Bridge Clinic Commemorates 3,000 Live Births in 20 Years

…Urges families to overcome stigmatisation of fertility challenges

Kingsley Aliamaka

In commemoration of this year’s World Fertility Day, Bridge Clinic has celebrated its 3,000 live births across all their clinics located in Ikeja and Victoria Island of Lagos State; in Port Harcourt and in Abuja.

The management of the health facility said the 3,000th birth is a testament to the over 20 years of hard work, ethical practice and diligent delivery of their services.

At its recently held celebration of the lives of children all over the world following the universal Children’s Day on May 27, Bridge Clinic,  the Nigeria’s foremost fertility-focused centre, said since it was founded in 1999, it has been helping to complete the families of couples who struggle to conceive naturally.

According to the Commercial Lead of the clinic, Chinelo Dike-Okonkwo, in a statement, the Fertility Day Children’s party celebration with the theme: ‘The Incredibles’, was done 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.

“Every live birth is extremely important to us, as it’s always worth celebrating, and we are elated to celebrate approximately 3,000 babies. “We want to keep it top-of-the-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.”

Also in his remarks, the Medical Director of Bridge Clinic, Dr. Toyin Ajayi, added: “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 stigmatised, but should be given the best possible chance at conception.

“Infertility is a disease according to the WHO, 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 ASPIRE (Association for the Prevention of Infertility and Promotion of Reproductive Health and Rights), 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 the event within the month of June is the Nigeria Healthcare Excellence Awards (NHEAwards ).

Dike-Okonkwo said: “This prestigious ceremony features a broad spectrum of participants within the healthcare ecosystem. Bridge Clinic has bagged the award for ‘IVF Service Provider of the year’ five times and is confident of a sixth win.

“What we do is comparable to international standards, and thanks to our solid quality management system and annual system as well as 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.”

She said Bridge Clinic continued 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,” Dike-Okonkwo added.