Because many embryos are implanted to the uterus via reproductive treatments like IVF, a woman frequently ends up conceiving twins, triplets, and quadruplets.
The number of triplet and quadruplet kids born in the United States of America seems to be declining. Quadruplets are when four infants are born at once, whereas triplet pregnancies are when three children are carried and born simultaneously. In the United States, the triplet and higher-order birth rate decreased by 62% between 1998 and 2023, according to a new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Mothers 30 years of age and older experienced the biggest decreases (67%–77%).The CDC claims that "older maternal age" and "increased use of fertility treatments" were responsible for the "unprecedented" increase in the triplet and higher-order multiple birth rate from 37.0 to 193.5 births per 1,00,000 births between 1980 and 1998. Because triplet and higher-order deliveries carried a larger risk of "adverse maternal and infant health outcomes" than twin and singleton births, it was considered a public health problem at the time.
However, the researchers from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics wrote in the report that "changes to guidance" regarding the number of embryos transferred during the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART), such as in-vitro fertilization or IVF, are now being linked to the decline in triplet and higher-order births in the US over the past 25 years.
Because many embryos are transferred to the uterus in the hopes of boosting the likelihood of a pregnancy, it is common for couples undergoing fertility treatments like IVF to end up with twin, triplet, or quadruplet infants during a successful cycle. Pregnancy with twins, triplets, or quadruplets is regarded as high risk.
Joyce Martin, a researcher at the National Center for Health Statistics and the report's primary author, told CNN that it is important to keep an eye on increases in triplet and higher-order multiple births since pregnant women who have these kids are more likely to experience pregnancy difficulties. Additionally, the babies run the chance of dying or being born prematurely.
The 'birth certificate data' from the National Vital Statistics System, which contains all the details of births that took place in the United States in a certain year, served as the basis for the reporting.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine's most recent guidelines, released in 2021, state that patients under the age of 35 should only have one embryo transferred at a time.
0 Comments