PREGNANCIES AND BIRTHS RESULTING FROM IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION - FRENCHNATIONAL REGISTRY, ANALYSIS OF DATA 1986 TO 1990

Objective: To describe the characteristics of pregnancies and children at birth resulting from IVF-ET and to assess whether they differ from those after natural conception. Design: Prospective multicenter surve y. Setting: A national registry, representing 80% of all French IVF-ET activity for the period 1986 to 1990. Patients: Data on 7,024 pregnan cies, 5,371 deliveries, and 6,879 newborn infants. Interventions: A fo rm is completed for every clinical pregnancy. Main Outcome Measures: S pontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancy, multiple pregnancy, prematurit y, hypotrophy, perinatal and neonatal mortality, and congenital malfor mations rates. Results: The spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy rates were, respectively, 17.6% and 5.8%. More than a quarter (26.8%) of the deliveries were multiple births. The preterm birth rate (29.3% ), the low birth weight rate (36.2%), and the perinatal and neonatal m ortality rates were higher than the national average. The rate of malf ormations (2.8%) was comparable with the general population (2.1%). Co nclusion: Assisted conception frequently results in multiple pregnancy , and this is the main determinant of pregnancy outcome. Nevertheless, it is not the only risk factor for prematurity, which is also more fr equent among IVF singleton newborn. The prevalence of congenital malfo rmations is not higher than after natural conception.