Pregnancy, obstetric and neonatal outcome after assisted reproduction in Nigerians.

Purpose: To evaluate the pregnancy, obstetric and neonatal outcome after assisted reproduction in Nigerians.

Methods: Case control study of all confirmed pregnancies following assisted reproduction managed at the Havana Specialist Hospital (HSH), Lagos over a 7 year period.

Results: Adverse obstetric and neonatal outcome occurred in 30.8% of pregnancy following assisted reproduction compared to 12.6% in spontaneously conceived pregnancy (p = 0.0003). Multiple pregnancy (<0.001), preterm delivery (p < 0.000), placenta praevia (0.00002), antenatal admission (0.02), early pregnancy bleeding (0.04), miscarriage (0.001) and caesarean delivery (<0.001) were significantly commoner in the assisted reproduction group. After adjustment for confounding variables, preterm delivery (OR: 5.95), miscarriage (OR: 5.84), multiple pregnancy (OR: 4.58), placenta praevia (OR: 4.13), caesarean delivery (OR: 3.57), early pregnancy bleeding (OR: 2.18) and antenatal admission (OR: 2.01) retained their significance.

Conclusion: This study has provided the first evidence from our part of the world showing that assisted pregnancy is associated with poorer obstetric outcome when compared with spontaneously conceived pregnancy.