Objective: To perform a systematic review of the literature to determine whether singleton pregnancies resulting from IVF-ET/GIFT are at higher risk for preterm birth (<37 weeks).
Design: Literature search and systematic review.
Setting: Medical school.
Intervention(s): A MEDLINE search (1965-2000) was performed using the terms "premature labor," "infertility," "pregnancy complications," "gonadotropins," "pregnancy outcome," "preterm delivery," and "in vitro fertilization." Criteria for inclusion were English language, original research article, study patients conceived using IVF-ET (with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection) or GIFT, pregnancy outcome reported compared with a control group (e.g., naturally conceived singletons at their hospital or a national reference), and prematurity clearly defined. Incomplete articles (e.g., abstracts), reports of other studies, and studies that failed to separate multiple from singleton gestations were excluded.
Main outcome measure(s): Summary of relative risks of preterm birth.
Result(s): Twenty-seven articles met all inclusion/exclusion criteria and were analyzed by meta-analysis. The random-effects summary relative risk of preterm birth in singleton pregnancies resulting from IVF-ET/GIFT was 1.98 (95% confidence interval, 1.77-2.22).
Conclusion(s): The risk of preterm birth in singleton pregnancies resulting from IVF-ET/GIFT is twice that of natural conceived pregnancies.