A 10-Year Observational Study on Twin Pregnancy: Role of Fetal Sex Pairing on Obstetric Outcome

Abstract

Fetal sex contributes to the determination of obstetric outcome, as pregnancies carrying male babies seem to have an increased risk of maternal-fetal complications. Most studies have been conducted on singleton pregnancies, whereas less evidence is available for twins. A 10-year retrospective observational study was conducted on a cohort of 1180 women with twin pregnancy delivered at a single tertiary hospital. Clinical data on maternal characteristics, and obstetric and neonatal outcomes were collected, and the analysis was performed on monochorionic (MC) and dichorionic (DC) diamniotic twins separately. The group of DC twins included 837 cases, and those conceived by assisted reproductive technologies (ART) were more likely to have one or both female fetuses rather than males. The incidence of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) was higher in same-sex pairs than in opposite-sex pairs. No differences were found regarding other obstetric and neonatal outcomes among the three sex-pairing groups. The MC twins group included 228 cases, and in female-carrying pregnancies a higher incidence of gestational diabetes (GDM) was observed compared to the male group. Furthermore, male pairs had significantly lower Apgar scores than females. Fetal sex seems to have a mild effect in twins compared to singleton pregnancies, suggesting a more complex set of factors contributing to pregnancy outcome in multiple pregnancies. However, we observed a higher incidence of HDP among same-sex DC pairs, a higher rate of GDM among MC female-female pairs, and a worse adaptation to extrauterine life among male-male pairs in MC twins.

Keywords: Fetal sex; Gender pairing; Gestational diabetes; Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy; Twin pregnancy.