Articles about Multiples


Double Trouble

A new book entitled "Kiwi Twins: Surviving the first 6 months" has been published by Angela Robinson, an Auckland mother of three year old twin girls. Angela's book focuses on the first six months of her twins' lives covering subjects such as preparing for twins, common complications, Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), feeding and sleeping. This book is specially targeted for Kiwi mums with multiple births, which also covers various New Zealand issues such as Plunket, midwives, our hospital system, and terminology.

Angela calls on Kiwi parents to share their stories about dealing with twins in the early months. You can email Angela for a copy of the book ($20 plus $3 post and packaging), or email your story to .


Fertility Treatment and Multiple Pregnancy

At a Multiple Pregnancy Seminar held in Auckland in May 2006, tertility treatment and multiple pregnancy were discussed. Sarah Baylis from the Wellington Multiple Birth Club reported in their June 2006 newsletter a summary of the paper presented by Dr Simon Kelly, and excerpts are reproduced here with permission.

Occurrence of multiple pregnancies has increased over the last two decades. There are two reasons for this: (1) late childbearing, and (2) use of assisted reproduction.

The first successful IVF pregnancy was 28 years ago. It is now estimated that there are more than 1.5 million offspring that have resulted from IVF treatment over the past two decades.

In 2004 a SET (Syngle Embryo Transfer) policy was introduced as a matter of course for New Zealand patients undergoing government funded IVF for those who qualify. For women under the age of 35 undergoing IVF who have 2 or more good quality embryos, only 1 embryo can be replaced. Of interest in this group the multiple pregnancy rate is around 40% if 2 embryos are replaced. Since the policy was introduced the multiple pregnancy rate following IVF has dropped to less than 15%. It is likely that as pregnancy rates improve the SET policy may be extended to include women over 35 with good quality embryos.

This will mean there will be fewer twins born as a result of IVF, but there are still other fertility drugs that can result in twins or more.

Multiple pregnancies do entail a number of risks to the mother and babies, as well as increasing health costs significantly. Nearly all the major complications of pregnancy are more common with increasing numbers of foetuses. The perinatal mortality rate is around 6 fold higher for twin pregnancies compared to singletons (perinatal refers to the time immediately before and after childbirth). There is also evidence to suggest these risks may also be higher for multiple pregnancies conceived via assisted reproduction compared to natural multiple pregnancies.


Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding twins or triplets is one of the most popular questions asked by prospective and new mothers. The benefits of breastfeeding are discussed in our Breastfeeding article (pdf file). There are also many books and other resources available on the subject, and occasional articles in our club newsletters. Have a look at the Ask Dr Sears website for Breastfeeding Twins, and also use Search on a topic of interest.

La Leche League holds regular morning tea meetings to discuss various aspects of breastfeeding and meet with other mothers who are breastfeeding their babies. Leaders are educated to be inclusive of all opinions and approaches and to promote an atmosphere of acceptance and understanding - while giving relevant information about breastfeeding. Many women find great information, encouragement and support from these meetings and the shared experiences of the mothers there. For all your breastfeeding questions and concerns, call La Leche League: Janet (04) 233 1815, Mandy (04) 239 8499, or Lorraine (04) 233 6513.


Nutrition

Nutrition for expecting mothers of multiples is very important. The old saying of "Eating for Two" now becomes "Eating for Three or More", and you will probably find you need to eat more, and change some of the foods you do eat. Healthy eating tips are outlined in our article on Nutrition (pdf file). You may also need to consult your doctor, midwife or nutritionist for more help.


Birth Order

A popular question asked of parents of multiples is "Who is the oldest?" or "Who was born first?" These questions have been the subject of much study over the years, and some people link the birth order to personality, and inheritance. Read an interesting article on Birth Order on the NZMBA website.