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. 2021 Apr;110(4):1171-1180.
doi: 10.1111/apa.15553. Epub 2020 Oct 26.

Breastfeeding following in vitro fertilisation in Switzerland-Does mode of conception affect breastfeeding behaviour?

Livia Amanda Purtschert  1   2   3 , Vera Ruth Mitter  1   4 , Jarmila Anna Zdanowicz  5 , Mirja Amadea Minger  1   2   6 , Anna Spaeth  7   8 , Michael von Wolff  1 , Alexandra Sabrina Kohl Schwartz  1   9
Affiliations

Breastfeeding following in vitro fertilisation in Switzerland-Does mode of conception affect breastfeeding behaviour?

Livia Amanda Purtschert et al. Acta Paediatr. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Aim: Breastfeeding has numerous advantages. Our aim was to investigate whether breastfeeding initiation and duration in women with pregnancies conceived through in vitro fertilisation differ from spontaneously conceived pregnancies.

Methods: This is a comparative cross-sectional study about breastfeeding behaviour performed at the Bern University Hospital including mothers of singletons conceived by in vitro fertilisation (n = 198) with or without gonadotropin stimulation between 2010 and 2016 (in vitro fertilisation group). They were compared to a population-based control group (n = 1421) of a randomly selected sample of mothers in Switzerland who delivered in 2014.

Results: A total of 1619 women were included in this analysis. Breastfeeding initiation rates were high, similar between the in vitro fertilisation group (93.4%) and the control group (94.8%). No increased risk of stopping breastfeeding earlier after in vitro fertilisation treatment compared to the control group could be found over the observational period of 12 months (HR = 1.00, 95% CI 0.83-1.20, P = .984). There was no difference in breastfeeding initiation or duration after gonadotropin-stimulated vs unstimulated in vitro fertilisation.

Conclusion: In Switzerland, in vitro fertilisation treatments were not associated with earlier breastfeeding cessation. This result is reassuring for mothers undergoing in vitro fertilisation.

Keywords: breastfeeding duration; breastfeeding initiation; gonadotropins; in vitro fertilisation; lactation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Study population flow chart
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Kaplan‐Meier curve displaying the proportion of women breastfeeding over time after delivery
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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