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Risk of prematurity and infant morbidity and mortality by maternal fertility status and plurality

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the risk of prematurity and infant mortality by maternal fertility status, and for in vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancies, by oocyte source and embryo state combinations.

Methods

Women in 14 States who had IVF-conceived live births during 2004–13 were linked to their infant’s birth and death certificates; a 10:1 sample of non-IVF births was selected for comparison; those with an indication of infertility treatment on the birth certificate were categorized as subfertile, all others were categorized as fertile. Risks were modeled separately for the fertile/subfertile/IVF (autologous-fresh only) group and for the IVF group by oocyte source-embryo state combinations, using logistic regression, and reported as adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

The study population included 2,474,195 pregnancies. Placental complications (placenta previa, abruptio placenta, and other excessive bleeding) and prematurity were both increased with pregestational and gestational diabetes and hypertension, among subfertile and IVF groups, and in IVF pregnancies using donor oocytes. Both subfertile and IVF pregnancies were at risk for prematurity and NICU admission; IVF infants were also at risk for small-for-gestation birthweight, and subfertile infants had greater risks for neonatal and infant death. Within the IVF group, pregnancies with donor oocytes and/or thawed embryos were at greater risk of large-for-gestation birthweight, and pregnancies with thawed embryos were at greater risk of neonatal and infant death.

Conclusions

Prematurity was associated with placental complications, diabetes and hypertension, subfertility and IVF groups, and in IVF pregnancies, donor oocytes and/or thawed embryos.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank SART and all of its members for providing clinical information to the SART CORS database for use by patients and researchers. Without the efforts of their members, this research would not have been possible.

The authors also gratefully acknowledge the following State agencies for their assistance in conducting this study:

California Department of Public Health, Office of Health Information and Research

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Connecticut Department of Public Health

Florida Department of Health

Illinois Department of Public Health

Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics

New Jersey Department of Health

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Bureau of Vital Statistics

New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Health Informatics, Vital Statistics Unit

North Carolina Department of Health

Ohio Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics

Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Health Statistics and Research

Texas Department of State Health Services, Center for Health Statistics

Virginia Department of Health.

Source of funding

The project described was supported by grant R01CA151973 from the National Cancer Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health, nor any of the State Departments of Health which contributed data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, 965 Fee Road, East Fee Hall, Room 628, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Barbara Luke

  2. Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Morton B. Brown

  3. Redshift Technologies, Inc., New York, NY, USA

    Ethan Wantman

  4. Yale Fertility, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    David B. Seifer

  5. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Amy T. Sparks & Bradley J. Van Voorhis

  6. Seattle Reproductive Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Paul C. Lin

  7. Center for Assisted Reproduction, Bedford, TX, USA

    Kevin J. Doody

  8. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Logan G. Spector

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  1. Barbara Luke
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  2. Morton B. Brown
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  3. Ethan Wantman
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  4. David B. Seifer
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  9. Logan G. Spector
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Luke.

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Conflict of interest

Barbara Luke is a research consultant to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology; all other authors report no conflict of interest.

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Luke, B., Brown, M.B., Wantman, E. et al. Risk of prematurity and infant morbidity and mortality by maternal fertility status and plurality. J Assist Reprod Genet 36, 121–138 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-018-1333-z

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