The Telegraph (the Great Britain) reports that 42-year-old Ruth Carter has become the first woman in the world to conceive a baby by means of a new advanced IVF technique – called Eeva. In the scheduled date Ruth delivered a healthy baby with the help of a C-section. The long-desired daughter weighted 2,4 kg. Ruth said that she and her husband had been trying to conceive a baby for a long time, but all their attempts resulted in miscarriages. Now the new-fledged parents are very grateful to the medical staff of Liverpool Women’s Hospital for making their wish come true.
The new technique Eeva is unique, as it estimates embryo viability in the course of 48 hours from the moment in which their cells begin to divide. The assessment process is performed by means of a sequential video registration of embryo development made every second minute. The registration system assesses embryo development and selects a most developed one among the pictures taken by the camera. The selected embryo is transferred into the uterus of the intended mother. Dr. Charles Kingsland, lead consultant at the Hewitt Fertility Center at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, states that couples aged over 35 have 44% higher chances to conceive a baby, as the average conception rate with the help of Eeva technique in England is 25%. However, the professor adds that the technique is not so developed so far to prognosticate eventual diseases of the baby.
But the technique is considered a great achievement in the area of IVF treatment, as embryo rejection is one of the crucial issues of it.
As it is known, the first attempt of in vitro fertilization was made in England in 1978. Since then the procedure has been widely applied and improved. Recently, again in the Great Britain CARE Fertility group has published their report on another IVF technique based on a sequential registration of embryo development. They state that this technique increases the chances to achieve pregnancy up to 78%.