“At Kingswill Specialist Hospital we put smiles on couples’ faces”

Parenthood is considered a blessing in marriage, but the reality of achieving it depends on the couples’ fertility status to have offspring. Due to various infertility problems, many couples are unable to conceive naturally except through special services offered by facilities such as Kingswill Specialist Hospital.

A 2023 WHO report on the prevalence of infertility estimated that around 17.5 percent of the global adult population (about one in six) experience infertility, demonstrating the importance of greater access to fertility services. affordable and high quality for those who need them.

Since its inception, Kingswill Specialist Hospital has brought joy to many families through its reproductive and infertility treatment services, including intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), ovulation induction and follicular monitoring, hysteroscopy and laparoscopy, IVF with surrogacy, high-risk prenatal care and general gynecology, among others.

“Our vision is to ensure that people who come as a couple leave as a family, and our mission is to put smiles on people’s faces,” said Dr Chidi Nwogu, medical director of Kingswill Specialist Hospital.

Kingswill Specialist Hospital

Dr Nwogu, a gynecologist, obstetrician and fertility doctor, said Kingswill Specialist Hospital has been offering fertility services since 2013.

Kingswill Specialist Hospital was established in 2013 by the late Dr. Kingsley Ike Onwuzuruigbo, a fertility doctor, consultant gynecologist and obstetrician.

More about IVF services

Dr Nwogu said Kingswill offers many IVF-related services, including conventional IVF and third-party assisted reproduction, which involves IVF with donor gametes (donor oocytes and sperm) and also gestational surrogacy.

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He said: “We are the first IVF service provider in Southern Nigeria to offer in-house pre-implantation genetic testing services in the Southern part of Nigeria, without partnering or outsourcing any part of the treatment abroad.

“Pre-implantation genetic testing with IVF here in Nigeria has helped provide relief to many couples with incompatible genotypes, allowing them to have disease-free children while still using their own gametes (oocytes and sperm).”

He further explained that couples with incompatible genotypes can plan and have sickle cell anemia-free babies without seeking egg or sperm donors of the desired genotype. He has also helped bring joy to families planning to have a healthy baby, especially in the case of a child previously affected with Down syndrome or other genetic and inherited diseases, as the embryos are screened for genetic defects. Most common is the use of pre-implantation genetic testing (IVF) to balance the family, as couples can now plan with certainty for pregnancy of the desired sex. This helps reduce unnecessary repetitive births associated with trial and error to have a child of a particular gender.

The gynecologist also said that many misconceptions about IVF are limiting its access, and emphasized the need for greater enlightenment.

“We are a third world country and traditions and taboos still hold people back. A lot still needs to be clarified so that people know that IVF babies are normal babies. Pregnancies are the same, they are just special because of what having them entails in terms of resources and the long wait on the part of the couple,” she said.

As for services outside of fertility treatment, Dr. Nwogu said about half of his pregnant patients sign up for prenatal care services at Kingswill, while the rest return to their referring doctors or bases in the U.S. ., United Kingdom, Canada and other African countries.

“Some patients will see their doctors again, as some have their specialists, gynecologists and obstetricians who will care for them, and some, due to distance, will have their prenatal care elsewhere, but half of those who become pregnant through of our services enjoy our specialized prenatal care, while others return to their bases in Africa, Europe and America,” he said.

IVF pregnancies are considered high-risk pregnancies not only because of the long wait for the couple and the cost, but also because many expectant mothers are more likely to have conditions that can make pregnancy and childbirth riskier. such as advanced age, hypertension. , diabetes, previous fibroid surgeries, etc.

He added that approximately one in 10 to 15 couples who come for IVF may require surrogacy to meet their reproductive goal after evaluation.

“Adoption is one of the ways in which people can satisfy their fertility desires, but the difference between surrogacy and adoption is that you can have your biological child with IVF-surrogacy, unlike adoption, where there is no biological link. We continue to encourage couples to consider adoption as a last resort for those who are not averse to it and are encouraged to consider adoption through appropriate legal means. Mothers who had their babies through surrogacy still manage to successfully bond with their children through breastfeeding, contrary to some misconceptions.”

Specializations: More about Kingswill Specialist Hospital

In terms of quality service delivery, Dr Nwogu said Kingswill Hospital offers specialized services beyond fertility treatment. Experienced obstetricians run their prenatal services, and all deliveries, especially cesarean sections, are routinely performed by two obstetricians, with an experienced anesthetist and pediatrician always present. The hospital’s prenatal care and delivery annex has several functional incubators and phototherapy machines, as some babies are likely to be born prematurely, especially twins and triplets.

He said: “We have specialist care services for these babies because some may be born prematurely. IVF carries higher risks of multiple births and some of these babies are more likely to be born prematurely.

Kingswill Specialist Hospital

The hospital offers fertility treatment, pediatric care, high-risk prenatal, maternal and neonatal care, and a variety of gynecological services. It also offers multidisciplinary care involving other specialties outside of maternal and child health services. Multidisciplinary care involving other specialties arises when these patients present with conditions other than infertility or during pregnancy, and then the appropriate specialists become involved in their joint care.

Dr Nwogu noted that Kingswill Specialist Hospital, like other reputable IVF centres, has been at the forefront of reducing medical tourism related to IVF services.

“We now have Nigerians in the diaspora, mostly from the US, UK and Canada, who come to Nigeria for IVF services and that brings a lot of foreign exchange into the country.” He stated that the country’s healthcare has improved in certain areas where people previously had to travel abroad for certain treatments, such as kidney transplants, open heart surgeries, knee and hip replacement surgeries and IVF services, all of which have seen a reversal of trend, but the most notable are IVF and IVF related services, where a large number of Nigerians and non-Nigerians turn for treatment.