Queen Mary KGMU Hospital has achieved a significant success in fertility treatment. A couple who had been waiting for a child after fifteen years of marriage found happiness. A 38-year-old woman gave birth to a healthy baby on September 20th via Caesarean section. This marked the first successful IVF operation at Queen Mary Hospital since the COVID-19 pandemic.
While this procedure costs between 1.5 to 3 lakh rupees or more in private and corporate clinics, the full treatment at KGMU cost approximately 80 thousand rupees.
According to the attending physician, Professor Pushpalta Shanbhar, the couple approached KGMU about a year ago hoping to have a child. Despite treatment at various places over their 15 years of marriage, nothing had helped them. Following laparoscopy and hysteroscopy at the hospital, it was discovered that both of the woman's fallopian tubes were completely blocked. The medical team made all possible attempts to open the tubes but was unsuccessful. Consequently, IVF was proposed.
The procedure utilized the woman's own eggs and her husband's sperm. Egg collection took place on January 28th of this year, and fresh embryo transfer was on January 31st. One of the two embryos developed successfully, and the woman became pregnant. At 30 weeks of pregnancy, the woman was hospitalized due to a sudden rupture of membranes and infection.
Doctors managed the risk of a high-risk pregnancy using antibiotics and careful monitoring. During labor on September 20th, the fetus's heart rate suddenly deteriorated. Doctors decided on an emergency Caesarean section to ensure the safe delivery of the baby. The newborn girl weighed 1.93 kilograms. Currently, both the mother and the baby are safe and will be discharged.
Professor Anju Agrawal called this success an important milestone for the institution. She noted that the IVF department, which was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, has now resumed full operations. This allows economically weaker and ordinary families to access modern treatment at lower costs.