Dr. Khalid Al-Hathlol, MD, Department of Neonatal Intensive Care in King Abdulaziz Medical City completed a 15 year old study ( the Relationship between In Vitro Fertilization and Neonatal Outcomes in Very Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants).This single-center cohort study was performed between January 2000 and December 2014 in the NICU at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, and included a comparison between infants born after IVF with fresh embryo transfer (IVF group) and those born after spontaneous conception (SC group).
Dr. Al-Hathlol pointed out that this study is the first of its kind in the region, and was published in one of the American journals of the American Journal of Perinatology as one of the top 10 studies in this field.
Previous studies interested in the subject of In Vitro Fertilization suggested that concerns have been raised about the possible increased risk of adverse health outcomes, major birth defects, survival without severe morbidity, but this study has shown the results that IVF has no negative effects on premature babies.
Lastly, Dr. Al-Hathlol concluded by saying that there is an on-going study on the educational and the neurological development of these preterm infants born through IVF, and so far, the study has interesting preliminary results, which will be published after completing the statistical analysis, God willing.