Maternal Morbidity and Medically Assisted Reproduction Treatment Types

Objective: To compare odds of maternal morbidity by mode of becoming pregnant and type of medically assisted reproduction treatments: fertility-enhancing drugs, intrauterine insemination (IUI), and assisted reproductive technology (ART) with autologous or donor oocytes.

Methods: Birth certificates were used to study maternal morbidity among the birthing population in Utah between 2009 and 2017 (N=469,919 deliveries); 22,543 pregnancies occurred through medically assisted reproduction (4.8%). Maternal morbidity was identified as a binary variable, indicating the presence of any of the following: blood transfusion, unplanned operating room procedure, admission to intensive care unit, eclampsia, unplanned hysterectomy, and ruptured uterus. Using logistic regression, we assessed maternal morbidity among medically assisted reproduction pregnancies (overall and by type of treatment) compared with unassisted pregnancies in the overall sample before and after adjustment for individual sociodemographics (age at birth, family structure, level of education, Hispanic origin, parity), and pre-existing comorbidities (ie, chronic hypertension, heart disease, asthma), multifetal gestation, and obstetric comorbidities (ie, placenta previa, placental abruption, cesarean delivery).

Results: Individuals becoming pregnant through medically assisted reproduction had higher risk of maternal morbidity, with odds ratios (ORs) increasing as medically assisted reproduction treatments become more invasive. Associations were largely attenuated when accounting for multifetal gestation and further reduced after controlling for obstetric comorbidities. However, ART with autologous oocytes (OR 1.46, 95% CI, 1.20-1.78) maintained higher coefficients compared with unassisted pregnancies. In models including only singletons, after controlling for obstetric comorbidities, the OR differences in maternal morbidity between all medically assisted reproduction groups and unassisted pregnancies were no longer statistically significant.

Conclusion: More invasive medically assisted reproduction treatments (ART and IUI) are associated with higher odds of maternal morbidity, whereas less invasive treatments are not. This relationship is partially explained by higher prevalence of multifetal gestation and obstetric comorbidities in people undergoing more invasive treatment, but the persistent association suggests subfertility itself may contribute to maternal morbidity.