A less aggressive approach to in vitro fertilization is easier on the patient, carries far less risk of multiple births, and is virtually as effective over time as the approach favored in the U.S., a study from Holland reports.
In the study, 92 of the 205 women undergoing a so-called “mild IVF” gave birth; vs. 102 of the 199 women who had more aggressive IVF treatment.
The women who had what researchers termed “mild IVF” were treated with lower doses of hormones than women who had aggressive ovarian stimulation, using high doses of hormones. They also had one embryo transferred per IVF cycle instead of two.
Over the course of a year, the two approaches resulted in a strikingly similar number of pregnancies leading to live births.
The women who had the less aggressive treatment did end up undergoing more IVF cycles during the year-long trial — an average of three attempts instead of two, according to the researchers.
But they did not report more discomfort or anxiety as a result of the extra procedures.
And less than 1% had multiple births, compared to 13% of the women in the traditional treatment group.
“We showed that outcomes can be the same with this more gentle approach, where not so much is riding on a single treatment cycle,” study researcher Nick S. Macklon, MD, PhD, tells WebMD. “The all-or-nothing approach is more stressful for the patient and it results in more multiple births.”
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