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25.01.2019 10:43:21
In Germany, as the World Health Organization (WHO) reports, nearly one in ten children are born before pregnancy reaches the 37th week, which is three or more weeks earlier. Thanks to the high level of medical support in Germany, this has not been a problem for a long time. Prematurely born babies, who weigh less than 1 kilogram at birth, still are likely to survive. Yet, if pregnancy lasts less, risks for a baby’s health are higher.
The most common complications relate to heart and breathing. It can also adversely affect the brain and, therefore, a baby’s mental abilities. A baby is considered to be low-weight if its weight at birth is less than 2.5 kilograms.
There may be different causes of premature birth. Most often, they cannot be determined definitely. As doctors say, not only stress, infections, unhealthy habits and multiple pregnancies, but also the parents’ socio-economic status and age can act the part. Many other research workers have come to conclusion that artificial impregnation is after all a risk factor.
In 2014 there was a study that found out that the risks of preterm delivery for those who have gone through artificial impregnation are about two times higher than in the case of natural conception. More than that, the children observed by the study were three times more likely to weigh too little. At that time the scientists suggested that in the course of artificial impregnation eggs and sperm may be damaged, and this may increase the percentage of premature births. However, this supposition was not tested more thoroughly.
Recent research has shown that the increase in the percentage of preterm deliveries is not caused by artificial impregnation. As the scientists write in the medical journal TheLancet, many factors that have to do with the problems of the couple with conception can be decisive.
They examined data concerning 1,245 sisters and brothers born in 1995-2000 in Finland. One of them was given birth as a result of artificial impregnation, and one (or more) was conceived naturally. The scientists proceeded from the fact that parents, as a rule, do not change. Yet, it was impossible to trace this assumption because of the anonymity of the data.
According to their results, there is no difference in the number of cases of premature delivery or low birth weight, whatever we consider ‒ artificial impregnation or natural conception. Thus, the scientists have suggested that the causes of preterm delivery should be searched for more in their parents, rather than in the procedure.
Why babies whose parents had issues with conception are more likely to be born premature are still incomprehensible. “Perhaps the limited fertility plays a part,” said Alice Goisis from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), who participated in the research.
The researchers’ findings can help spouses who hesitate whether to resort to artificial impregnation or to give up this idea. “Couples who cannot get pregnant will no longer need to reject artificial impregnation only for the reason that there may be a risk for the baby,” says Mikko Mirskylä, one of the authors of the study and Director of MPIDR.
Parents are greatly influenced by the thought of whether they should take into account the increased risks for their baby, which they cannot influence in any way, or they consciously increase this danger.
In Germany, the number of artificial impregnation procedures has considerably grown recently. The German IVF Registry states that merely in 2015 approximately 20 thousand babies were born because of artificial impregnation.
