THE OBSTETRIC OUTCOME OF SINGLETON PREGNANCIES FOLLOWING IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION GAMETE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER

The present study compares 465 singleton live deliveries from in-vitro fertilization/gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (IVF/GIFT) pregnancies with a large control population to evaluate the incidence of pre-term delivery and small for gestational age (SGA) or very small for gestati on age (VSGA) babies resulting from IVF/GIFT pregnancies. Overall the incidence of SGA or VSGA from an IVF/GIFT pregnancy is higher than fro m the normal obstetric population (SGA odds ratio 1.76, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.38-2.25 and VSGA odds ratio 1.61, 95% CI: 1.05-2.46) particularly among primiparous women (SGA odds ratio 1.99, 95% CI: 1. 25-3.16 and VSGA odds ratio 1.97, 95% CI: 1.49-2.62). After stratifyin g by the cause of infertility, only women with unexplained infertility had a significantly higher proportion of SGA/VSGA babies. There was a significantly higher incidence of pre-term deliveries among the young primiparae (odds ratio 5.02, 95% CI: 3.09-8.13). Thus the excess risk of delivering a SGA/VSGA baby and pre-term delivery from an IVF/GIFT pregnancy seems to be largely confined to women with unexplained infer tility and young primiparae.