Assisted reproductive technologies and perinatal morbidity: interrogating the association.

Interrogating the association between assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and perinatal outcome is complicated but very important. This is an introduction to a series of articles that review this potential association with an eye toward etiology of risk, and what aspects of in vitro fertilization (IVF) can be modified to reduce this risk. When an association is not due to chance (i.e., statistically significant), one must also consider how the association may be affected due to bias or confounding. Despite lack of the perfect study, perinatal consequences of ART are apparent, even though the vast majority of children conceived with ART are healthy. Pregnancy after IVF is altered as evidenced by risk of preterm delivery, low birth weight among infants, and an alerted prevalence of preeclampsia. The long-term clinical implications of ART, such as childhood development and metabolism, have not been established and ongoing study is proceeding. The risk attributed to multiple births is iatrogenic and needs to be minimized. Optimizing the environment at the time a woman conceives will likely have an effect on gestation as well as the health of children. Reproduction effects health and health effects reproduction.