Piia Poikkeus

Fear of childbirth and pregnancy-related anxiety in women conceiving with assisted reproduction.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence and predictors of severe fear of childbirth and pregnancy-related anxiety in groups of assisted reproduction treatment (ART) and spontaneously conceiving women with singleton pregnancies. METHODS: The ART group (n = 367, nulliparous 260) represented a cohort from five Finnish infertility clinics in 1999. The control group (n = 379, nulliparous 135) was enrolled in this study by consecutive sampling the same year. Fear of childbirth was assessed by means of the revised version of the Fear-of-Childbirth Questionnaire and pregnancy-related anxiety by means of the Pregnancy Anxiety Scale at gestational week 20 ± 3.2 (mean±standard deviation). RESULTS: The frequency of severe fear of childbirth and anxiety (classified as total scores in the 90th percentile or higher in the revised Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire and Pregnancy Anxiety Scale) did not differ between the groups. Nulliparity was associated with more frequent severe anxiety only in the controls. In nulliparous participants, a partnership of more than 5 years decreased the risk of severe fear of childbirth (odds ratio 0.3, 95% confidence interval 0.2–0.7). In the nulliparous ART group, a long duration of infertility (7 or more years) increased the risk of severe fear of childbirth (odds ratio 4.4, 95% confidence interval 1.2–16.9). CONCLUSION: Women conceiving after ART do not experience severe fear of childbirth or pregnancy-related axiety more often than spontaneously conceiving controls. However, a long duration of infertility is an independent risk factor regarding severe fear of childbirth. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE II-2

Prenatal Expectations in Transition to Parenthood: Former Infertility and Family Dynamic Considerations

Prenatal expectations are important for the future parent-child relationship. The authors examined how maternal and paternal prenatal expectations of the relationship with the child predicted 1st-year parenting stress and whether these expectations were violated over the transition to parenthood. They further examined how former infertility affected these associations. The participants were 745 Finnish couples, 367 having undergone a successful assisted reproductive treatment and 378 conceiving spontaneously. Couples completed a questionnaire of family representations during pregnancy and when the child was 2 and 12 months old and Abidins Parenting Stress Index at 2 and 12 months postpartum. The hypothesis of moderately high expectations predicting the lowest level of parenting stress was substantiated only concerning paternal expectations of own autonomy with the child. Generally, however, negative expectations of own and spouses relationship with the child were linearly associated with higher parenting stress. Postnatal representations were more positive or equal to expectations, except for negative violation occurring in maternal expectation of the father-child relationship, especially among normative mothers. The results are discussed in relation to family dynamic considerations and special features of formerly infertile couples.

Ante- and perinatal factors and child characteristics predicting parenting experience among formerly infertile couples during the child's first year: a controlled study.

In this prospective controlled study, the authors examined (a) parenting experiences among couples with successful assisted reproduction treatment (ART; n = 367) and fertile spontaneously conceiving controls (n = 371) and (b) the impact of ante- and perinatal factors and child characteristics on parenting experiences. The results show that positive mothering experiences increased more during the 1st year of parenting and were generally higher among ART mothers than control mothers. No differences were found between ART fathers and controls in their fathering experience. Unpleasant birth experiences, low birth weight, and difficulty soothing the child were associated with high levels of parental stress in the control group, but this was not so among the ART parents. Psychosocial interventions in maternal care should take into account the various meanings that couples give to the history of infertility and conception and ante- and perinatal experiences.

Impact of infertility characteristics and treatment modalities on singleton pregnancies after assisted reproduction

Obstetric and neonatal outcomes of assisted reproduction and control singletons were evaluated after taking into account treatment characteristics and infertility background. The elective single embryo transfer (eSET) group (n = 45) was compared with the compulsory single embryo transfer (cSET; n = 52), double embryo transfer (DET; n = 227) and control (n = 304) groups. Infertility-related prognostic factors for neonatal outcomes were also analysed. Data were collected with structured questionnaires at gestational week 20 and 8 weeks after delivery. Spontaneous onset of delivery was more typical of the eSET group than of cSET and DET groups (68.9 versus 52.0%, P = 0.02). Mean (+/-SD) gestation at birth (39.3 +/- 1.6 weeks) and mean birth weight (3,470 +/- 505 g) of eSET singletons were comparable with other assisted reproduction groups, but gestational duration was lower than in the eSET group than in the control group (39.9 +/- 1.4; P < 0.05). However, numbers of preterm births and low birth weight infants were similar between groups. History of induced abortion increased risk of preterm birth (OR 4.5 and 95% CI 1.2-17.1) in assisted reproduction singletons. A small though clinically unimportant difference in gestational age at birth and birth weight between assisted reproduction and control singletons was found regardless of the number of embryos transferred.

What explains violated expectations of parent-child relationship in transition to parenthood?

Parent-child relationship is created already in prenatal fantasies and expectations of the child-to-be. Negative violation of these expectations after the child is born is known to be harmful for the parent-child relationship. Yet, research is scarce about the medical and psychological factors contributing to violated expectations (VE). This study models the role of parent-, delivery- and infant-related underlying mechanisms for VE. It further compares parents with assisted reproductive treatment (ART) and spontaneous conception (SC), and primi- and multiparous couples. The couples (n = 743) separately filled in questionnaires concerning their prenatal expectations (T1) and 2 months postnatal representations (T2) of intimacy and autonomy in the relationship with their child, measured with Subjective Family Picture Test. A negative or positive discrepancy indicated violated expectations. The parent-related (mental health and marital quality), delivery-related (maternal and paternal birth experience, unplanned Caesarean, and amount of analgesia) and infant-related (infant health problems, difficult infant characteristics, and parental worry) factors were assessed at T2. Results show that among mothers, the associations were mostly indirect and mediated via mental health problems. Among fathers, the associations were direct, marital problems most crucially predicting VE. ART fathers were less susceptible to VE resulting from infant-related problems than SC fathers, but more susceptible to VE resulting from delivery problems. Delivery- and infant-related factors also predicted VE differently among primi- and multiparous mothers. Considering factors that contribute to VE is important when working with couples in transition to parenthood.

Does single embryo transfer improve the obstetric and neonatal outcome of singleton pregnancy

Singleton pregnancies following in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) are associated with increased risks of abnormal placentation, pre‐eclampsia and preterm birth. These risks might partly be a consequence of the number of transferred embryos. In this commentary we summarize the results of three observational studies and one randomized study with 1052 pregnancies following single embryo transfer (SET).

Birth experience of women conceiving with assisted reproduction: a prospective multicenter study

To determine how infertility and subsequent assisted reproductive treatment (ART) affect a womans childbirth experience.

Two intrauterine rescue transfusions in treatment of severe fetomaternal hemorrhage in the early third trimester

When massive fetomaternal hemorrhage is diagnosed in the early third trimester of pregnancy, serial fetal intravascular transfusion may be an alternative to immediate delivery.

Fear and experience of childbirth among women who conceived with donated oocytes: a prospective cohort study

The aim of this study was to compare the level of fear of childbirth, pregnancy‐related anxiety and experience of childbirth in women who conceived with donated oocytes (OD), with that in women with in vitro fertilization/intra‐cytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) and spontaneous conception (SC).