Perinatal and Neonatal Outcomes Following In Vitro Fertilisation in Poor Ovarian Responders: A Prospective Single-Centre Observational Study

Objective

To compare the risk of adverse perinatal and neonatal outcomes between individuals with poor ovarian response (POR) and those with normal ovarian response (NOR) following in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

Design

A prospective single-centre observational study.

Setting

University hospital.

Population

Overall, 1663 patients who underwent embryo transfer cycles between June 2017 and August 2019 were evaluated.

Methods

The patients were divided into the POR and NOR groups based on the Bologna diagnostic criteria. The risk of perinatal and neonatal complications was then compared between groups with adjustment made for confounding factors.

Main Outcome Measures

The risk of perinatal and neonatal complications between the POR and NOR groups.

Results

Compared with the NOR group, the POR group had poor pregnancy outcomes but comparable overall risks of poor perinatal and neonatal outcomes. The overall incidence rate of complications was 25.42% and 25.30% in the POR and NOR groups respectively [risk ratio (RR): 1.01; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.63–1.59]. In subgroup analysis of singleton live births, the overall risk of total complications was higher in the POR group than in the NOR group (24.07% vs. 15.21%; RR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.04–3.00); however, the risks became comparable between them after logistic regression adjustment.

Conclusions

The overall risk of perinatal and neonatal complications among singleton live births was higher in patients with POR than in those with NOR; however, the risks became similar after logistic regression adjustment. Our findings provide overall comforting evidence for POR patients with IVF treatment.