
Ospedale Santa Maria GVM

National Reference Point for Medically Assisted Reproduction
Location: Via Antonio de Ferrariis, 22, Bari, Italy
Overview
Pioneer of excellence in southern Italy
Founded in 1969, Santa Maria Hospital in Bari is an institution accredited by the Italian Health Service and belongs to the leading private European Healthcare Group – GVM Care & Research, with numerous first-class medical services: from cardiology to cardiac surgery, from hemodynamics to infertility treatment and gynecology. Born as a maternity clinic in the 1960s, the hospital still stands out today for its prevention, diagnosis and treatment of women’s health. The hospital is home to the Breast Unit, a multidisciplinary unit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, which treats around 500 patients every year.
Today, the hospital has a completely renewed cardiac surgery team specialized in reconstructive and replacement surgery of the aortic and mitral valves and revascularization of the myocardium, ready to face more complex cases, such as repeat operations and the possibility of operating with minimally invasive methods, as in revascularization with bypass on the beating heart. The Cardiac Surgery of Santa Maria di Bari Hospital also ranks first in Puglia for the lowest mortality rate 30 days after surgery for aneurysm of the abdominal aorta.
Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR)

Santa Maria di Bari Hospital, a multi-specialist hospital structure accredited with the National Health Service, is part of GVM Care & Research, and is a point of reference for Italy for diagnosis, therapy and research in the field of male infertility and feminine, with 30 years of experience. Its Medically Assisted Procreation Center provides a complete path of support for couples who have difficulty conceiving: from gynecological and andrological examinations to diagnostic imaging, up to first level (intrauterine insemination) and second level (in vitro fertilization) help techniques IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection ICSI), cryopreservation of semen, oocytes and embryos, heterologous fertilization with donation of both female and male gametes, without forgetting psychological counseling, which is essential to accompany the couple throughout the process.
Santa Maria Hospital in Bari was one of the first centers in Italy to use the ICSI technique, performing over 10,000 egg retrievals since 1991, resulting in approximately 2,500 pregnancies and as many children. With an average of 1,200 first and second-stage procedures per year, the center performs more than one-third of the procedures performed in the region. Santa Maria Hospital is a national reference point for Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR) and the health facility with the highest volume of procedures in southern Italy. The medically assisted procreation programs of the Ospedale Santa Maria have the most innovative international protocols regarding:
- in vitro fertilization (IVF);
- Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI);
- Preservation of both male and female fertility;
- Embryo culture even up to the blastocyst stage;
- Vitrification of oocytes;
- Vitrification of embryos;
- Oocyte thawing cycles;
- Embryo thawing cycles;
- Freezing of sperm from both ejaculate and testicular biopsy;
- Heterologous fertilization.
The Infertility Treatment Center is also active in the research field and implements protocols to help patients understand the importance of correct prevention and therefore of correct information, then a timely diagnosis of infertility, targeted treatments and, where necessary, the conservation of one’s own gametes as investment for tomorrow.
According, to a public reporting portal of Italian healthcare facilities, compared the performance of the facilities based on the data released by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (MAR Register), Ospedale Santa Maria – GVM Care & Research of Bari is in first position, for number of cycles of IUI, intrauterine insemination – level I technique, while for the number of oocyte thawing procedures – level II and III technique – the hospital of Santa Maria occupies the 4th place in the national ranking.