Use of fertility treatments in relation to the duration of pregnancy attempt among women who were trying to become pregnant and experienced a live birth

The purpose of this study was to compare the utilization of medical help for fertility among women who reported up to a year versus more than a year of trying to become pregnant and to describe the characteristics of those women seeking early treatment. Data from the 2004-2008 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey were used to assess attempt duration and use of fertility treatments in a sample of 9,517 women who had a recent live birth in Utah. PRAMS respondents who were trying to become pregnant at the time of conception were asked questions about fertility treatments (sampling n = 5,238; representative n = 153,036). Univariate and bivariate analyses were used to describe and compare characteristics of women who sought treatment after attempting pregnancy for a year or less and women who waited at least a year to seek treatment. Among women who were trying to become pregnant, 9.5 % reported using some medical assistance to conceive. Among the women trying to become pregnant, 89.3 % had been trying for ≤12 months and 10.7 % reported having tried >12 months. 5.2 % of those trying to become pregnant for up to a year reported use of fertility treatment, compared with 45.8 % of those trying for a year or more. Women who had previous live births were significantly more likely to use early treatment than nulliparous women (aOR = 2.4, 95 % CI = 1.5, 3.9). The use of fertility drugs and other treatments were more common than ART among recipients of early treatment (aOR = 3.7, 95 % CI = 1.7, 7.9). Some women may be receiving fertility treatment before it is clinically indicated. Instead of invasive treatment, these women may benefit from preconception counseling on folic acid, healthy prepregnancy weight and use of ovulation monitoring to time intercourse.