1.20.09

REI and IVF Center

A new fertility center is now open at SIU School of Medicine which will provide new options to couples having difficulty starting a family.

One in every nine couples in the U.S. has problems conceiving.  Recent medical advances make pregnancy more possible for couples wishing to undergo treatments to have a baby.  Dr. Ricardo Loret de Mola, practice director for the center and chair of the obstetrics and gynecology department, says the new state-of-the art new SIU Fertility and IVF Center at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield has experienced medical specialists to help couples.

SOUND BITE:  (10:58 – 11:23)  “We have two female fertilize specialists, a male fertility specialist, laboratory director, embryologists, laboratory personnel, nurses, psychologists, acupuncturists, dietitians – a multidisciplinary group of people that are right here (1:15) . . . (1:18) working to provide patients everything they need to be able to take a baby home.”

Treatments for women include stimulated ovulation, intrauterine insemination and robotic assisted surgery as well as in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.  Treatment options also are available for men.

Dr. Gary Horowitz, medical director for the center and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology, explains how patient safety is protected.

SOUND BITE:  TR 1 (0:50 – 1:16)  “The manner in which we built the lab, we’re one of the only two programs in the United States that have what we call the IVF Witness program where everything is digitalized to the point to where the dish that the embryos lie in is electronically coupled to a computer and no matter where you put those (1:09),  …  (1:13) the computer knows exactly whose embryos are where. . .”

Couples who are having difficulty getting pregnant may want to talk with their primary care physician or contact the SIU Fertility and IVF Center in Springfield.

This is Ruth Slottag at SIU School of Medicine.