Stockholm, Sweden: Further evidence of how maternal characteristics can influence the development of children born after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) was presented to the annual conference of the European Society of Human Fertilisation and Embryology on Monday. A study of all 8941 IVF children born in Sweden between 2002 and 2006 where only one baby […]
Category: Fertility
How many embryos to transfer? Swedish researchers develop new method to avoid twins while maintaining high live birth rates
Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish researchers have, for the first time, developed a reliable way of deciding whether one or two embryos should be transferred during fertility treatment; the method simultaneously maintains a high chance of women giving birth to a live baby, while reducing the risk of twins. Dr Jan Holte told the annual meeting of […]
Smoking during pregnancy lowers levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol in children: findings suggest adverse impact on health in later life
Researchers in Australia have discovered that mothers who smoke during pregnancy are causing developmental changes to their unborn babies that lead to them having lower levels of the type of cholesterol that is known to protect against heart disease in later life – high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. The research, published online today in the European […]
First study to investigate how many eggs are needed to achieve a live birth after IVF finds 15 is the perfect number
An analysis of over 400,000 IVF cycles in the UK has shown that doctors should aim to retrieve around 15 eggs from a woman’s ovaries in a single cycle in order to have the best chance of achieving a live birth after assisted reproduction technology. The study, which is published online in Europe’s leading reproductive […]
Mothers’ obesity increases the risk of foetal and infant death. Obese women have a higher risk of bleeding and infections after hysterectomy
Women who are obese during early pregnancy have a significantly increased risk of their baby dying before, during or up to one year after birth, according to research published in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today [1]. A second paper [2] also published in the journal today shows that obesity increases the risk […]
Use of mild painkillers in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of male reproductive problems
New evidence has emerged that the use of mild painkillers such as paracetamol, aspirin and ibuprofen, may be part of the reason for the increase in male reproductive disorders in recent decades. Research published in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today (Monday 8 November) shows that women who took a combination of more […]
Parental infertility and cerebral palsy in children born spontaneously or after IVF/ICSI
Doctors have known for some time that children born after fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are at increased risk of cerebral palsy. However, it was not known whether this risk was due to the treatment itself, the higher frequency of preterm or multiple births, or a mechanism […]
Reaction to Bob Edwards winning the Nobel Prize for Medicine
In reaction to the news that Robert Edwards has been awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work pioneering in vitro fertilisation, Prof Martin Johnson, Professor of Reproductive Sciences at the University of Cambridge, said: “As one of Bob’s first research students, I’m naturally delighted that Bob Edwards has been awarded the Nobel […]
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) can be used to treat endometrial cancer
Intrauterine devices, originally developed as contraceptives, can also be used to treat and cure cancer of the endometrium according to new research published online in the cancer journal, Annals of Oncology [1] today (Wednesday 29 September). The finding opens the way for young women with the disease, which affects the lining of the womb, to […]
Smoking damages men’s sperm and also the numbers of germ and somatic cells in developing embryos
Two new studies have shed more light on how smoking may damage fertility, and give further weight to advice that mothers and fathers-to-be should stop smoking before attempting to conceive. The research is published online in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction today (Wednesday 8 September). In the first study [1], researchers found that […]