The gynaecology and maternity hospital in Postojna in the southwest of the country has launched its own infertility clinic, the third of its kind in Slovenia, in a €1.35 million investment.

The centre is key for the survival of the Postojna hospital, which "has been expanding its programme in the last two years in light of the decreasing natality in Slovenia," the hospital's director Aleksander Merlo told the 5 March inauguration ceremony.

He noted that the need for infertility treatments is increasing every year, so the centre will benefit many couples.

One in six couples in Slovenia has difficulty conceiving and 1,000 babies annually or 5% of children in Slovenia are born with the help of medically assisted reproduction techniques.

The Health Ministry invested €1.1 million in upgrading some 200 m2 of space on the hospital's ground floor into the new centre, while the equipment cost an additional €250,000.

The new centre will bring some high-skilled jobs to the hospital, which is not experiencing staff shortages.

Three to four gynaecologists, specialised in infertility treatments, will perform the clinical part of the assisted reproduction procedure and embryo transfers. Embryologists will also be working at the centre to perform the laboratory part of the procedure. Both doctors and anaesthesiologists will be present at the hospital 24/7.

"It is important that the state enables couples who want children to have them," Health Minister Valentina Prevolnik Rupel said, adding the centre is important considering the country's falling birth rate. In 2023, the rate decreased by 15% compared to the year before.

Prime Minister Robert Golob, who was also present for the ceremony, said he knew the hospital and the work of its employees well and was pleased with the new facility.

Lora Roglič, the wife of cyclist Primož Roglič, donated to the hospital the pink jersey that Roglič won at the Giro d'Italia last year.

The Postojna centre is the third such centre in Slovenia's public healthcare network, after Ljubljana and Maribor.

Some 1,500 babies are born in the Postojna hospital every year; last year 1,460 were delivered. The hospital also performs around 1,000 surgeries and is especially successful in treating advanced cancers.