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Women using assisted reproduction may face greater trauma after miscarriage

Subfertile women who used assisted reproduction to conceive were more susceptible to psychological trauma after a miscarriage compared with women who conceived naturally, according to recent study results.

“Our results identified significantly higher stress, anxiety and depression levels in women who conceived after assisted reproduction, leading us to conclude that miscarriage resulted in greater psychological trauma to these women,” study researcher Charleen Sze Yan Cheung, MD, of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Hong Kong, said in a press release.

According to the study results, miscarriage affects nearly 20% of all pregnancies, making it the most common complication of pregnancy.

To assess the psychological risk of miscarriage, Cheung and colleagues examined the post-miscarriage stress and anxiety levels of 150 women. The study aimed to compare the depression levels between half the cohort who had conceived naturally vs. half who had used assisted reproduction before miscarriage. The researchers conducted interviews using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire and the 22-item Revised Impact of Events Scale at 1, 4 and 12 weeks after diagnosis of first-trimester miscarriage. The mean age of women in the assisted reproduction group was 37 years, and the mean age of women in the natural conception group was 31 years.

Results indicated that the highest levels of stress and anxiety were observed at 1 week follow-up. Women in the assisted reproduction group showed significantly higher hyperarousal symptoms at 4 and 12 weeks.

During the follow-up period, 4.7% of the participants were referred for further psychological counseling for significant psychological disturbance. Of this group, 9.3% had used assisted reproduction to conceive, and 5.3% conceived naturally.

“Timely support and intervention would be beneficial in the management of this group of women, as would further research into the potential long-term impact for adverse psychological outcomes after miscarriage,” Cheung said.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.