Features of the Development and Health Condition of Children Conceived by in Vitro Fertilization

Abstract

Aim: To study the anamnesis, development parameters and health condition in the first year of life of the children conceived by IVF. Materials and Methods: 116 children born by IVF and 46 children born in natural pregnancy were examined. Results: In most cases of our study, children after IVF were born prematurely from women with a bad obstetric and gynecological history and had a low birth weight. The period of early adaptation in premature infants born after assisted reproductive technologies was complicated by respiratory distress syndrome. Most often the children after IVF had such pathologies as central nervous system damage, deficiency anemia and minor anomalies of heart development in the neonatal period. Compared with children born in natural pregnancy, infectious diseases were more often detected in newborns after IVF. The development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia was significantly more frequent in children after IVF within a month of life. At six months, most of the IVF babies had low parameters of physical development, whereas weight and growth indicators did not differ significantly from the general population indicators by the first year of life. Most of the children born after IVF had neurological outcomes, such as delayed psychomotor development, malfunctioning of the autonomic nervous system, convulsive syndrome by the year of life. Conclusion: Children born after IVF have features of somatic status, neuropsychiatric and physical development, which indicates the need for targeted monitoring and continued research in this group of children to minimize health risks.