Impact of maternal Body Mass Index on IVF outcome

Background and objectives: Obesity is a rapidly developing health issue all over the world. Excess body fat causes menstruation abnormalities, particularly chronic oligo-anovulation, as well as infertility. The aim of the current research is to review the impact of women’s weight on the outcome of the in vitro fertilization treatment. Methods: A retrospective single center cohort study was conducted with 129 women undergoing in vitro fertilization cycles from 2022–2023 at Erbil maternity teaching hospital in vitro fertilizaton center. One-hundred-twenty-nine women undergoing assisted reproductive therapy were recruited for the purpose of this study. The target age range of patients was 18-43 years. The study focused on the effect of body mass index on infertility, hormonal status and outcome of in vitro fertilization. Results: In the normal weight category, there were 18 women (14%), whereas the overweight category comprised 57 individuals (44.1%), and the obese category included 54 participants (41.9%). Primary infertility was observed in 88.9% of the women with normal body mass index, 73.7% and 74.1% of the overweight and obese women respectively. Conversely, secondary infertility was identified in 11.1% of the women with normal body mass index, 26.3% and 25.9% of the overweight and obese women respectively (p>0.05). Regarding pregnancy rates, they stood at 16.7% for the women with normal body mass index, 17.5% for the overweight and 29.6% for obese women (p>0.05). Conclusion: The findings in our study suggests no relationship between obesity on hormonal levels or clinical pregnancy outcomes.