ObjectivesAssisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has made great strides in the past
forty-years, but no medical treatment comes without side effects. Despite
several studies reporting high incidences of perinatal complications, the
association is inconclusive. Also, the effect of racially and ethnically
distinguished Asian population undergoing ART on perinatal outcomes is not
well studied. Therefore, this study attempts to compare various perinatal
outcome parameters in ART, and spontaneously conceived singleton pregnancies
from a single high-volume tertiary care center.MethodsThis is a retrospective cohort study from a single tertiary infertility
center, carried out from January 2011 to September 2020. The study included
1,125 IVF conceived babies (AB group) and 7,193 spontaneous conceived babies
(SB group). The groups were compared using the Pearson Chi-square test and
adjusted odds ratio, calculated using the multivariate analysis.ResultsMost of the perinatal complications, such as preterm birth (PTB), early
preterm birth, low birth weight (LBW), extremely low birth weight, small for
gestational age, large for gestational age babies, neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU) admission, need for surfactant, meconium aspiration syndrome,
neonatal seizures, intraventricular hemorrhage, hypoxic-ischemic
encephalopathy, and patent ductus arteriosus was significantly increased in
the AB group when compared to the SB group (p<0.05). In-vitro
fertilization (IVF) independently increases the risk of LBW (aOR 2.530; 95%
CI 2.194-2.917), PTB (aOR 4.004; 95% CI 3.496-4.587), NICU admission (aOR
2.003; 95% CI 1.610-2.492) and neonatal seizures (aOR 9.805; 95% CI
5.755-16.706).Conclusions: AllART-conceived pregnant patients should receive
antenatal counselling regarding perinatal complications and should deliver
at a tertiary care center with appropriate NICU support.