was Nepal’s first test tube baby. The world’s first IVF baby, Louise Brown, was born on July 25, 1978, in England. There have been over a million children born through the process since then. According to the Health Ministry, around 20 per cent of Nepali couples have fertility-related ailments.