23.01.2019
In the case of children conceived by artificial insemination, the risk of low birth weight or preterm labour is higher. Actual analysis has shown that the method itself is not the cause of the risk. Probably, factors that are generally related to problems with conception in a couple are decisive. The research was conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock.
Other studies conducted earlier produced nonidentical results, which in part led to a large increase in the risks during childbirth in the case of artificial insemination. According to scientists from Rostock, estimates were often based on unbalanced methods, and the basis was lower fertility. Recently their results have appeared in the journal The Lancet.
The data of 1245 babies born in Finland in 1995-2000 were analyzed. In each case one or more siblings were conceived in a natural way, and one as a result of artificial insemination. So long as parents hardly changed, it was possible to compare risks at the time of delivery, taking into consideration only the intervention. “Since this was the only significant difference between the deliveries,” explain the scientists.
Prematurely born babies and babies with low weight are more likely to have asthma or heart problems, which can affect brain development and cognitive abilities. Only in Germany tens of thousands of women undergo artificial insemination every year. Meanwhile, throughout the world there are more than half a million children born due to IVF.
