Objective: The purpose of this case-control study was to examine the maternal and neonatal morbidities associated with in vitro fertilization (IVF) in a single large teaching hospital. It was hypothesized that IVF mothers would have more perinatal complications and IVF infants would have higher mortality and morbidity rates than non-IVF control subjects.
Methods: One hundred forty-three gestations resulting from 101 IVF pregnancies, which included singletons (n = 62), twins (n = 72), and triplets (n = 9), were compared with equal numbers of non-IVF control subjects. Each pregnancy was matched by maternal age, race, insurance type, neonatal gender, order of gestation, order in delivery, and date of delivery (+/- 6 months). Among the 143 matched gestations, six IVF and seven control infants died, leaving 137 IVF and 136 control neonates for comparison.
Results: The IVF mothers had more pregnancy-induced hypertension (21% vs 4%), premature labor (44% vs 22%), labor induction (25% vs 1%), and preterm delivery (37% vs 21%). The IVF infant survivors had a lower mean (+/- SD) birth weight (2623 +/- 857 gm vs 3006 +/- 797 gm), more frequent occurrence of low birth weight (42% vs 27%), and shorter gestations (37 +/- 4 vs 38 +/- 3 weeks). The IVF infants had longer hospitalizations, more days of oxygen therapy, more days of continuous positive airway pressure, and increased prevalence of respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, and sepsis.
Conclusions: Couples who undergo IVF appear to be at increased risk of having low birth weight and preterm infants, and multiple gestations account for most of the neonatal morbidities. Both the mothers who conceive multiple gestations by means of IVF and their neonates are at an increased risk of having multiple morbidities.