While 40 weeks is the full gestation period of the average pregnancy, most twin pregnancies are delivered at approximately 36 weeks (range 32-38 weeks depending on the type of twin pregnancy).
According to Guinness World Records, the longest confirmed interval between the birth of twins is 90 days. Fraternal twins Molly and Benjamin West were born on Jan. 1 and March 30, 1996, in Baltimore.
The average length of pregnancy for twins is 36.4 weeks. Babies who are born between 32 weeks and 37 weeks generally do very well. If your babies are born early, they are likely to be fine, but they may need to spend time at the special care baby unit (SCBU) or the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The chance of a twin miscarriage that affects both babies is around 5 to 10 percent, says Robin Kalish, MD, FACOG, a specialist in high-risk pregnancies.
That's why full-term for twins is considered 38 weeks, not the typical 40 weeks. Preterm birth — delivery before 37 weeks of pregnancy — is the most common complication when you're pregnant with multiples. About 50 percent of twins are born early. Twin delivery, on average, occurs around 35 to 36 weeks.
Being pregnant with multiples doesn't necessarily mean that your pregnancy will be problematic. However, women carrying multiples do have a higher chance of developing complications such as high blood pressure and preterm labor. For this reason, all multiple pregnancies are considered high-risk.
There are 3 types of identical twins. About one-third of identical twins split soon after fertilisation and form completely separate twins. Like fraternal twins, these twins have separate placentas. The other two-thirds split after they attach to the wall of the womb.
It's not always possible to know if you had a vanishing twin. It's possible to be pregnant with multiples and to miscarry one or more of the embryos before your first pregnancy ultrasound. In this case, neither you nor your provider will know you were pregnant with twins or triplets.
This may be the earliest indication that a mother was pregnant with twins or triplets, but one of them has miscarried. Unlike a miscarriage though, the pregnant mother may not have any vaginal bleeding or uterine cramping, though some still may. This really depends on the stage of pregnancy when the miscarriage occurs.
Vanishing twin syndrome is the loss of one twin during pregnancy, usually in the first trimester, and oftentimes before the mother even knows she's carrying twins. When this happens, the tissue of the miscarried twin is usually reabsorbed by the mother's body over time.
A little more than half of twin pregnancies end in preterm delivery (before 37 weeks). While 40 weeks is the full gestation period of the average pregnancy, most twin pregnancies are delivered at approximately 36 weeks (range 32-38 weeks depending on the type of twin pregnancy).
Expect the whole procedure to take a few hours. Maybe two or three, with a few hours on either side for check ups and aftercare.
For twins, the average stay is nine to 25 days. For triplets it's 11 days to up to three months.
"The average weight gain is 25 pounds for singleton pregnancy and 30-35 pounds for twins. We don't want moms pregnant with twins to gain more than 40 [pounds] or less than 15 pounds."
Twins are more likely to be born early, often before 38 weeks, so it's important to understand your birth options. Less than half of all twin pregnancies last beyond 37 weeks. Because of the likelihood that your babies will be born early, there is a good chance one or both of them will spend some time in special care.
You're more likely to have a vaginal birth if the first twin is in a head-down position. But there may be medical reasons why a vaginal birth is not recommended. If you have had a caesarean section before, for example, it's not usually recommended that you have a vaginal birth with twins.
If this event happens in the first trimester of the pregnancy, the surviving twin will most likely develop without further consequences. However, if the fetal death occurs after mid gestation (17 weeks' gestation) there is an associated increased risk of preterm labor, IUGR, preeclampsia, and perinatal mortality [5,8].
Doctors aren't 100% sure why the miscarriage of a twin happens during early pregnancy. The exact cause is usually unknown, though there are a couple of possible explanations, namely: chromosomal aberrations that make the embryo nonviable. improper cord implantation.
When a twin dies after the embryonic period of gestation, the water within the twin's tissues, the amniotic fluid, and the placental tissue may be reabsorbed. This results in the flattening of the deceased twin from the pressure of the surviving twin.
Today, doctors diagnose vanishing twin syndrome by using ultrasounds. An early ultrasound may show two babies, and a later ultrasound may show only one. Doctors can see vanishing twins that they once would not have found.
The twin that stops growing will be reabsorbed into your placenta and into the baby that you're carrying. Small indicators of the twin might remain in your placenta when you deliver your baby. In most cases, your pregnancy will continue as it would have if you were carrying one baby to begin with.
Sometimes, one of the fetuses is partially absorbed by the other in early pregnancy. The partially absorbed fetus stops developing and becomes parasitic. The other twin continues to develop normally and becomes dominant.
Identical (monozygotic) twins happen when a single egg (zygote) is fertilised. The egg then divides in 2, creating identical twins who share the same genes. Identical twins are always the same sex, so if your twins are identical, you'll have 2 girls or 2 boys.
In a typical identical twin pregnancy, an egg splits during its first week after fertilization. But in a mirror twin pregnancy, the egg splits 7 to 12 days after it's been fertilized — long enough for the egg to have developed a right and a left side.
Bed rest during a multiple pregnancy is sometimes used as a way to prevent complications,1 but it is not a requirement for all twin pregnancies. If everything progresses normally during your twin pregnancy, you may not require bed rest.