Bahrain to restrict In Vitro Fertilisation 

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Health authorities in Bahrain plan to impose restrictions on In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) to reduce death cases among premature babies here.

A draft law is being prepared by the ministry of health to monitor private hospitals and clinics to prevent unnecessary IVF procedures performed by them to make profits.

A total of 250 premature babies died out of 1,852 who were admitted to ICU from 2006 to October 2009.

In a written reply in parliament the health minister said the percentage of fatal cases which is 13.4 to 13.8 per cent annually could be reduced further. He added that 50 premature babies out of 373 died in 2006, 56 out of 406 died in 2008, while in 2008, 67 out of 567 died and until October this year 68 premature children out of 506 couldn't be saved by medical teams.

The minister defended the work of medical teams, saying they could not be blamed for dearths as some children were delivered before the full growth of their major organs.

"Any infant born before completing 37 weeks of pregnancy is premature and prone to after-birth complications because of undeveloped immune system," the minister explained.

"We are doing our best to save those children by allocating a special ICU for them at the state-run hospital that has a capacity for 42 beds," he said while highlighting that all critical cases and premature infants are referred to the government hospital.