IVF tied to maternal morbidity

Achieving pregnancy through in vitro fertilization (IVF) appears to increase the risk of severe maternal morbidity both during singleton or multiple pregnancies, a recent Korea study has found.

Drawing from Korea’s National Health Insurance Service National Delivery Cohort, the researchers conducted an analysis of 269,930 women who had given birth in 2018. The primary outcome of morbidity was assessed using an algorithm sourced from the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Severe morbidity, defined as a diagnosis of 21 established codes during hospitalization for childbirth, occurred in 6,333 women, yielding an incidence rate of 2.3 percent. These complications included eclampsia and acute renal failure. Interventions performed for such complications, such as blood transfusion or hysterectomy, were also considered.

Modified Poisson regression analysis found that in vitro fertilization increased the risk of severe maternal morbidity by over 50 percent (risk ratio [RR], 1.51, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.36–1.68) as compared with fertile controls.

Subgroup analysis also found that such aggravation was significant in both singleton (RR, 1.62, 95 percent CI, 1.43–1.83) and multiple (RR, 1.31, 95 percent CI, 1.07–1.60) births.

Meanwhile, intrauterine insemination techniques did not have such an effect on the primary outcome.

“Further research that identifies patient- and treatment-specific factors that may mitigate or prevent adverse maternal health risks is required,” the researchers said.