Children are unquestionably wonderful blessings from God. It’s no surprise that a special day is designated each year to honour all children around the world. In light of this, St. Ives Specialist Hospital chose to make children happy and have fun.

The remarkable event, themed ‘Our children, our superheroes,’ took place on Sunday, May 26, 2024, at Parkland Amusement Centre in Maryland. The event’s centrepiece was testimony from mothers who had their children at the hospital via in vitro fertilisation (IVF) after years of waiting.

St Ives has long been renowned as a premier hospital in the field of women’s, children’s and family health. One of the hospital’s most remarkable accomplishments is the birth of over 3000 children via IVF. Since then, the facility has recorded several more IVF successes.

Mrs. Omolara Irure, a 69-year-old woman who had her kid at the hospital through IVF about ten years ago, spoke at the ceremony and stated that her life changed once she gave birth to her daughter. According to her, her miraculous daughter arrived after multiple IVF attempts.

“I simply felt that God will accomplish it one day. Also, I really believe in Orthodox medicine because medicine has advanced so far. I hadn’t seen my menstrual cycle in years, but when I began using St. Ives, fertility medicines, and injections, I was surprised to notice that my menstrual cycle returned, and that’s when the therapy began. So, I want to encourage younger people or those who have come a long way to never give up hope because God is still present, and as I previously stated, miracles will always happen with Orthodox medicine,” she said.

Dr. Babatunde Okewale, the founder and Chief Medical Director of St. Ives, also spoke at the occasion and expressed his delight at the number of parents and children that attended. According to him, this is an impetus to make the event an annual occurrence.

He remarked, “I was pleasantly pleased when I walked in, and people genuinely replied. It’s a huge eye-opener, for starters, but our children deserve it. St. Ives children and their parents also deserve it, which is what inspired our initial episode, and this will undoubtedly be a yearly event for us, possibly in a larger location.”

He also stated that being able to provide alternatives to waiting mothers makes him happy. He remarked, “To be honest, it’s really self-satisfying to know that you’re genuinely doing what you want to do and that God is constantly validating it for you. I’m sometimes shocked by how willing our clients are to share their stories. Very few hospitals have that sort of grace: you treat them, and they are still willing to come out and say, “Yes, this is what I went through.”

Dr. Okewale also urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civic society to help waiting mothers by funding IVF treatments.

“Unfortunately, in Nigeria and many other third-world nations, the government does not prioritise it. In our own context, family planning is the government’s top focus. Our problem is overpopulation. You cannot blame the government. They must prioritise their tasks. So it is now up to civil society, or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), to try to fill that void. Now, St. Ives collaborates with an NGO, a foundation, to provide reduced IVF services to persons in need at regular intervals throughout the year. Furthermore, the discount can range from 40 to 50%. There are several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) filling that void right now,” he said.