Fibroid: Fertility Centre To Launch HIFU Machine In Abuja

After treating 385 patients without surgery for fibroid in Lagos, Nordica Fertility Centre said it is introducing High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) machine for fibroid treatment in Abuja by first quarter of 2024.

Research has showed that over 70 per cent of women below 50 years are at risk of developing fibroid, a non-cancerous growth in the uterus that can develop during a woman’s childbearing age.

The managing director of Nordica Fertility Centre, Dr. Abayomi Ajayi, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja, said HIFU  machine converges at a particular distance and it burns whatever that is in that radius, saying that is what makes it safe, because it only burns where you converge that energy to.

This was even as he said that the centre was planning to introduce counselling into its service due to the effect of infertility on mental health.

He said “A failed circle can affect a couple. Nigerians do not like talking to a counselor, to them, t is a sign of weakness. 

“These are some of the things we want to input into our service, how to attend to these people, how to even identify people who need extra care. so we want to transit from just being IVF clinic to were we look at your mental health as related to infertility because we know that infertility is one of the things that couples can face. No matter how strong you are,  it tells in your relationship, it test your faith on God. And when you do the treatment also and it fails, it test everything in you. It is important that patients are also prepared mentally. 

“We are not paying enough attention to metal health. So that is the next step that we want to be able to go into to say look, it’s beyond just having a baby, whether you have or you don’t have, how can we make sure that you are well? 

Abayomi stressed that depression reduces the chances of pregnancy even in IVF, saying “When you are depressed, the chances of getting pregnant is less even when we do IVF. That is why most of the time. If your body is in disarray hormonally, it has effect.”

On fibroid and infertility, the fertility expert said fibroid does not cause infertility but it is associated with infertility. 

He explained that the few times fibroid can cause infertility is when the fibroid is either sitting where the baby should sit or if it is blocking the fallopian tube.