KUALA TERENGGANU, Sept 2 – Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah (HSNZ) created a history of sorts when two babies conceived through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) were born at the hospital on Merdeka Day.

Mastika Abdul Aziz, 31, a nurse at HSNZ, who had tried many ways to conceive and waited four long years to have a baby, was beaming with joy after having given birth to a bouncing boy weighing 2.92kg just 9.7 minutes into Merdeka Day.

“After this hospital introduced the IVF programme and the specialists recommended it to me, I tried it and it has been a success,” the proud mother told reporters who accompanied state executive councillor Dr Abdul Rahman Mokhtar in visiting the two “history makers”.

She and her husband Mohammad Fadli Ngah, 31, plan to name the baby Mohammad Amar Haziq.

The other lucky mother, Salina Mohamad, 44, a teacher at Sekolah Menengah Perempuan Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, said she and her husband were overjoyed to have a baby, and a “test tube” one at that, to be born on Merdeka Day.

The couple already have a six-year-old son but her husband Fazuri Ishak, 38, a navy personnel, had to leave for France soon after the boy was born to undergo submarine operations training.

“When my husband came back last year, we tried IVF at HSNZ and are now blessed with a daughter. And more than that, she was born on Merdeka Day,” she said, adding that the couple had named the girl, who weighed 2.81kg and came into the world at 11.25am, Nor Farisa Elya.

Meanwhile, Dr Abdul Rahman said the two babies were the first “test tube” babies to be born at HSNZ and that 10 more women would be delivering “test tube” babies at the hospital later this year and next year.

He said the state government had allocated RM1 million for HSNZ’s IVF programme which is run by three specialists headed by Dr Mohd Zulkifli Mohd Kassim.

He added that the hospital was able to handle 120 “test tube” births a year. – Bernama