IVF may raise risk of "low lying placenta disorder"

Several European news sources are carrying a story on the results of a study released by Norwegian researchers that indicate that women underdoing IVF treatment may have a substantially increased chance of experiencing placenta praevia, a condition in which the placenta blocks the womb’s entrance. This condition, also referred to as "low placenta", is potentially serious for both mother and baby.

The study showed that women underdoing IVF had up to six times increased chances of experiencing placenta praevia. The reason for the complication is still unknown but researchers believe it may be related to the causes of infertility. If that is the case, that would mean that it is not the IVF treatment itself that is causing the complication. But the condition leading to the need for IVF treatment. If researchers can definitively identify the cause that could lead to safer IVF treatments.