Task force report on the outcome of pregnancies and children conceived by in vitro fertilization (France: 1987 to 1989).

OBJECTIVE

To describe the outcome of pregnancies conceived by IVF and the follow-up of the children after a minimum of 1 year of life.

DESIGN

Survey of clinical pregnancies and follow-up of the children and comparison with national statistics.

SETTINGS

All clinical pregnancies from 11 French centers between January 1987 and June 1989.

PATIENTS

A total of 1,637 pregnancies resulting in 1,263 deliveries and 1,669 live-born or still-born children and 1,411 alive children after 1 year.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Gestational age of birth, birth weight, mortality rates, prevalence of congenital malformation, and prevalence of disorders during the follow-up of the children.

RESULTS

The preterm birth rate was 22.7% of all deliveries and 12.2% of single deliveries compared with 5.6% in France, and 34.7% of babies weighed < 2,500 g compared with 5.2% in France. The rate of perinatal, neonatal, and infant mortality were higher than the national average. The rate of malformation (2.86%) was comparable with national survey (2.08%). The health of children diseased during the whole follow-up was approximately 2%.

CONCLUSION

The health of children after 1 year of live is close normal.