Category: SOUTH JERSEY

What You Need to Know About IVF in South Africa

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(February 18, 2020)–Prospective parents who are having trouble conceiving a child are more common than you may think. Statistics show that 1 in 6 parents will have trouble successfully conceiving their first child within 12 months of trying.

When this happens, couples turn to fertility clinics to help them conceive. Specifically, the procedure of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is designed to help parents with fertility issues so that they can successfully conceive a baby.

What this process entails and the factors that make it a successful conception alternative are things that you should consider when wondering if IVF is right for you and your significant other.

Only after you’ve been properly educated will you know what to look for in an

IVF clinic in South Africa

, or whatever area in which you’re looking.

What is IVF?

Since the first successful IVF in 1978, in vitro fertilization has become a common assisted reproductive technology (ART). It involves a complex series of medications and procedures that hope to result in successful embryonic fertilization, development, and implantation.

The first step involves medication designed to make a woman’s eggs mature so that they can be harvested by a doctor and fertilized in a laboratory with the desired sperm. These prepared eggs are then surgically inserted directly into the woman’s uterus.

Many people require multiple tries and many months for this process to be successful, as so much can go wrong. Most commonly, the uterus simply does not accept the implanted egg and no fetus ever develops.

This is why finding an accredited IVF clinic is so important. In a procedure already fraught with financial and physical complications, you want the best chance of getting it done right the first time.

IVF clinics in South Africa

Since so much can go wrong, you want to look for a few key factors when choosing an IVF clinic in South Africa.

The first is: are they accredited? You should only visit clinics that have been registered by

The Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA)

, the primary advisor on regulating and accrediting healthcare professions in South Africa.

Facilities

Next, you should ask if they have modern facilities and access to the latest fertilization technologies. Advanced laboratories like the one at Wijnland Fertility import IVF equipment from top manufacturers all over the world.

The Wijnland fertility clinic in South Africa, for instance, uses a device called an

Embryoscope

to maintain ideal conditions for eggs while they are being analyzed for quality. This is particularly useful for couples who have tried and failed many times with other fertilization methods.

Staff

You should also ask if the clinic has professional and experienced staff. Head doctors should have received specialist training in gynecology or obstetrics and have completed fellowships in fertility and related biological processes.

Do some research online to see what the embryologists and specialists at the clinic in question have done for experience, education, and additional training.

Mind and body

Finally, you want to assess whether the clinic treats patients as a whole person rather than merely as a medical procedure.

Fertilization is a trying process both physically and emotionally. Many different mental and social pressures converge on it to make it a stressful situation that your doctors need to address.

There’s the social judgment of not being able to conceive naturally, the pressure from family expectations when multiple attempts fail, and the strain on your finances. You may even have natural guarding and avoidance systems in your personality that make it really hard for you.

A clinic with staff trained in psychology or with counselors on call who are experienced in fertility counseling will be better suited to addressing all your needs as a prospective patient.

The Takeaway

In vitro fertilization is now a common process. This doesn’t mean that it’s always successful, however, as the process relies on many factors that all have a high failure rate. Variabilities such as your family history, the quality of the technology, and the inherent problems with successful fertilization mean that each attempt involves a series of stressful mental and physical trials.

This is why finding a suitable clinic to take care of all your needs is so essential. When evaluating your options for IVF treatment facilities in South Africa, look at the resumes of the resident doctors, the quality of their facilities, and the availability of mental counseling procedures to supplement the strain of going through this process.

Even though becoming a parent is difficult when you have fertility issues, it is possible in the modern age. With the right personnel and procedures, you can make the family you’ve always wanted into a reality.

How to Prevent Dog Attacks on Mail Carriers

PET PEEVES

If your dog bites a postal carrier, it could cost you thousands.

(

NAPSI)—Can you picture a member of your family attacking a mail carrier? Of course you couldn\’t, but it happened 5,714 times last year across the nation.

Dearborn, Mich., letter carrier Tameka

Toliver

recalls being pinned on a porch by a dog that bit her above her knee. \”It happened so fast, even with all my training, I barely had time to react,\”

Toliver

said last year. \”I\’m still scared when I get close to that house because I remember the attack so vividly. It takes a long time to get over the fear.\”

When a dog attacks a letter carrier, the dog owner could be held liable for all medical expenses, repayment of lost work hours, replacement of the uniform and other costs, which can run into thousands of dollars. The Postal Service places the safety of its employees as a top priority and dedicates a week each April to Dog Bite Awareness.

Here are four simple tips to prevent dog bite injuries that should be enforced year-round:

Door Delivery:

If a carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Some dogs burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to attack visitors.

Electronic Fencing:

Although the electronic fence may keep your dog from wandering, it does not protect your Postal Service carrier, who must enter your property to deliver the mail. Even homes with curbside mailboxes may have oversized packages or signature-needed items that require the carrier to approach a doorstep and cross the boundaries of the electronic fence.

Dog in Yard:

Make sure your dog is properly restrained on a leash away from where your mail carrier is delivering the mail. Mail delivery service can be interrupted at an address or neighborhood the carrier deems unsafe because of an unrestrained dog. When service is interrupted at an address or neighborhood, all parties involved will have to pick mail up at their local post office.

Tracking:

Dog owners who have access to postal notification features such as Informed Delivery (

informeddelivery.usps.com

) for letter mail and package tracking are urged to use this as a way to gauge when the carrier is on his or her way and to ensure their dog is properly restrained.

LOVE YOUR MONEY: New Jersey Residents Making $1.9 Million Annually Taxed at 9.8 %

The Center Square

The top 1 percent of earners in New Jersey are taxed at an effective rate of 9.8 percent, compared to the state’s 10.1 percent tax rate on the middle 20 percent of income earners, according to

a new 24/7 Wall St. analysis

.

CNBNews graphic files

The study, which used data from a 2018 report by the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), did not include federal taxes paid. New Jersey ranked 46th on the study’s list of the most tax-friendly states for the rich.

On average, the top 1 percent of earners in the state take in $1.9 million annually, according to 24/7 Wall St.

Nationwide, the top-earning 1 percent of families pay 7.4 percent of what they make toward state and local levies, the ITEP study concluded. The middle 20 percent of U.S. earners, in contrast, paid more – 9.9 percent.

States with no income tax – or a very low income tax – tended to be the most friendly to wealthy individuals, 24/7 Wall St. reported. That’s because those states tend to rely more on more regressive taxes, placing more of a burden on poorer households, the study found.

republished by Gloucestercitynews.net with permission of

The Center Square

Lessons Learned by Cape Town’s Day Zero

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(February 18, 2020)–“Day Zero” is the now infamous term used to describe an emergency plan put forth by the leadership of the city of Cape Town, South Africa during the worst recorded drought in over a century. In mid-2017, several factors contributed to Cape Town’s water supply reaching dangerously low levels.

Day Zero, if it was ever implemented, would have meant barring the water supply from public use so that it could be rationed daily. Until the city’s dams naturally replenished, Day Zero could have destroyed Cape Town’s buzzing tourist industry and its inhabitants’ way of life.

Water queues and widespread shortages were a reality that many businesses and civilians in Cape Town were very close to facing.

Knowing the causes of

Cape Town’s Day Zero

and why it never happened can teach us about the resilience and resourcefulness of the leadership and people of Cape Town. Additionally, observing their conservation efforts can help us progress in our own.

What caused Day Zero?

By 2017, Cape Town had experienced a population growth rate of almost 50%, according to its

census data

. However, the water storage capacity for the city had only increased by 15% over that same amount of time.

The widening gap between how much water was being pulled from the reserves and how much was being replenished created a situation where Cape Town’s supply was vulnerable to environmental disasters. New dams could not be built fast enough to offset the rising water usage in the city and the dearth of rainfall.

This disaster came subtly, in the form of record low rainfall in 2015, coupled with increased water usage by the people of the city owing to the population. As the reserves continued to drop, by mid-2017 Day Zero became the name of the plan that the city would have had to initiate if the water levels in the main storage dams reached below 13.5%.

Preventing Day Zero

The worst water crisis in modern history would have entailed daily water queues and rations, strict conservation of all public utilities, and reconstruction of the major waterways. No city has ever undertaken the depth of control that Day Zero would have required of Cape Town’s civilian and tourist population.

Thankfully, Cape Town reversely proved its resilience in the face of disaster by pushing Day Zero back continuously until it was postponed indefinitely in early 2018.

Thanks to water usage education initiatives distributed by the Cape Town city departments, the population got immediately on board with the effort to conserve the dangerously low water stores. The diligence and conscientiousness of the people lowered water usage by 50% by rationing showers, limiting water-based hygiene, and eliminating water usage for recreation.

Today, according to the

Cape Town website

, the city’s dams are holding at 70.3% of their reserve capacity. This makes Day Zero well out of the realm of possibility for the time being.

Effects of the Water Crisis

The businesses, tourists, industry professionals, leadership, and population of Cape Town rallied together to save their water supply. Today, the result is a much more environmentally cognizant city infrastructure. Their waterways have been refined for efficiency and their drainage and water recreation facilities have been modernized.

Not every city could reform its habits so quickly. The Cape Water Strategy is the latest progressive initiative designed to restructure the city’s water usage systems and dam storage capacity to prepare for another future disaster.

With populations growing all over the world, the conservation efforts of Cape Town are a model for any city leadership or population on how to manage a crisis and avoid disaster.

The Takeaway

The possibility of Day Zero happening in Cape Town was a result of stressed resources in a region already environmentally unstable due to population growth, a naturally dry climate, and erratic rainfall patterns. A few issues like a dry spell and a population boom culminated in what could have been the worst water disaster in any developed city in the modern world.

Instead, Cape Town rallied itself around conservation and survived the water shortage. Their concerted efforts to save themselves and their infrastructure are lessons that any city can learn from.

Now, a booming tourist destination and investment opportunity, the productive and resilient city of Cape Town is back to its former glory and then some. Before canceling a visit because of this near disaster, understand what preventing it means for the future of the city: progressively better infrastructure, cognizant people, and productive leadership.

The handling of the water crisis is proof of them all.

DNREC-sponsored ‘Butterflies and Clean Water’ presentations March 2 and 30

LAUREL DELAWARE (Feb. 2020) – The DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Reclaim Our River Program – Nanticoke Series, in partnership with the Delaware Nature Society’s Abbott’s Mill Nature Center, and the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, will host two free presentations in March on saving the monarch butterfly, gardening for butterflies, and the importance of clean water.

The presentations will address the monarch butterfly population’s decline of more than 90 percent worldwide over the past 20 years. This is a critical environmental loss, since flowering plants depend on pollinators, including butterflies, to reproduce. Pollinators enable flowering plants to purify water and prevent erosion, through roots that hold the soil in place, and provide foliage that buffers the impact of rain.

On March 2, butterfly enthusiast Mike McFarlin of Milton will speak about his efforts to help repopulate Delaware\’s monarch butterfly population, by raising hundreds of them each summer. In addition, he will explain how attendees can volunteer as stewards, and adopt an area of land that supports pollinator habitat.

The second presentation, on March 30, will be led by Alice Mohrman of the Delaware Nature Society’s Abbott’s Mill Nature Center and focus on gardening for butterflies. She will also provide tips on how to landscape yards with attractive native plants that support wildlife habitat, and help reduce waterway pollution.

A limited number of free milkweed seeds will be available to participants, along with information on activities that support clean water. Attendees also will learn about the 2020 Reclaim Our River–Nanticoke Series, which offers numerous opportunities to learn techniques for keeping local waterways clean. Participants are encouraged to arrive early.

Both presentations will begin at 6 p.m. at the Laurel Library, located at 101 East 4th Street, Laurel, DE 19956.

For more information about the presentations, contact Alice Mohrman at 302-422-0847, or

alice@delawarenaturesociety.org

. For more information on the Reclaim Our River Program, contact Philip Miller at 302-608-5468, or

Philip.miller@delaware.gov

Making The Knights of Columbus More Appealing

Written by Peter G. Sánchez/

The Camden Diocese

BRIDGETON, NJ–Don Olbrich is nothing if not persistent.

Wherever he goes, he carries with him Form 100s, which are membership documents for the Knights of Columbus. Which is not surprising, as he is Grand Knight of his council, Liberty Council 1910 out of Bridgeton’s Parish of the Holy Cross.

“I took a Form 100 to my doctor’s office,” he says, but it wasn’t blank.

“I had already filled out his name and phone number, all I needed was his address,” he continues.

And then there was the time he tried to get his son, D.J., to join the council.

“He kept telling me no, so I told some of my brother Knights that if they could get him to sign up, I’d give them $100. It worked,” he says, laughing.

Olbrich’s methods have no doubt rubbed off on his brother Knights. From July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, his council gained 40 new members, 800% of their recruitment goal. The effort made Liberty Council 1910 second in the country in recruitment for any Knight’s council.

Today, the 101-year-old council is 113 men strong, in ages ranging from 19 years old to the mid-80s, Olbrich says.

“We set monthly membership goals,” he says in explaining how the council achieved the milestone.

His doggedness and determination speak to his love of the church where he has been a Knight for 10 years.

“It’s all about helping the parish,” he says.

The Liberty Council Knights are a constant presence around the Holy Cross community, be it cooking for the annual fall parish festival, organizing a donation drive of baby wipes and diapers for single mothers and their children, or repainting lines in the church parking lot.

Olbrich was thankful for the leadership and guidance of Holy Cross pastor, Father Matthew Weber, who has shown “tremendous support” for the council.

“The Knights have been a wonderful blessing,” says Father Weber, himself a Fourth Degree Knight.

In addition to “stepping up” to help the parish in whatever needs to be done, such as helping out with maintenance issues or being extra hands at parish events, the Knights of Columbus are “leading men to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, and with each other,” he says.

As well, he is pleased that the council reflects the diverse nature of his Bridgeton parish — a bilingual community with a faithful and collaborative mix of Anglo-Saxon and Hispanic members.

“The Knights have been a beautiful bridge” between these communities, he says,

“I’m glad this council has blossomed. These men are pillars of charity, fraternity, unity, and patriotism,” Father Weber said, echoing the Knights of Columbus’ mission.

Following the call from Supreme Director Carl Anderson to make the Knights more appealing, the Bridgeton Knights will hold a public initiation ceremony after the 4:30 p.m. Mass at Saint Mary Church, Rosenhayn on Saturday, Feb. 22, with a spaghetti dinner afterward. All are welcome.

Home

Gloucester City Basketball Weekend

The Gloucester City Basketball League was in action this weekend, where the first place Grade 7/8 Senior Boys and Grade 3/4 Travel Girls took to the hardwood.

Teams pictured below are the Grade 7/8 Boys, Kindergarten and Grade 3/4 Girls

More Photos available at WWW.Darrowphotos.com

Photos Courtesy of Bruce Darrow

Pictured Kindergarten Action

Pictured below Kindergarten Shea Gorman

Pictured below Grade 7/8 Mike Light

Pictured below Corrine Kelly

Pictured below Audrey Rettig

Philly Baptist Church Minister Says Trump\’s Opportunity Zone Program is Working (video)

Rev. Todd Johnson, \”Trump changed Philadelphia for the better, people are waking up to pandering Dems.\”

PHILADELPHIA, PA (February 15, 2020)–Appearing on

\”Fox & Friends: Weekend\”

, Reverend Todd Johnson, of the

First Immanuel Baptist

Church

said Saturday the Opportunity Zone in the city of brotherly love — created by the 2017

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

— is working.

According to the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

, Opportunity Zones are designed to spur

economic

development and

job creation

in distressed communities throughout the United States by providing tax benefits to investors who invest eligible capital gains by making an appropriate investment and meet other requirements.

(CONTINUE TO READ)

Watch the latest video at

foxnews.com

Michael G. DelGozzo, of Ocean City; Alumnus of Rhode Island U and Bishop Eustace HS

Ocean City, NJ – On February 15, 2020. Age 46. Formerly of Medford. Loving son of Anthony M. and Alice M. DelGozzo. Loving brother of Greg DelGozzo and his wife, Sheryl and Vinny DelGozzo and his wife, Laura. Cherished uncle of Trevin, Josh, Cooper, Alex and Brooklynn. Loving longtime companion of Julie Dash. Also survived by many loving aunts

, uncles, cousins and friends.

Mike was a graduate of Bishop Eustace High School class of 1992 and received his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Rhode Island. His interests included music, literature, fishing and surfing. Michael had great appreciation for horses, horse racing and the jockeys. He loved trips to the racetrack and annual trips to Saratoga.

Relatives and friends are invited to his visitation on Thursday morning, February 20

th

, from 9:30 to 11:45 AM at St. Mary of the Lakes R.C. Church, 40 Jackson Rd, Medford, NJ 08055. Mass of Christian Burial 12 Noon in the church. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, P.O. Box 803, Elmhurst, IL 60126 or online at pdjf.org, a cause very important to Michael. Please memo: Michael G. DelGozzo.

Condolences and Memories may be shared at www.mccannhealey.com under the obituary of Michael G. DelGozzo. Funeral Arrangements and Inquiries through: McCANN-HEALEY FUNERAL HOME, Gloucester City Ph: 856-456-1142

WALLET HUB: Some New Jersey Cities Rank at the Bottom of Credit Score Analysis

By Bethany Blankley |

The Center Square

To coincide with the approaching tax season and to help taxpayers evaluate their spending and debt habits, the personal-finance website WalletHub published a ranking of residents’ credit scores in more than 2,500 cities nationwide.

WalletHub compared the median credit scores of residents in 2,572 U.S. cities “to give credit where credit is literally and figuratively due,” Adam McCann, financial writer at Wallethub says.

Its 2020\’s

Cities with the Highest & Lowest Credit Scores

ranked all cities according to TransUnion data as of September 2019.

Four New Jersey cities ranked in the bottom: Newark, with a median credit score of 587, followed by New Brunswick’s 577, East Orange’s 577, and Camden City\’s 552.

With 99 being the best percentile ranking, Camden’s ranked in the 1 percentile and tied for last place with East St. Louis, Ill., and Chester, Penn.

Ranking 10th-worst was East Orange, followed by 11th-worst New Brunswick, and 18th-worst Newark, all falling in the 1 percentile.

Trenton fared slightly better, with its residents holding a median credit score of 601, but also fell in the 1 percentile.

By comparison eight New Jersey cities ranked in the 91st to 97th percentile with scores of 752 and above. The highest New Jersey ranking was Westfield, where residents landed in the 98th percentile with a median credit score of 768. Ridgewood followed in the 97th percentile with a score of 764; Princeton in the 96th percentile with a score of 761; Paramus in the 95th percentile with a score of 760; Fair Lawn in the 92nd percentile with a score of 754; Summit in the 91st percentile with a score of 752; and Hoboken and Flemington in the 91st percentile, each with scores of 752.

Wallethub only included the city proper in its analysis, excluding the suburbs in each city’s surrounding metro area. Each city was categorized by population size with large cities having more than 300,000 people, mid-sized between 100,000 and 300,000 people, and small cities with less than 100,000 people.

republished here by Gloucestercitynews.net with permission of

The Center Square