Obstetrics and Gynaecology

Choosing where to have your baby is one of the few healthcare decisions you make months in advance, and it is the decision most Lagos families agonise over. You are weighing distance in traffic, whether the theatre is ready at two in the morning, whether the same doctor who saw you at 12 weeks will be there at 39, and what happens if something goes wrong.

SkyHigh runs obstetrics and gynaecology as a single continuous service rather than a set of appointments. The antenatal clinic, the delivery suite, the theatre, the laboratory and the inpatient ward are in the same building in Magodo Phase 2, staffed around the clock, so nothing about your care depends on a transfer across Lagos at the worst possible hour.

Alongside pregnancy and birth we run a full gynaecology service covering fibroids, abnormal bleeding, pelvic pain, infertility assessment, family planning and menopause. A year into the current management, the hospital has recorded over a hundred completed procedures, including myomectomies and caesarean sections.

Antenatal care from booking to delivery

Your first antenatal visit, usually called the booking visit, should happen as soon as you know you are pregnant, ideally before 12 weeks. It is longer than every visit that follows because it establishes the baseline everything else is measured against.

At booking we take a full medical, surgical and obstetric history, confirm gestational age by ultrasound, record blood pressure and weight, and run the booking bloods. In Nigeria that panel routinely includes blood group and rhesus status, packed cell volume or full blood count, genotype, HIV, hepatitis B and C, VDRL, urinalysis and a malaria parasite screen. Rhesus negative status in particular changes the plan for the rest of the pregnancy, and it is far better found at 10 weeks than at 30.

After booking, the standard schedule is monthly visits until 28 weeks, fortnightly to 36 weeks, then weekly to delivery. Any pregnancy flagged as higher risk, whether for raised blood pressure, previous caesarean section, diabetes, twins or a difficult obstetric history, moves onto a closer schedule with its own plan.

• Booking visit with dating scan and full booking blood panel
• Anomaly scan between 18 and 22 weeks
• Growth and wellbeing scans in the third trimester where indicated
• Tetanus toxoid immunisation and malaria prevention in pregnancy
• Haematinics, blood pressure surveillance and gestational diabetes screening
• A written birth plan agreed with your obstetrician before 36 weeks

Delivery and maternity

We support vaginal delivery as the default where it is safe, with continuous monitoring in labour and a theatre that is prepared rather than merely available. Nigeria's maternal outcomes are not made worse by the absence of theatres, they are made worse by the delay between the decision to operate and the first incision. Keeping theatre readiness inside the same building is the single most important thing a hospital of this size can do about that.

Caesarean section is offered when it is clinically indicated, whether planned in advance for a known reason such as placenta praevia, breech presentation at term or a previous classical scar, or decided during labour for obstructed progress or fetal distress. We will always tell you why, in plain language, before you consent.

After delivery, mother and baby stay together unless there is a clinical reason to separate them. Breastfeeding support starts within the first hour. A standard uncomplicated vaginal delivery usually means one to two nights on the ward, and a caesarean section usually means three, though your obstetrician sets the actual plan.

Fibroids and myomectomy

Uterine fibroids are extraordinarily common among Nigerian women, and most cause no symptoms at all and need nothing more than periodic review. The decision to operate is driven by symptoms and by fertility plans, not by the presence of fibroids on a scan.

Surgery is usually considered when there is heavy menstrual bleeding causing anaemia, pressure symptoms such as urinary frequency or abdominal swelling, pain that is not controlled, recurrent pregnancy loss, or difficulty conceiving where the fibroid position is judged to be responsible.

Myomectomy removes the fibroids and preserves the uterus, which is the right operation for a woman who wants to conceive. Hysterectomy removes the uterus and is definitive, which suits some women who have completed their families and want no risk of recurrence. We will discuss both honestly, including recurrence rates after myomectomy and what a uterine scar means for a future delivery.

Gynaecology and reproductive health

The gynaecology clinic handles abnormal or heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, cervical screening, contraception and family planning counselling, and the initial workup for difficulty conceiving.

Infertility assessment at SkyHigh covers both partners, because roughly half of the causes are male factor and starting with the woman alone wastes months. The first line workup involves hormone profiling, ovulation tracking, pelvic ultrasound, tubal assessment and semen analysis. Where treatment goes beyond what we provide, we refer to a specialist fertility centre with the full workup already completed rather than sending you to start again.