Obstetric outcome of singleton pregnancies achieved with in vitro fertilisation and intracytoplasmic sperm injection: Experience from a district general hospital

We conducted a case-controlled retrospective cohort study of all pregnancies achieved with the help of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in the Assisted Conception Unit of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital between September 1999 and March 2004 to assess if our experience was comparable with that reported in other studies. A total of 176 women with similar pregnancies were studied, half of which were conceived with ART and the other half were spontaneous pregnancies in fertile women. Continuous variables were compared by means of the paired t-test and categorical variables by means of the McNemar's test. Women who conceived with ART did not appear to be at greater risk of developing pre-eclampsia (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.2-2.9), PPROM (OR 0, CI 0-5.3,) abruptio placentae (OR 0, CI 0-1.5) or placenta praevia (OR 0, CI 0-39). They were, however, more likely to require caesarean delivery (OR 2, CI 0.7-5.8). Our ART women did not have an excess of obstetric complications when compared with their controls who conceived spontaneously. They however, had a tendency to a higher caesarean section rate.