One of our most common query is: “Can I have twins in a single pregnancy?”
All patients who start treatments to induce ovulation have a 2-3 times higher risk of having more than one baby in a single pregnancy. We say ‘risk’ precisely because a woman’s body is designed to have a baby per pregnancy, this is why women usually ovulate one ovum per month. Although some women can ovulate two eggs per month, this is rare.
Multiple pregnancies are associated with more complications (pre-eclampsia, underweight babies, premature labor, abortions) and these risks are increased if they are identical twins that come in the same amniotic sac, which is also associated with a higher risk of fetal malformations. Your obstetrician should inform you about the risks and the tests that should be done during prenatal check-ups, including checking the size of the cervix (cervical length) and the use of pulmonary maturation (PM) after week 24.
International guidelines do not recommend using PM routinely, but we believe the benefit outweighs the risk. The chances of needing a breathing tube are higher when delivery occurs before week 37 and those with lower birth weights
The general belief is that twins occur because two sperm fertilize the same egg, but this is not the case, it is because two eggs are fertilized at the same time and form two babies (non-identical twins) each baby has its own placenta and amniotic sac. Or, because the same fertilized ovum (on the 8th day of development or later) is divided into two babies (in this case, they have one single amniotic sac).
In the case of assisted pregnancies, they generally occur because two eggs are fertilized at the same time in the case of Artificial Insemination, or two embryos are implanted in the case of in vitro fertilization.
MULTIPLE PREGNANCY IS ASSOCIATED WITH MORE COMPLICATIONS SUCH AS PREECLAMPSIA, UNDERWEIGHT BABIES, PREMATURE LABOR, AND ABORTIONS
