The Impact of Body Mass Index on Assisted Reproductive Treatments

Multiparity amongst women with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 Kg/m is a common occurrence despite there being a known clear association with a decline in fecundity in women who are overweight or obese. These women, also pose further concerns, as they are at increased risk of antenatal complications such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. Over the years, a number of different modalities of fertility treatments have been tried and tested in this cohort of women to find the optimal treatment to improve their reproductive capacity. There has been an exponential increase in knowledge and understanding towards managing patients with a raised BMI, particularly through assisted reproductive treatments. Although the efficacies of various forms of fertility treatments have been shown to be affected by a rise in BMI, there is yet to be a definitive understanding as to the optimal management of these patients. The literature supports weight loss alone as an effective intervention in improving the reproductive capacity of women with a raised BMI with unexplained infertility. Furthermore, if live birth rate is taken as the desired outcome measure, then ovarian drilling and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment have been shown to yield the best results in overweight and obese patients when comparisons are drawn to other interventions such as natural conception and treatment with clomiphene citrate.