More IVF babies in intensive care -
Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand, 5th Annual Congress, Canberra
Babies born following in-vitro fertilisation often spend lengthy periods of time in neonatal intensive care wards according to a study being presented at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) 5th Annual Congress in Canberra this week.
Dr Meredith Ward, who undertook the study while Neonatology Fellow at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, said more babies were now being born following assisted fertilisation, and the risks of multiple births and prematurity were still very high.
"IVF and the associated multiple births receive a lot of media attention, but there's very little discussion about the illness that may be experienced by the babies.
"IVF infants born as multiples will experience a significantly longer length of stay in neonatal intensive care than multiple births conceived naturally," Dr Ward said.
"This increased stay imposes a considerable burden on the families, and on the hospitals, and needs to be considered in the allocation of health resources and in the counselling of couples with fertility problems.
"The problem is likely to grow, with the substantial increase seen in the number of women seeking infertility treatment in the past decade," she said.
Dr Ward said according to the National Perinatal Statistics Unit, in 1992 there were 686 live births in NSW following IVF - comprising 0.8% of all live births. By 1997 this had risen to 1013 live births following IVF - or 1.2% of all live births in NSW in that year.
"There have also been changing trends in assisted fertilisation techniques, in particular the increasing use of microinsemination, which have improved the efficiency of IVF," she said.
Dr Ward's study showing an over-representation of IVF babies in intensive care wards in NSW and the ACT will be presented at the PSANZ Congress this Wednesday 14 March at 2.00pm EST.
The Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand is an organisation of healthcare professionals dedicated to the care of mother and baby during pregnancy, birth and early childhood.