Outcomes for Infants Born to Fertile, Subfertile and ART-Assisted Women :

Women finding it difficult to conceive may turn to assisted reproductive technology (ART) to assist them in delivering what they hope will be a healthy baby. Other women having fertility issues may be wary of or cannot afford ART and though subfertile, continue to try to conceive and can be successful.  So are there differences in the health outcomes of infants born to women who are subfertile or who receive ART for their infertility compared to women who are fertile?  Hwang et al. (10.1542/peds.2017-4069) elected to investigate this question using more than 6 years of data, describing births in Massachusetts linked with a clinical ART database.  Their findings involving 336,705 fertile mothers, 5,043 subfertile mothers, and 8,375 ART-treated mothers found important differences.  For example, the odds of being born preterm were greater in both the subfertile and ART-treated mothers compared to those who were fertile, with more respiratory and gastrointestinal problems noted in these babies as well.  There were also increased risks for congenital malformations and infectious diseases as well.  Infants born to mothers who received ART compared to subfertile mothers were less likely to be born at an earlier gestational age and have a lower risk of congenital malformations and cardiovascular disorders but have a greater risk of having an infectious disease in early infancy.  There are many other interesting and concerning findings contained in this study that you should spend some time reading about so you are more aware of what to watch for if your patients are giving birth, having fertility problems and/or using ART technology to assist in their giving birth.