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Two in one
Twin pregnancy is a mixed blessing – on the one hand there’s the exciting prospect of an instant family, on the other hand there’s the worrying prospect of more problems during the nine months leading up to the birth and delivery.
Obviously, carrying and delivering two babies at once is more of a feat than just producing one, but the fact remains that pregnancy and birth are physiological states, not symptoms of a disease process. Statistically, it is true that there’s an increased likelihood of problems with twins. However, not all complications of single pregnancies occur more frequently in a twin pregnancy, so don’t worry.
How twin pregnancies happen
- Identical twins. One egg splits after fertilisation into two separate cells – each one of these growing into a baby (usually sharing the same placenta). Having developed from the same cell, they are always the same sex and look alike.
- Non-identical or fraternal twins. Two eggs are fertilised by two different sperm at the same time, (each baby having its own placenta). They can be different sexes and probably will not look any more alike than any brother or sister.
Twin pregnancies are passed down through the female and are more likely to occur if there are already non-identical twins in the family. The prevalence in the UK is about one in 95 deliveries – and this has been increasing over the past couple of decades. Multiple pregnancies also increase as women get older.
Diagnosis
Twin pregnancy used to be diagnosed clinically when the mother reported that her symptoms of pregnancy were worse than usual and the womb was found to be bigger than expected for the gestational dates. Sometimes twins were diagnosed for the first time in labour – certainly a surprise for both the expectant couple and the obstetrician alike. Nowadays, the ultrasound scan performed routinely between the 16th and 20th week usually allows a much earlier diagnosis.
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