2020 Volume 56 Issue 1 Pages 64-70
Objectives: The number of pregnancies following infertility treatment has been increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with infertility treatments.
Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis using electronic clinical records from one hospital in Narita, Japan. We included all women who gave birth between 2015 and 2018（N＝2,243）. We compared outcomes of pregnancies achieved using an ART（ART group）or a general infertility treatment（Non-ART group）with the outcomes of unassisted pregnancies（natural pregnancy group）. We investigated 7 maternal outcomes and 6 neonatal outcomes. We conducted multiple logistic regression to assess the differences in outcomes while adjusting for potential confounders.
Results: We found a significantly higher risk of placenta previa in the general infertility treatment group（ORs＝2.41; 95％ CI＝1.03-5.63; p＝.043）and the ART group（ORs＝2.70; 95％ CI＝1.30-5.60; p ＜ .01）compared to the unassisted pregnancy group. The risks of major postpartum hemorrhage（ORs＝2.34; 95％ CI＝1.47-3.73, p ＜ .01）and low Apgar score at one minute（ORs＝1.81; 95％ CI＝1.05-3.11, p＝.034）were also higher in the ART group compared to the unassisted pregnancy group.
Conclusions: This study indicates a possibility of increasing adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes associated with infertility treatment. Further studies with a large sample from multiple settings are needed for developing robust evidence on the impact of infertility treatment and for the prevention of adverse outcomes.
