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Biological risk versus socio-economic advantage: low birth-weight, multiple births and income variations among Irish infants born following fertility treatments

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Abstract

The Growing Up in Ireland Infant Cohort dataset (n = 11,134) includes information on fertility treatments for over 400 infants. IVF (28.1 %) and IVF-related treatments (17.8 %) were the most frequent, but there was also a high percentage following clomiphene citrate alone (31.5 %). Infants born following fertility treatment were much more likely to be in higher income families, and this relationship was not accounted for by older mothers in wealthier families. Analysis of fertility-treatment pregnancies among Irish infants, controlling for income and maternal age, shows a greater risk of multiple birth and low birth-weight, although the latter appears to be largely related to the former especially for IVF-type treatments.

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Notes

  1. These 442 pregnancies are the basis of subsequent analyses in respect of fertility treatments, i.e. one infant per pregnancy. The twin children relating to the same birth event are excluded for all pregnancies (fertility and non-fertility treatments).

  2. 95 % confidence intervals throughout.

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Acknowledgments

Growing Up in Ireland data have been funded by the Government of Ireland through the Department of Children and Youth Affairs; and have been collected under the Statistics Act, 1993, of the Central Statistics Office. The project has been designed and implemented by the joint ESRI-TCD Growing Up in Ireland Study Team. The author wishes to thank the participating families and colleagues on the GUI Study Team, in particular Prof. James Williams.

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  1. Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland

    Aisling Murray

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  1. Aisling Murray
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Correspondence to Aisling Murray.

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Murray, A. Biological risk versus socio-economic advantage: low birth-weight, multiple births and income variations among Irish infants born following fertility treatments. Ir J Med Sci 183, 667–670 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-014-1134-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-014-1134-z

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