There may be more complications with a twin pregnancy than a singleton; the mother may suffer more nausea and vomiting, and may be more anaemic as her babies make more demands on her resources, and she may be more likely to develop preeclampsia.
Obviously a multiple pregnancy is a little more risky than a single one, but as long as the mother attends her clinic regularly and follows the advice she is given the risk is small.
Actual labor, despite the horrific tales some women delight in telling, is not necessarily longer or more uncomfortable than for a single baby, though clearly the midwife and doctor need to be extra alert. Sometimes the second baby presents as a breech and this demands extra care, but generally the labour progresses normally.
However, there is one major problem with twins (and other multiples of course) and that is the risk of pre-term birth (before 38 weeks) and prematurity – being born too young and therefore small. Although the triggers that start labour are not fully understood yet one is possibly the weight of the uterine contents, and the combined weight of the twins may be the reason for the high incidence of birth before term. Doctors do all they can to delay labour, if it threatens to start too early, but often an early birth is unavoidable.
This means the babies are more frail than those born at a greater weight, and need extra care in the early months. However, even this need not unduly alarm the mother expecting twins; modern techniques of care for these babies ensure that most of them do very well indeed.
Of course not all twins are born premature. The average weight of twins born at full term is about 2.7 kilogrammes (6 pounds) – quite a normal weight.
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