Nepal's first test tube baby born

By Bhagirath Yogi
BBC News, Kathmandu

It's the first time the technology has been used in Nepal

Nepalese doctors who performed surgery on a woman who gave birth to a test-tube baby have said both the mother and baby are doing fine.

Doctors at the Om Hospital and Research Centre in Kathmandu say the delivery on Thursday was the first in Nepal using the state-of-the-art technology.

The birth was followed by another on Friday - of test-tube twins.

Nepal's first test tube babies come 27 years after the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown.

Doctors at the Om hospital had to perform a caesarean on 44-year-old Sandhya Tamang on Thursday, a week earlier than scheduled, as she was suffering from jaundice.

Ms Tamang has become the first Nepali woman to give birth to a test-tube baby in the country.

A number of couples who could not have their babies in a normal way can benefit Dr Bhola Rijal Gynaecologist

On Friday, twin test-tube boys were born by caesarean section to Kumudini Koirala, an engineer.

The women were recommended in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) as they could not conceive normally due to blocked fallopian tubes.

"A number of couples who could not have their babies in a normal way can benefit from the facilities now available within the country," said Dr Bhola Rijal, president of the Om hospital and a renowned gynaecologist.

Dr Rijal said they had used the IVF technology on 17 women who had failed to conceive naturally in June last year.

He said out of them, only seven could conceive while four of them miscarried later.