Abstract

RISK OF PRETERM DELIVERY AND LOW BIRTH WEIGHT IN SINGLETON PREGNANCIES CONCEIVED BY WOMEN WITH AND WITHOUT A HISTORY OF INFERTILITY

Dhameer Saleh Saeed* and Sanaa Taha Abdulateef

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine predictors of low birth weight (LBW) and preterm delivery (PTD) in singleton pregnancies conceived by women with a history of infertility compared to singleton pregnancies conceived spontaneously by a fertile woman. Data were collected at eleven infertility clinics in Iraq Using a retrospective cohort design, record review was conducted on women who carried singleton pregnancies to ≥ 20 weeks gestation. These women. were stratified by method of conception: women who conceived using infertility treatment (n=54), women who conceived naturally following a history of infertility (n=44), and fertile women (n= 100). There was no significant difference in the frequency of PTD between the three groups of women; however, there was a significant difference in the frequency of LBW between the three groups of women (p< .05). 10.8% of women in the infertile treatment group, 8.6% of women in the infertile without treatment group and 6.4% of women in the fertile group delivered an LBW infant. Women with a history of infertility who had treatment were 1.55 times more likely to have an LBW infant compared to the fertile group controlling for maternal age, nulliparity, gestational diabetes, and obesity.

Keywords: Preterm delivery, low birth weight, singleton pregnancies, infertility.