Doctors call for IVF regulation
(cz) The unregulated and completely privatised administration of infertility treatment has led to an increase in the birth of triplets and quadruplets, and in turn a greater health risk to newborns, a study published in the Malta Medical Journal shows.
The study is recommending the introduction of state-funded fertility treatment to put an end to the anarchy reigning in this sector.
It also says infertility treatment “must be tempered by good adequate advice” and that the stimulation of ova in women “must be regulated and restricted only to accredited specialists”.
Doctors found that while the use of fertility pills and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment was used in just 0.7% of singleton births, reproductive technology was responsible for 28% of births involving triplets and 50% involving quadruplets.
The study population included a total of 20,215 deliveries between 2000-2004, which included a total of 242 twin births, 11 triplets, and two quadruplet births.
The report’s authors said that the number of twins and higher multiple births had increased by 19% since the 1960s, mainly due to the increasing use of fertility treatment.
But the study highlights how multiple births face a greater risk of premature delivery, low birth weight, and complications like respiratory distress.
“The occurrence of multiple pregnancies remains fraught with adverse outcomes in spite of the advances in obstetric antenatal surveillance,” the report warns.
The mortality rate in multiple births remains 7.5 times higher than that registered for singleton births.
And while 85% of multiple pregnancies are born prematurely, this only happens among 4% of single births. more…
From: »Malta Today«