By Mohamed K. Turay
For the first time in its history, Sierra Leone has had a baby delivered at the Hope Clinic through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), a process that helps women to get pregnant with the help of donated sperm.
Celebrating the first Sierra Leonean IVF delivered baby at a press conference held at Hope Clinic, located at John Obey in the outskirts of the Western Rural District, the clinic’s Chief Executive Officer, Justina Jalloh-Jamboria, said the rationale for establishing the clinic was to curtail the huge amounts of money Sierra Leoneans spent to access IVF services abroad. She disclosed that in the coming weeks, more women would be delivering their IVF babies.
“I want to see more women become mothers who by natural means cannot conceive unless by sperm donations. Which is why my clinic only ask for minimal fees”, said Justina Jalloh-Jamboria.
Madam Lusena Kamara from Sierra Rutile, the first to deliver through IVF in Sierra Leone, told journalists that she had been with her husband for five years with no child of their own. She said they first went to Ghana and did the IVF and fortunately for them they had twins who eventually died after delivery.
Later, she continued, they were informed about Hope Clinic which was providing the same IVF services in Sierra Leone. She narrated how they contacted the clinic which charged them far less than what they had spent in Ghana two years ago.
Madam Lusena Kamara revealed that she had delivered a baby girl at the Hope Clinic and encouraged other Sierra Leonean women to make good use of the cline as they had some of the best equipment in the sub-region and less expensive.
Apart from IVF services, Hope Clinic is also doing surgeries and providing other medical services at its Jui clinic located in the same Western Rural District.