Risk factors for ectopic pregnancy in the first complete cycle of in vitro fertilisation

When a pregnancy occurs outside the womb, it is called an ectopic pregnancy. A ruptured ectopic pregnancy can give rise to severe internal bleeding and can sometimes result in the death of the mother. In assisted reproduction techniques, the pregnancy is placed within the womb by the surgeon -so ectopic pregnancies should not occur in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) pregnancies. Yet this dangerous condition does seem to occur even in IVF pregnancies. This research aims to identify women at risk of developing ectopic pregnancy by analysing routinely collected data from all IVF treatments in the UK between 1999 and 2009.