KUCHING: The Sunway Fertility Centre offers hope for couples looking to have a baby, and hopefully put a stop to the declining birth rate in Sarawak.
Minister for Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said this after representatives of Sunway Healthcare and Medical Group paid a visit to brief her on their objectives in contributing to the community through quality healthcare services.
“As a woman myself, it can be stressful for us if it takes more than a year after marriage to have babies due to the pressure around us as some people might question whether or not there are problems with the couples.
“It can even cause marital stress when there are no babies after half a decade into the marriage if couples do not have proper understanding on what the problem actually is.
“I believe Sunway Healthcare and Medical Group can work with my ministry to bring awareness to the public that it is fine for couples to seek help from specialists if they are facing problems having babies.”
Sunway Fertility Centre opened its doors to the public in Kuching in May, and is located at Canaan Square Business Hub, Jalan Stutong Baru.
The centre aims to bring in the most advanced fertility treatment across Sarawak, backed by highly qualified fertility specialists, skilled embryologists, trained nurses and stringent quality control.
It houses comprehensive fertility treatment solutions, including In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), fertility preservation, Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) and fertility assessment. Specialised state of the art technologies available include Pre-Implantation Genetic Testing (PGT), Time Lapse Technology for embryo culture and selection, and Endometrial Receptive Array (ERA).
Its resident fertility specialist, Dr Edawati Dahrawi Edrus, a trained Reproductive Medicine Specialist who hails from Kuching, said that they had received good response from Sarawakians thus far, with around 100 patients per month.
“The success rate of getting pregnant after using our services is 75.2 per cent and age matters in terms of success rate as a woman’s peak pregnancy years are between 20 and 35.
“Thus, we advise couples to seek help and visit us a year into their marriage if they have failed in trying to conceive, six months to couples who are above 35 years of age,” Dr Edawati, an obstetrician and gynaecologist with more than a decade’s experience and certified by the Ministry of Health, said.
When asked for the factors that could contribute to the declining birth rate, Dr Edawati pointed out that the first factor was delaying the time to get married.
“A lot more people are delaying their marriages or decisions to start a family to a later time due to focusing on studies or career development in order to have financial stability.
“Another factor would be diseases in either one of the couples and last but not least, obesity is also another factor.”
Also present were Sunway College Kuching CEO Joseph Lim, Sunway Fertility Centre CEO Woon Ming Ming, Sunway Medical Centre assistant manager in corporate communications, Shamili Vellu; and consultant obstetrician gynaecologist Dr Mardiana Kipli.
