Babies’ Health Could Be Affected by Variation in IVF Nutrients

Here’s another layer of confusion to add to the uncertainty of going through IVF. The type of liquid a lab chooses to use to support eggs and embryos while they grow can affect how successful the treatment is, and even the health of babies in later life.

The recipes of these fluids, called culture media, are a closely kept industry secret. Companies will list the components, but won’t reveal their proportions, making it difficult for clinicians and embryologists to know which to use.

John Dumoulin of Maastricht University Medical Centre in the Netherlands has long suspected that the type of culture medium used might have an impact on the growth and development of an embryo. In 2010, he and his colleagues published a study finding significant differences in the birth weights of babies born from IVF using one of two different types of culture media.

Since then, several studies have found conflicting results, prompting Dumoulin and his team to conduct the first randomised, controlled trial of two different types of culture media.

Better results

Dumoulin’s team recruited fertility clinics...