Women who undergo IVF at greater risk of these disorders

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Women who undergo IVF are at increased risk of complications such as acute kidney damage and an irregular heartbeat, according to new research.

Cases of caesarean delivery and premature births rise by 38 and 26 percent respectively.

Placental abruption - a serious condition in which the placenta separates from the lining of the womb - is 57 percent more likely.

They are 65 percent more likely to develop an irregular heartbeat - and face more than two and a half times higher risk of acute kidney damage.

Lead author Professor Pensee Wu, of Keele University, England, said: "Older women are increasingly turning to assisted reproductive technology.

"However, advancing maternal age - specifically being age 35 and older – increases the risk of having or developing conditions, such as chronic high blood pressure, that increase the risk of pregnancy complications."

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is the umbrella term for infertility treatments in which eggs or embryos are handled to improve the odds of pregnancy.

These treatments may involve administering medication to control the timing of ovulation.

They also include IVF (in vitro fertilisation) or ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) in which eggs are surgically retrieved and fertilized before being implanted back into the womb.

Roughly 2.1% of all infants born in the United States were conceived using ART techniques in 2019, according to the CDC.

Worldwide there are already over five million such individuals - with numbers increasing each year.

Prof Wu said: "Adverse pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure during pregnancy have now been established as risk factors for future cardiovascular disease.

"All of this has raised concerns about adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with assisted reproductive technology, yet studies on the topic are few and have inconsistent findings.

"A better understanding of the potential impact of assisted reproductive technology on women’s risks for cardiovascular- and pregnancy-related outcomes will help inform women considering assisted reproductive technology and is valuable after birth to develop cardiovascular risk reduction strategies."

Her team analysed more than 106,000 deliveries in the US conceived with ART and over 34 million without from January 2008 to December 2016.

They also extracted records of cardiovascular and pregnancy-related complications from the US National Inpatient Sample data.

Women who conceived with ART, including IVF, were seven years older on average, 35 compared to 28.

They also had more pre-existing health conditions such as chronic hypertension, obesity and diabetes.

But the increased risks were present even after taking these factors into account.

Prof Wu said: "We were surprised assisted reproductive technology was independently associated with these complications, as opposed to being associated with only the existence of pre-existing health conditions or only among older women undergoing infertility treatment."

It highlights the importance of counselling patients considering ART about health and pregnancy - as well as the risks after birth.

Prof Wu said: "Especially patients with existing cardiovascular risk factors should be counselled about the potentially long-term cardiovascular implications and risks associated with ART.

"It's important for women to know assisted reproductive technology carries a higher risk of pregnancy complications, which require close monitoring, particularly during delivery.

"Primary and specialist health care professionals should ensure these risks are communicated and strategies to mitigate them are discussed and implemented."

She added: "Future research should examine how optimising cardiovascular risk prior to assisted reproductive technology impacts pregnancy complications and long-term cardiovascular health."

The study is in the Journal of the American Heart Association.