Children Conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology Prone to Low Birth Weight, Preterm Birth, and Birth Defects: A Cohort Review of More Than 50,000 Live Births During 2011-2017 in Taiwan

Heng-Yu Chang; Wuh-Liang Hwu; Ching-Hui Chen; Chun-Yin Hou; Wei Cheng

doi:10.3389/fped.2020.00087

Children Conceived by Assisted Reproductive Technology Prone to Low Birth Weight, Preterm Birth, and Birth Defects: A Cohort Review of More Than 50,000 Live Births During 2011-2017 in Taiwan

Front Pediatr. 2020 Mar 13:8:87. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00087. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Heng-Yu Chang¹, Wuh-Liang Hwu², Ching-Hui Chen^{3

4}, Chun-Yin Hou⁵, Wei Cheng^{6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Department of Medical Genetics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Division of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Family Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Pathology, Kee-Lung Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Keelung City, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Nursing, Ching Kuo Institute of Management and Health, Keelung City, Taiwan.
⁸ School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Objectives: The use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has increased rapidly in Taiwan. The purpose of this study is to discuss the risks of low birth weight, preterm birth, and birth defect for children conceived by assisted reproductive technology in Taiwan. Methods: Both National ART report database and National birth reports were obtained from the Health Promotion Administration in the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan. The cohort included live births (n = 1,405,625) and children conceived by ART (n = 50,988/172,818 cycles) from 2011 to 2017. The prevalence of low birth weight, preterm birth, and birth defect were compared between the ART and natural pregnancy groups. Results: Children conceived by ART displayed a higher rate of low birth weight as compared to those in the natural pregnancy group (p < 0.001), even when analyses were restricted to singleton births (p < 0.001). A higher rate of preterm birth (p < 0.001) was also observed in children conceived by ART even when analyses were restricted to singleton births (p < 0.05). A significant increased rate of birth defects was noted from children conceived by ART (p < 0.05). Conclusions: With the increasing need for and use of ART-conceptions, the likelihood of risks induced or related to Assistant Reproductive Technology (ART) has drawn considerable attention in recent years. Taiwan, as one of the leading countries with outstanding ART performances and modern medical care, the result of the current study suggests that further consideration and tighter regulations and policy are needed with regard to the use of ART.

Keywords: assisted reproductive technology; birth defects; live births; lower birth weight; preterm birth.