The Australian IVF Registry: a world first
Gab Kovacs (AU), Michael Chapman (AU), Georgina Chambers (AU)
[Kovacs] Epworth Healtcare, [Chapman] UNSW, [Chambers] UNSW
The Australian IVF Registry- “A World First”. Although the first two births using IVF technology were in the UK, the first “series” of ten births were in Australia. It was decided that a national registry for IVF births should be established. The first report included data from 1979-1984 on 496 births from 909 pregnancies 12 units in Australia and New Zealand. The report has subsequently been updated annually, with the data recorded varying from year to year. Since 2004, the data collection is under the auspices of The Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database (ANZARD) and is funded by The Fertility Society of Australia. In order to receive ongoing accreditation, units must provide complete data to the NPESU, so that data collection includes virtually every cycle undertaken in Australia and New Zealand. Perinatal data includes method of birth, birth status, birthweight, gestational age, plurality, perinatal mortality and selected information on maternal morbidity. Care has to be taken in interpretation of the data, due to small numbers of cycles in some clinics, the differing proportions of blastocyst versus cleavage stage transfers, and varying patient characteristics. Pregnancy rates per clinic are presented using quartiles; presented as live birth rates within the top or bottom 25% or the middle 50%. Clinics are de-identified in the published data. Since 2009, it has been possible to report the outcomes as cumulative success (clinical pregnancy and live delivery) rates. This means that information is now presented as a cohort, with all pregnancies from fresh or frozen embryo transferred. . The cumulative pregnancy rate is calculated as the total number of fresh and frozen (warmed) clinical/live deliveries divided by the total number of women. This data is sub analysed by age groups, and cycle number.