IVF Success Rates Are Improving
Good News For Infertile Couples
The success rates for live births following IVF treatment are improving, according to new data.
According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in the UK, success rates for IVF are improving. Official figures for success rates indicate a 0.9% increase in positive outcomes. In 2005, there were 11,262 children born as a result of IVF. However, there was also a 6% increase in the number of women who had IVF compared with the previous year, so this could account for some of the rise in successful outcomes.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has a website which lists percentages of success rates from clinic to clinic, and between different treatment methods. Rates vary according to the age of the patient, so these rates are also divided into age categories. Prospective patients can access this information online when deciding which clinic to attend. It is similar to the league tables kept for schools.
The most successful clinic in the UK is the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre in London, listed on the site.
Its data showed that as well as the IVF success rate increasing, the rates of multiple births also increased. In 2004 the rate for twins and triplets was 22.7% of those who had achieved pregnancy through IVF. The following year it had risen to 24%. This was despite the authority's efforts to curb multiple pregnancy by implementing single blastocyst transfer (transferring only one embryo into the womb instead of several) and banning the implantation of more than two embryos at any one time.
This has been disappointing to the authority because multiple birth is much more risky for both mother and babies. The mother has an increased risk of maternal death through high blood pressure and childbirth complications and a higher risk of a caesarean section, especially if she chooses to birth in a hospital, with all of the possible complications and a recovery time that major surgery involves.
For the babies, there is a higher chance of premature birth (because the womb has to stretch enough to accommodate two or more babies and may not be able to expand as much as needed so labor starts earlier). With this there is a higher risk of disabilities associated with prematurity and a risk of neonatal death. It should be noted that the majority of multiple births turn out fine, with happy moms and healthy babies, but as these risks are increased from singleton pregnancies, doctors much prefer a woman to carry only one baby at a time. This is the reason behind the authority's strategy.
Some doctors, however, believe that since IVF is becoming more effective, then it stands to reason that the twins and triplets rate would also increase and the public should be prepared to accept that. Any effort to lower this rate could potentially lower the overall pregnancy rate, a move which most infertile couples would not welcome.
