Dr Cheng Li Chang
WC Cheng & Associates
339 Thomson Road #01-01
Thomson Medical Centre
Singapore 307677
Tel: 6253 4122
Fax: 6354 8891
I was under him throughout my pregnancy. He is also the
head of Thomson Fertility Centre. As he's the no. 2 guy in
Thomson Medical, if you're his patient, you get better service and
special treatment from the nurses and staff. That's my
experience lah.
He's a bit more ex than the usual ones. But if you do not
have budget constraint, you can consider going to him. Last
year, he appeared on The Straits Times for saving and delivery a
set of triplet boys.
Here's the news article from ST dated Jan 08:
Triple feat: 3 identical babies conceived naturally
WHEN the ultrasound scan showed that his patient was going to have
three babies instead of one, Dr Cheng Li Chang's first thought was:
'This can't be, it's so rare. Aiyoh, it's going to be tough!'
Triplets are, in themselves, rare, but 30-year-old Ms Gladys Lim's
babies are further up the rarity stakes: They are identical, and
were conceived naturally to boot.
Most triplets are the result of fertility treatments, in which two
or more fertilised eggs are planted in the womb.
Ms Lim and her husband Joey Chiew's three sons, however, came from
a single egg which split into two. One of the two then divided
again, to make three babies.
The couple, who have a 16-month-old daughter, were 'shocked and
surprised' when told, eight weeks into the pregnancy, that they
were expecting triplets. The first scan just two weeks earlier had
shown only one baby.
Mr Chiew, an army regular, said: 'How rare it is to have triplets
conceived naturally. It is a blessing, and a gift from God.'
Ms Lim, a higher technical officer with the Housing Board, said:
'We were not so much concerned about their rarity as we were about
their health. We were worried they would be premature and develop
complications.'
Even Dr Cheng had been worried, because the three babies were
contained within the same protective sac, instead of in separate
ones.
Sharing a sac meant they shared the same placenta which supplied
oxygen and other nutrients, which increased the risk of one baby
taking in more nutrients at the others' expense. An undernourished
baby could die in the womb.
To stabilise the pregnancy and keep the babies in the womb for as
long as possible, Ms Lim took medication to relax her muscles and
prevent premature contractions. She rested at home from
mid-October.
She was also given injections to help her babies' lungs mature, so
their chances of survival would be improved if they were born
early.
But as signs of one baby becoming malnourished began showing on
Thursday, Dr Cheng performed a Caesarean section. They had, at the
time, been in the womb for 34 weeks, a little short of the full
term of 37 to 40 weeks.
At 1.38kg to 1.51kg each, they weigh just half as much as full-term
babies.
But Zachariah, Jeremiah and Nehemiah, born one minute apart, are
healthy. They do not need breathing or feeding tubes.
Barring infection, they should be discharged from Thomson Medical
Centre within a month, said their paediatrician, Dr Keoy Soo
Shin.
Their parents and Dr Cheng are relieved they are well. Ms Lim said:
'I hope everything goes well from now - no hiccups, no
complications.'
Dr Cheng, 48, has had patients give birth to triplets at least once
a year since he began handling fertility treatments at Thomson
Medical Centre in 1994. But this is the first set of naturally
conceived identical triplets he has delivered.
Last year, one of his patients who had undergone fertility
treatment gave birth to triplets, but from two eggs. One of the
eggs had divided to produce a pair of identical twins, in addition
to the first baby.
Doctors at KK Women's and Children's Hospital do not recall
delivering any naturally conceived triplets there.
Since 1986, Singapore General Hospital has delivered 51 sets of
triplets, of which three sets were naturally conceived. It is not
known if they were identical.
