Pregnancy Complications and Short‐Term Follow‐Up of Infants Born After in Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer (IVF/ET)

Abstract

Two hundred and six pregnancies occurring after in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer (ET) during a 7-year period in Göteborg were analysed with respect to pregnancy outcome. The clinical abortion rate was 26%, the rate of ectopic pregnancy was 10%, the rate of ongoing pregnancies beyond 24 weeks was 15%, and the rate of deliveries was 49% (n = 100). The hospital records of 98 women with the 100 deliveries resulting in 131 infants were studied. Multiple pregnancy occurred in 27%, including one quadruplet and two triplet pregnancies. Preterm birth occurred in 30% of all pregnancies and in 20% of singleton pregnancies. Thirty-four percent of the infants had a birth weight of less than 2500 g. The perinatal mortality was 46/1000, as estimated from the 24th week of pregnancy. The incidence of major malformation, 2.3%, was similar to that reported from studies in the general population. The first 100 infants born were followed up for 18 months to 8 years. Long-term sequelae were associated with immaturity and low birth weight. No problems during follow-up were disclosed in children who had had an uneventful neonatal period. It is concluded that IVF pregnancies are an obstetric risk group requiring special attention.

Medical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes in school-age children conceived by In-Vitro Fertilization

“…The translation to Hebrew (Bidel, 1988) used the same procedure described previously, and for middle-school-age children, internal consistency was found to be 35, test-retestreliability was .87, and concurrent validity as assessed by correlation with teachers' reports of aggression was .78 and with parents' reports was 31. It was found, for example, to differentiate between late-adopted and nonadopted children (Zoran, 1996). In the present study, Cronbach's alpha was .8 1.…”

Is fetal growth impaired after in vitro fertilization?

“…Wennerholm et al . have reported that 10% of singletons born after IVF and ET were growth restricted 5. Furthermore Tan et al .…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated considerably higher IUGR, SGA, and hypertension rates in patients being pregnant after assisted reproduction. Thus some studies have found hypertension rates between 11 and 14% and SGA rates between 10 and 13% 4, 5. Other authors have reported normal IUGR and hypertension rates in women undergoing assisted reproduction 6.…”

“…In addition to the risk for multiple gestation resulting from high order embryo transfer (ET), previous studies also suggest that singleton fetuses may be at increased risk for low birth weight 2 and birth defects 3. Some investigators 4, 5 but not all 6 have reported an increased risk of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) in pregnancies conceived after IVF. Therefore the primary aim of the present investigation was to study fetal growth in detail with repeated sonograms estimating fetal weight in this group.…”

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“…Whether singleton ART-derived pregnancies are also at high risk of prematurity remains controversial. Some authors have reported higher rates of prematurity in singleton ART pregnancies than in spontaneous pregnancies (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), whereas others found no such difference (11)(12)(13).…”