Study claims higher rate of birth problems with IVF

Serious birth problems are twice as likely to affect IVF babies than those conceived naturally, research has shown.

The study, which compared the outcomes of hundreds of thousands of births, looked at the risk of stillbirth, low birth weight, premature birth and infant death.

Both traditional IVF, involving fertilisation in a glass dish, and the injection of sperm directly into eggs increased the chances of complications, the Australian researchers found.