An obstetric assessment of the first 100 births from the in vitro fertilization program at Clamart, France

From April, 1981, to July, 1984, 142 pregnancies have been attained after in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. They are divided into 22 biochemical pregnancies (human chorionic gonadotropin ≥20 mU/ml but remaining below 1000 mU/ml), 27 spontaneous abortions, three ectopic pregnancies, and 90 ongoing pregnancies, of which 11 were twin pregnancies. The 90 women in whom the pregnancies progressed were compared with the 52 women having nonprogressive pregnancies. The two populations did not differ either in age, in the indication for in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer, or in the quality of ovulation or results of semen analysis. The 90 ongoing pregnancies were compared with those pregnancies occurring in the same obstetrics department during this period. We found that the in vitro fertilization group had a higher proportion of arterial hypertension (16.5% versus 8.5%, p < 0.05), breech presentations (13.9% versus 4.3%, p < 0.001), and caesarean sections (46.8% versus 15.5%, p < 0.001) but the sex ratio did not differ.