National Perinatal Association Urges IVF Clinics to Reduce Infant Health Risks and Costs by Prioritizing Elective Single Embryo Transfer

Binghamton, NY –For the first time in its history, the National Perinatal Association (NPA), representing U.S. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) professionals and parents of babies cared for in NICUs, is urging reproductive endocrinologists and health insurance companies to reduce serious health risks resulting from in vitro fertilization procedures. In particular, they urge greater use of the safer elective single embryo transfer now recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

The NPA’s new Position Statement on the Ethical Use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) was just released in the March 2014 edition of the journal, Neonatology Today. It calls for more transparent and multidisciplinary patient education, counseling and informed consent practices, along with expanded public awareness about higher rates of serious health, emotional and financial risks associated with ART and multiple birth pregnancies. The NPA is recommending that health insurance companies provide reimbursement only when clinics meet “professional standards” and report mandated success rates annually to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“The NPA represents medical professionals in this country responsible for providing care to thousands...