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Comparative Study
. 2002 Aug;92(8):1323-30.
doi: 10.2105/ajph.92.8.1323.

The impact of the increasing number of multiple births on the rates of preterm birth and low birthweight: an international study

Béatrice Blondel  1 , Michael D Kogan, Greg R Alexander, Nirupa Dattani, Michael S Kramer, Alison Macfarlane, Shi Wu Wen
Affiliations
Comparative Study

The impact of the increasing number of multiple births on the rates of preterm birth and low birthweight: an international study

Béatrice Blondel et al. Am J Public Health. 2002 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: We studied the effects of twins and triplets on perinatal health indicators in the overall population in the 1980s and 1990s in Canada, England and Wales, France, and the United States.

Methods: Data were derived mostly from live birth registration. We used rates, relative risks, and population attributable risks for twins and triplets separately.

Results: In each country, the increase in multiple births, and the increase in preterm delivery among multiple births, contributed almost equally to the rise in or stabilization of the overall rates of preterm delivery. Twins contributed a much larger proportion of the preterm deliveries and low-birthweight newborns than did triplets.

Conclusions: Twins have a major population-based impact on the trends of perinatal health indicators.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
—Trends in twin and triplet or higher-order births (rates per 1000 live births).
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
—Trends in twin and triplet or higher-order births (rates per 1000 live births).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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