Long Delay in Pregnancy Increases Risk of Neurodevelopmental Problems in Kids

Babies conceived after experiencing a long delay in pregnancy may be at higher risks of many neurodevelopmental problems, researchers say.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), or the different artificial methods used to help women conceive, has been surrounded by controversy ever since its introduction in the U.S. in 1981. In vitro fertilisation (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation and intrauterine insemination (IUI) are some of the ART methods commonly used.

Many previous studies have shown that the artificial methods increase the risk of many complications, including premature birth, low birth weight and birth defects.

The study, reported in the Fetal & Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood, found impaired fertility, not fertility treatment, as the main culprit behind many developmental problems experienced by children.

To analyze the link between delayed pregnancy and neurological problems in kids, researchers included 209 parents and their children aged 2, who were part of the Groningen assisted reproductive technique cohort study. A majority of the parents reported they had experienced difficulties in conceiving, and adopted fertility treatments to have a child. Neurological development of the toddlers was determined after analyzing motor functions like movement, posture or muscle tone, and eye and hand coordination.

Researchers found 16 children (7.7 percent) having minor neurological dysfunction (MND). A closer look revealed that children of parents who took four years to conceive were affected by these problems, as compared to parents who took only two years and eight months to become pregnant.

"In conclusion, the present data suggest that increased time to pregnancy is associated with suboptimal neurological development," the authors wrote in a news release. "This implies that factors associated with subfertility may play a role in the genesis of neurodevelopmental problems."