IVF pregnancies send health risk to mother and baby up by 41%

IVF increases the chance of a potentially fatal pregnancy condition by 41 per cent, research suggests.

Data from six studies found the risk of pre-eclampsia was much higher in IVF pregnancies than among those conceived naturally.

Pre-eclampsia can occur from around 20 weeks of pregnancy and can lead to women suffering high blood pressure, protein in the urine and fluid retention.

Experts do not know exactly what causes the condition to develop, but it causes issues with the placenta and can lead to growth problems in the baby.

Mild pre-eclampsia can be monitored but, in more severe cases, women must be admitted to hospital and may need to be delivered prematurely.

Women can also go on to develop eclampsia, a type of seizure which can be life-threatening for mother and baby.

About six women and several hundred babies die every year in the UK from complications caused by pre-eclampsia.

In the latest study, experts from US universities and research centres, including the National Institutes of Health, pooled data from six studies.

These included pregnancies from standard IVF and IVF using donor eggs. Control groups included women who conceived naturally and those who had artificial insemination.

In the IVF groups, the risk of pre-eclampsia was 41 per cent higher than in the control groups, the findings showed.

The researchers, who are presenting their findings at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) conference in Orlando, Florida, suggest that exposing embryos to in-vitro culture could produce subtle changes which lead to poor development of the placenta and its blood supply.

This in turn increases the risk of pre-eclampsia.

The researchers controlled for other factors likely to influence the results, such as the women’s age.

Charles Kingsland, a consultant gynaecologist at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital and member of the British Fertility Society, said the findings were interesting, adding: “We are aware as obstetricians that IVF pregnancies bring with them their own risks.”

He said the research suggested that the problem lay in how the placenta developed following IVF.

NHS figures suggest mild pre-eclampsia can affect up to 10 per cent of first-time pregnancies and is severe in 1 per cent to 2 per cent of pregnancies.

l Women who donate eggs to help infertile couples conceive a child are to be given a lump sum of £750 compensation under new measures backed yesterday by the fertility watchdog.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has given its approval to the new payment to be made for every egg donation cycle to cover loss of earnings and expenses.

The authority also backed a lump sum payment of £35 for every clinic visit made by sperm donors.

Professor Lisa Jardine, chairwoman of the HFEA, denied that the £750 payment would represent an inducement to donate eggs purely for money.

“I find it very hard to see the £750 as an inducement,” she said. “I think it is a fair reflection of the effort and the time and the discomfort of some of it. I can’t see any room for inducement.”