Page 48 - Fertility in Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis Vruchtbaarheid van vrouwen met reumatoïde artritis

Chapter 3
Figure 1. Flowchart of the study population and inclusion of study participants.
Reproductive history
Of the participants, 170 women (96%) had ended their efforts to establish a pregnancy. Reasons to stop trying to conceive were (multiple answers per subject possible): a complete family (72%), advanced age (20%), increase of RA complaints or the need for anti-rheumatic drugs incompatible with pregnancy (together 19%) or other health problems that complicated conception or taking care of a child (3%). In 9 women (5%) there were no more fertility treatments available or their gynaecologist advised against a new pregnancy. In 3% the mental burden of the wish to conceive was a reason to end their attempts at pregnancy, and in 1% relational problems played a role. In total 28% ended their efforts before they felt their family was complete. Fifty- nine women (33%) put their efforts to conceive on hold for one or more intervals, and in 32% of them this was due to RA complaints or the need for anti-rheumatic drugs incompatible with pregnancy.
The participants had a total of 412 pregnancies, with a median of 2 pregnancies (IQR 2-3, mean 2.3 ± 1.0) per woman. Of all reported pregnancies, 354 pregnancies (86%) were conceived after diagnosis of RA. Thirty-three percent of the women had one or more miscarriages (median 0, IQR 0-1, mean 0.42 ± 0.69). The total number of miscarriages was 75. There were 334 live born children in the study population
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