Nawaloka Fertility Centre (NFC) has completed 10 years of dedicated service to childless couples in Sri Lanka, helping them conceive babies. 

Nawaloka is the only hospital providing immune tests and treatment to those who have had repeated failures and the centre uses an ultramodern bench-top incubator called ‘Invicell’, first-of-its-kind in the nation, to give the maximum success rate during in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). 

Furthermore, ‘triple-witnessing’ of all samples is undertaken by the doctor, embryologist and nurse, preventing any errors in the lab. 

Globally, one in six couples experience problems in conceiving a child. Defective egg release, blockage of fallopian tube(s), abnormalities in the sperm or a combination of the above can cause infertility. There are simple tests to check all these aspects of fertility.  

Simple treatments such as fertility boosting tablets, ovulation induction to simulate egg release and intrauterine insemination to place concentrated male sperm into female womb are suitable only for those who have normal fallopian tubes and normal or mild semen problem. 

For women with damaged fallopian tube(s) and for men with significant sperm abnormalities, the best treatment option would be IVF, commonly known as a ‘test tube baby’. The aim of IVF is to create multiple eggs, treat them with thousands of sperm in the lab and develop a few embryos. Often, a single sperm is injected into each egg to achieve fertilization, a procedure called ICSI. The best embryos are placed inside the womb. 

So far, international reports have shown that babies born through IVF and ICSI are as healthy as those conceived naturally. Contrary to popular misconception women do not need hospitalization, bed rest or time off work during IVF. The treatment demands around six visits to hospital over a period of five to six weeks. The injections are also simple to self-administer.