Chennai: 50-year-old woman delivers twin babies via IVF at govt hospital

CHENNAI: A 50-year-old woman gave birth to twins at government Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (IOG) in Egmore recently. This, doctors at the hospital said, is the first time in the history of the hospital that a woman in the age group of 50 and above has delivered a baby.

The doctors said the couple had been childless for 25 years. The woman was undergoing infertility treatment at a private hospital and conceived through In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). The family, however, couldn’t afford further treatment and approached IOG.

IOG director Dr S Vijaya said: “The woman developed high blood pressure and gestational diabetes. Since she was 50 years old, we didn’t want to take any chance and performed a Caesarean section five week before the expected date. She delivered twins, a girl and a boy.

“Given her age, we also took the opinion of a cardiologist from Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The babies were kept in the neonatal intensive care unit for three weeks. The mother and the babies were discharged after they were found to be doing fine,” she said.

In another case, a 47-year-old woman delivered a baby girl with a low birth weight of 900 grams at the IOG. “She, too, had conceived through IVF. Since she had complications like high blood pressure, a Caesarean section was performed in the 30th week of pregnancy,” Dr Vijaya said.