Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Modified MicroSecure Vitrification: A Safe, Simple and Highly Effective Cryopreservation Procedure for Human Blastocysts
Published on: March 2, 2017
Hospital care utilization of infants born after IVF
A Ericson1, K G Nygren, P Otterblad Olausson
1Centre for Epidemiology, National Board of Health and Welfare, SE-106 30, Stockholm, Sweden.
Insights
Infants born via in vitro fertilization (IVF) require more hospitalizations, especially for neonatal care. This increased healthcare need is largely due to multiple births, suggesting single embryo transfers could reduce costs.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Medicine
- Pediatric Health
- Public Health
Background:
- Infants born after in vitro fertilization (IVF) often have higher rates of multiple births and preterm delivery.
- These factors contribute to increased infant morbidity and healthcare utilization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the frequency and duration of hospitalizations for infants born after IVF.
- To compare hospitalization data of IVF-born infants with the general infant population in Sweden.
Main Methods:
- Utilized nationwide Swedish registers of IVF pregnancies (1984-1997) and in-patient care (up to 1998).
- Compared 9,056 live-born infants conceived via IVF with 1,417,166 non-IVF infants.
Main Results:
- IVF infants showed higher odds ratios for neonatal hospitalization (OR ~3) and hospitalization up to age 6 (OR 1.2-1.3).
- Increased hospitalization risks were observed for cerebral palsy, epilepsy, congenital malformations, tumors, asthma, and infections.
- Average hospital stay was 9.5 days for IVF infants versus 3.6 days for non-IVF infants.
Conclusions:
- The elevated hospitalization rates in IVF infants are primarily linked to higher rates of multiple births.
- Implementing single embryo transfers could mitigate increased healthcare costs by reducing multiple gestations.
Background:
Infants born after IVF are often twins, and singleton IVF babies have an increased risk for preterm birth. Both conditions are likely to increase morbidity. We examined the frequency and duration of hospitalization required by babies born after IVF, and compared this information with all infants born in Sweden during the same time period.
Methods:
We used a nationwide registration of IVF pregnancies from 1984 to 1997 and a nationwide register of all in-patient care up to the end of 1998. We identified 9056 live born infants after IVF treatment and compared them with 1 417 166 non-IVF live born infants.
Results:
The highest odds ratio (OR approximately 3) was seen for neonatal hospitalization, but an increased OR (1.2-1.3) was noted for children up to 6 years of age. The OR for being hospitalized after IVF was 1.8, but when the analysis was restricted to term infants it was 1.3 and this excess was then explainable by maternal subfertility. Statistically significant increased ORs were seen for hospitalization for cerebral palsy (1.7), epilepsy (1.5), congenital malformation (1.8) or tumour (1.6), but also for asthma (1.4) or any infection (1.4). When information from the Swedish Cancer Registry was used, no excess risk for childhood cancer was found. The average number of days spent in hospital by IVF and non-IVF children was 9.5 and 3.6 respectively.
Conclusions:
The increased hospitalization of IVF children is, to a large extent, due to the increased incidence of multiple births. Therefore, the increased costs associated with this may be reduced by the use of single embryo transfers, with the savings in health care costs being offset against the increased number of embryo transfer cycles required to maintain the pregnancy rate.
