Bridge Clinic celebrates 3000th live birth through IVF in 20 years

As part of efforts to mark Universal Children’s Day on May 27 and World Fertility Awareness Month, in June, the Bridge Clinic has celebrated its 3000th live birth, in 20 years, through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF).

The Bridge Clinic hosted IVF babies born via their clinics- in Ikeja and Victoria Island of Lagos State, in Port Harcourt and in Abuja-to a Children’s Party celebration.

According to a statement from the centre, “as of June 2022, it had recorded over 3,000 live births across all our clinics. The 3,000th birth is a testament to the over 20 years of hard work, ethical practice and diligent delivery of their services.”

The Fertility Day Children’s party celebration was themed, “The Incredibles” by the Bridge Clinic team. This was done, according to the Commercial Lead, Chinelo Dike-Okonkwo, to bring to light the incredible privilege of being able to assist the conception process through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and to record thousands of live births from the same process.

Medical Director of Bridge Clinic, Dr. Toyin Ajayi, said: “Every live birth is extremely important to us and is always worth celebrating, and we are elated to celebrate approximately 3,000 babies.

“We want to keep it top-of-mind that fertility treatment is incredible, not taking the place of God as some may presume, but simply adding a little science for those who need that extra jumpstart. We believe that is truly incredible.

“Events like these reinforce the fact that everyone deserves to have a family of their own, and everyone currently dealing with fertility challenges should not be stigmatized, but should be given the best possible chance at conception.”

Ajayi said, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), infertility is a disease, but thanks to the breakthrough interventions of assisted reproductive technology, this disease can be tackled head-on.

The event also featured former clients of Bridge Clinic who form a team of peer-to-peer supporters called Association for the Prevention of Infertility and Promotion of Reproductive Health and Rights (ASPIRE), a patient advocacy group created to tackle the silence and social stigma associated with infertility. They shared how their fertility struggles led them to seek fertility care and how Bridge Clinic helped them achieve conception.

Also, coinciding with this milestone event within the month of June is the NHEAwards (Nigeria Healthcare Excellence Awards). This prestigious ceremony features a broad spectrum of participants within the healthcare ecosystem. Bridge Clinic said it has bagged the award for “IVF Service Provider of the Year” five times and is confident of a 6th win.

“What we do is comparable to international standards, and thanks to our solid quality management system and annual system and process audit handled by external auditors, our clients trust us, they keep coming back to us, they keep referring patients to us, and they keep voting for us at the NHEAs,” stated Dike-Okonkwo.

The Clinic, in a statement, said the celebration is in the spirit of raising infertility awareness and inspiring hope in the lives of couples faced with fertility challenges and applauding the bravery of IVF parents.

The Bridge Clinic is one of the foremost fertility-focused centres in Nigeria. Founded in 1999, they have been helping to complete the families of couples who struggle to conceive naturally. Bridge Clinic has locations in Ikeja and Victoria Island of Lagos State, Port Harcourt and in Abuja.

Bridge Clinic said it continues to extend its invitation to couples who are trying to conceive and who desire to be given the best chance of conception. One of such platforms that support couples is the bimonthly Welcome Forum, where couples can speak with a specialist (at no charge) and can receive the needed support and counsel from expert fertility specialists to begin treatment. The next Welcome Forum event is slated to hold on June 25 across all their locations.

Bridge Clinic is an ISO 9001:2015 accredited clinic meeting the required operational standards set for clinics in Europe. Bridge Clinic is in partnership with Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) with an initiative known as The Institute of Fertility Medicine.