IVF ‘not reason for birth risks’
(wz) Complications associated with IVF are due to underlying fertility problems in the parents and not the techniques used during treatment, research suggests.
A study of more than 1.2 million births in Norway found an increased risk of low birthweight, premature birth or still birth after fertility treatment.
But further analysis showed this was unlikely to be related to the treatment itself, The Lancet study reported.
Around 1.5% of births in the UK are a result of fertility treatment.
Previous research has also shown that single births after fertility treatment are associated with a higher risk of complications but the reasons have been unclear.
In the latest study, babies born after fertility treatment were on average 25g smaller at birth, were born two days earlier and had a 31% increased risk of stillbirth.
But when the researchers looked in more detail at a subgroup of 2,500 women who had had babies naturally and through fertility treatment they found no significant difference in outcomes between the two kinds of births.
This suggests that the increased chance of complications may be due to the factors causing the fertility problems in the first place rather than the technology used to increase chances of conception, the researchers concluded. more…
From: »The BBC«