Women who conceive through in vitro fertilization and experience a serious pregnancy complication are twice as likely to deliver early (before 37 weeks) compared to those with only one of those factors, according to a Rutgers Health researcher.
The study, which appeared in JAMA Network Open, analyzed nearly 79 million hospital deliveries in the United States over two decades. It is the first to examine the combined effects of assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization, and placental abruption on preterm delivery rates. (The term is abbreviated as ART in medical circles.) “It’s crucial for patients undergoing IVF to be aware of all potential outcomes, especially given the stress they’re already under,” said Jennifer Zhang, the study’s lead author and an obstetrics and gynecology resident at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
The study utilized the National Inpatient Sample, one of the largest inpatient databases in the U.S., encompassing hospital data from 48 states. Using data from 2000 to 2019, researchers identified more than 391,000 pregnancies that underwent assisted reproduction and more than 850,000 cases of placental abruption, a known risk factor whereby the placenta separates from the uterus before delivery. To read the full story.