OBJECTIVE Instrumental vaginal delivery is associated with birth trauma to infant and obstetric trauma to mother. As caesarean delivery rates increased during the past decades, the rate of instrumental vaginal delivery declined. We examined concomitant temporal changes in the rates of severe birth trauma and maternal obstetric trauma. DESIGN A retrospective observational study. SETTINGS AND...

OBJECTIVES This report presents 2008 data on U.S. births according to a wide variety of characteristics. Data are presented for maternal demographic characteristics including age, live-birth order, race and Hispanic origin, marital status, attendant at birth, method of delivery, and infant characteristics (period of gestation, birthweight, and multiple births). Birth and fertility rates by age,...

OBJECTIVE This retrospective study determined for the first time the role of baseline antral follicle count (AFC) and serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) level in the first in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycle in predicting cumulative live birth from one stimulation cycle. METHODS We studied 1,156 women (median age 35 years) undergoing the first IVF cycle. Baseline AFC and AMH level on the day b...

This meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of metformin in subfertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Only randomized trials investigating the effectiveness of metformin and PCOS definition consistent with the Rotterdam consensus criteria, were eligible. Primary outcome was live birth rate. A literature search identified 27 trials. In therapy naïve women, we found no evidence o...

BACKGROUND Anecdotal evidence suggests that US practice patterns for ART differ by geographical region. The purpose of this study was to determine whether use of ICSI differs by region and to evaluate whether these rates are correlated with differences in live birth rates. METHODS Public data for 2012 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinics with ≥100 fresh, ...

OBJECTIVE To determine how obligatory single embryo transfer (SET) and elective SET influence pregnancy outcome. STUDY DESIGN We compared women who underwent obligatory and elective SET using data from a comprehensive, population-based register from the United Kingdom Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which contained all in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments administered between...

BACKGROUND We investigated the separate and combined effects of smoking and body mass index (BMI) on the success rate of IVF for couples with different causes of subfertility. METHODS The success rate of IVF was examined in 8457 women. Detailed information on reproduction and lifestyle factors was combined with medical record data on IVF treatment. All IVF clinics in The Netherlands participa...

BACKGROUND Outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment are traditionally reported as pregnancies per IVF cycle. However, a couple's primary concern is the chance of a live birth over an entire treatment course. METHODS We estimated cumulative live-birth rates among patients undergoing their first fresh-embryo, nondonor IVF cycle between 2000 and 2005 at one large center. Couples were f...