‘Africa’s oldest IVF mom’ gives birth at 63

A 63 year old woman, said to be Africa’s oldest In vitro fertilization (IVF) mom, gave birth to a ‘healthy’ baby girl yesterday at the Gynaeville Specialist hospital along old airport road in Jos, Plateau State through caesarean section.

The surgery was carried out by Jos based senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the Jos University Teaching (JUTH) hospital, Dr. Dalyop Nyango and Consultant Gynaecologist, Jibrin Suleiman.

The new mother, Margaret Davou, a retired civil servant who lives in Jos South local government area of the state, said she has been married for 38 years without a child, adding that she made an attempt in the past attempt to conceive through assisted-reproductive health but failed.

Dr. Suleiman said both mother and baby are stable and fine adding that the baby girl came around 10:15am. He said the baby is low weight because the pregnancy was below 38 weeks and is presently under the observation of a paediatrician.

Chairman of Gynaeville, Dr. Kenneth Egwuda, said based on available records, Margaret Davou is the oldest woman in Africa to successfully undergo the procedure and give birth. He said the hospital has since August last year successfully given free IVF treatments to three indigent patients.

Dr. Egwuda said the centre’s vision is to make assisted reproductive technology accessible to everyone facing fertility challenges irrespective of their background.