Risks with more than 1 implant

Hi Fiona, here's the info on the fertility associates website that outlines the extra risks with twins. The table doesn't really copy and paste well so you might want to look on the website.

http://www.fertilityassociates.co.nz/services3.asp

What is so bad about twins? Having a twin pregnancy triples most risks associated with pregnancy – such as stillbirth, a serious brain haemorrhage, serious infection, respiratory distress and cerebral palsy. Overall about 20% of twin pregnancies have some problem compared to 6% of singleton pregnancies. Until recently, the problems associated with twins were considered a reasonable compromise for the increased chance becoming pregnant when two embryos were transferred.

The following table summarises a vast amount of information from medical and scientific studies about twins. The actual numbers can vary somewhat from study to study, but the table gives an average picture.

In the table, the figures for stillbirth and death soon after birth come from the register of Australian-New Zealand IVF pregnancies, but most of the other information is about twins in general.

Risk Singleton Pregnancy Twin Pregnancy Risk for Twins
To the mother       
Hospitalisation for ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS) in
an IVF pregnancy 4.6% of pregnancies 9% of pregnancies 2 times higher
Mother dying in childbirth 5 per 100,000 births 15 per 100,000 births 3 times higher
To the children       
Stillbirth or death soon after birth (neonatal and perinatal death) 2.8% of children 6.3% of children 2.5 times higher
Baby admitted to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) after birth 15% of children 48% of children 3 times higher
A serious brain haemorrhage around birth     5 times higher
Serious infection     3 times higher
Respiratory distress     6 times higher
Cerebral palsy 0.23% of children 1.3% of children 5 times higher
Some handicap 2.5% of deliveries 7.4% of deliveries 3 times higher
Overall       
Estimate of any problem (death, abnormality, or some handicap) 6% of deliveries 20% of deliveries 3 times higher

Having twins also carries considerable costs for public hospital care, with the average hospital cost of birth and neonatal care in New Zealand being approximately six times higher for twins than a singleton birth.

Of course the large majority of twins are fine and many of the problems around birth are temporary or, if ongoing, not too severe. Nevertheless, a twin pregnancy carries significant extra risks that can be eliminated by SET.

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When we reviewed Fertility Associates’ results for the years 2000-2002, we found that 47% of women aged 25 to 35 had a delivery after the transfer of two good quality embryos, with over a third of the deliveries being twins. An alternative would be to transfer only one embryo (SET) and to freeze the ‘second’ good quality embryo, instead of transferring it fresh. If this was done, we calculated that the overall chance of delivery in this group of patients from the same two embryos would have been a very respectable 40%, but only 2% of deliveries would have been twins (due to identical twins).

Fertility Associates now very strongly recommends SET for women 35 and younger having their first or second IVF cycle, who have at least one good quality embryo on the third day after egg collection and this is a requirement for publicly funded treatment. We are pleased to report that the preliminary pregnancy rates from people choosing SET in 2004 is as high as we expected.

Thank you for all of that. Yes I read that as being the same. I am 37 and feel time is ticking....Sounds all a bit scary though and would be nice to get it out of the way at once!!!
Anyway thanks heaps will chat to specialist I guess about our options and what he reckons....

Fiona, don't know if this will make you feel better about a SET, but I got pregnant from a single frozen embryo with my daughter when I was 37 and used my last frozen embryo and am now pregnant with identical twins at the age of 39. (my single embryo split!)

The pregnancy rates are just as good with SET as with multiple embryo transfer but without the increased risks of multiple pregnancy.

Thanks all have been through it all with specialist now.....all quite scary so gone off that idea in a big way!!!!!