IVF 'may double the risk of women giving birth prematurely' according to new research

IVF may almost double the risk of women giving birth prematurely, according to a study of more than 60,000 pregnancies. Ten per cent of women who conceived thanks to fertility treatment gave birth before 37 weeks, which is considered premature, scientists found. That is almost twice the rate for women who conceived naturally. However, those born before 37 weeks are still more likely than full-term babies to suffer from a range of long-term problems, including cerebral palsy, and developmental conditions such as ADHD. They are also less likely to excel at school.
The doctors behind the study think IVF may trigger changes in the placenta, which make premature birth more likely. Experts believe that freezing the embryo first and then implanting it later, rather than doing everything in the same menstrual cycle, may offer protection against the risk.
More than 50,000 women in Britain undergo IVF or a related technique called ICSI every year, according to official figures, resulting in about 12,000 births. Italian researchers looked at 15 studies covering 61,677 births, and concluded that the rate of premature birth was ‘considerably higher’ in mothers who had undergone IVF/ ICSI than in those who had not. Even after ‘age matching’ to take into account the fact that women having IVF tend to be older, there was still a big difference.
On a like-for-like basis, women who had had IVF were 63 per cent more likely to give birth before 37 weeks than those who had conceived naturally. Some studies indicate that ‘sub-fertile’ women who have trouble conceiving tend to be biologically predisposed to premature birth. But in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, the researchers said that studies indicated ‘the risk of pre-term birth in IVF/ICSI patients is due to the treatment itself’.
Harley Street expert Dr Gedis Grudzinskas said: ‘The phenomenon is real. There’s a mechanism by which the implantation process is compromised slightly by IVF.’
Women who have IVF with frozen embryos have a better chance of becoming pregnant, the study also found. Scientists say the removal of eggs during fertility treatment could damage the womb’s lining. But if implantation could be delayed after egg collection – as enabled by freezing embryos – then the womb could be given time to heal, leading to a better chance of pregnancy. However, scientists warn that the potential benefits of freezing embryos are highly dependent on the skills of different IVF clinics.
Dr Gedis Grudzinskas, a Harley Street fertility expert, said: ‘If implantation could be delayed by a month or two after egg collection, then problems could be overcome.
‘But should we recommend routinely freezing embryos? Only if the IVF clinic has excellent freezing facilities.
‘The critical part of IVF is the quality of its cryobiology.’