Ernestine Gwet Bell | |
---|---|
Born | 1953 Sackbayémé, Cameroon |
Citizenship | Cameroon |
Education | University of Paris 5 |
Occupation | Gynaecologist |
Notable work | Enabling birth of Cameroon's first IVF baby |
Ernestine Gwet-Bell (born 1953) is a Cameroonian gynaecologist who supervised the first successful in vitro fertilisation treatment in her country.
Gwet-Bell was born in 1953 in Sackbayémé. [1] Her father was initially a Catholic priest, but converted to become a Protestant pastor; her mother was a nurse and midwife. [2] One of six brothers and sisters, she studied medicine at the University of Paris 5. [1] Her first job was at the Council of Baptist and Evangelical Churches Hospital in Bonabéri, which was affiliated to the church she attended; she also worked at the Laquintinie Hospital. [1]
In 1987, Gwet-Bell opened a private practice, the Odyssey Clinic, in Douala, which as of 2020 was one of Cameroon's most respected gynaecological medical facilities. [1] Alongside five other colleagues she founded Cameroon's first assisted fertility centre: Centre des Techniques de Pointe en Gynécologie-Obstétrique; her co-founders are: Berthe Bollo, Guy Sandjon, Monique Onomo, Nicole Akoung and Christian Pamy. [1] In 2016, the first public IVF centre opened in Yaounde. [3] Gwet-Bell was its director in 2020. [4] In
In 1998, Gwet-Bell supervised the birth of the first Cameroonian child born through in vitro fertilization. [1] [5] The baby was called Thommy. [6] In 2004, her team were able to successfully practice Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), an innovative technique designed in 1992 to fight against male sterility in the context of IVF. [7] [6] As of August 2007, she a'nd her team were responsible for the birth of 500 babies through in vitro fertilization. [8] She is President of the Inter-African Fertility Study, Research and Application Group, as well as the union of private doctors in Cameroon. [9] [6]
In 2019 she chaired the organisational committee of a conference which brought together gynaecologists and neonatal specialist from across Cameroon together. [10]
One of her nephews has autism and in 2005 she founded Orchidée Home, which is designed to support autistic children and their parents. [1] Two years later, in 2007, she organized the first autism congress in Cameroon. [1]
Gwet Bell is married and has two daughters and a son. [1]
Reproductive technology encompasses all current and anticipated uses of technology in human and animal reproduction, including assisted reproductive technology (ART), contraception and others. It is also termed Assisted Reproductive Technology, where it entails an array of appliances and procedures that enable the realization of safe, improved and healthier reproduction. While this is not true of all people, for an array of married couples, the ability to have children is vital. But through the technology, infertile couples have been provided with options that would allow them to conceive children.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation of gametes or embryos, and/or the use of fertility medication. When used to address infertility, ART may also be referred to as fertility treatment. ART mainly belongs to the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Some forms of ART may be used with regard to fertile couples for genetic purpose. ART may also be used in surrogacy arrangements, although not all surrogacy arrangements involve ART. The existence of sterility will not always require ART to be the first option to consider, as there are occasions when its cause is a mild disorder that can be solved with more conventional treatments or with behaviors based on promoting health and reproductive habits.
Georgeanna Seegar Jones was an American reproductive endocrinologist who with her husband, Howard W. Jones, pioneered in vitro fertilization in the United States.
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Reproductive surgery is surgery in the field of reproductive medicine. It can be used for contraception, e.g. in vasectomy, wherein the vasa deferentia of a male are severed, but is also used plentifully in assisted reproductive technology. Reproductive surgery is generally divided into three categories: surgery for infertility, in vitro fertilization, and fertility preservation.
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Female fertility is affected by age and is a major fertility factor for women. A woman's fertility is in generally good quality from the late teens to early thirties, although it declines gradually over time. Around 35, fertility is noted to decline at a more rapid rate. At age 45, a woman starting to try to conceive will have no live birth in 50–80 percent of cases. Menopause, or the cessation of menstrual periods, generally occurs in the 40s and 50s and marks the cessation of fertility, although age-related infertility can occur before then. The relationship between age and female fertility is sometimes referred to as a woman's "biological clock."
The history of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) goes back more than half a century. In 1959 the first birth in a nonhuman mammal resulting from IVF occurred, and in 1978 the world's first baby conceived by IVF was born. As medicine advanced, IVF was transformed from natural research to a stimulated clinical treatment. There have been many refinements in the IVF process, and today millions of births have occurred with the help of IVF all over the world.
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