If you are pregnant with more than one baby, you are far from alone. Multiple births are way up in the United States. Why? More women are having babies after age 30 and more are taking fertility drugs. Both boost the chance of carrying more than one baby. A family history of twins also makes multiples more likely.
Years ago, most twins came as a surprise. Now, most women know about a multiple pregnancy early. They should see their health care providers more often than women who are expecting one baby because multiple pregnancies need to be monitored more closely. Multiple pregnancy babies have a much higher risk of being born prematurely. Some women have to go on bed rest to delay labor. Finally, they may deliver by C-section, especially if there are three babies or more.
Once babies are home, moms may feel overwhelmed and exhausted. Volunteer help and support groups for parents of multiples can ease the transition.
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Multiples: Twins, Triplets and Beyond(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_4545.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/centro/9388_9918.asp
- Parenting Multiples(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy/preparing/parenting_multiples.html
- Having Twins(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp092.cfm
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Preparing for Multiple Births(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/multiple_births.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/multiple_births_esp.html
- Twin Pregnancy: What Multiples Mean for Mom(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/twin-pregnancy/PR00120/METHOD=print
- Mothers of Multiples May Face Higher Depression Risk(04/01/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_82418.html
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Ultrasound - Obstetric(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) - http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?PG=obstetricus
Also available in Spanish http://www.radiologyinfo.org/sp/info.cfm?pg=obstetricus
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Parenting in the NICU: Caring for Multiples(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/21295_6092.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/prematuro/9324_9758.asp
- Parenting Multiples(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy/preparing/parenting_multiples.html
- Surviving Bed Rest(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/bed_rest.html
- Twins(American Academy of Pediatrics) - http://www.aap.org/publiced/BK0_Twins.htm
- Conjoined Twins(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/conjoined-twins/DS00869/METHOD=print&DSECTION=all
- Fertility Drugs and the Risk of Multiple Births(American Society for Reproductive Medicine) - Links to PDF - http://www.asrm.org/Patients/FactSheets/fertilitydrugs_multiplebirths.pdf
- Multiple Pregnancy and Birth: Considering Fertility Treatments(American Society for Reproductive Medicine, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - Links to PDF - http://www.acog.org/departments/resourceCenter/2006ModAcogAsrmMultiplePregnancyAndBirth.pdf
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Pregnancy, Multiple(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Pregnancy,+Multiple%22
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Twins(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Twins%22
- What Are My Chances of a Multiple Birth If My Mother Was a Twin?(InteliHealth) - http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH?d=dmtATD&c=375195&p=~br,IHW|~st,3460|~r,WSIHW000|~b,*|
- Identical Twins: Are They Really Identical?(National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) - http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/sep/2008/twins.cfm
- Article: Factors contributing to the facial aging of identical twins. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19337100&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Multiple births are a risk factor for postpartum maternal depressive... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19336374&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Identical twin face lifts with differing techniques: a 10-year follow-up. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19319071&tool=MedlinePlus
- Twins, Triplets, Multiple Births -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=pregnancy,multiple[majr]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- AAP Pediatrician Referral Service(American Academy of Pediatrics) - http://www.aap.org/referral/
- ACOG's Physician Directory(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/member-lookup/disclaimer.cfm
- American Board of Pediatrics: Verification of Certification Search(American Board of Pediatrics) - https://www.abp.org/ABPWebStatic/#murl%3D%2FCertVerification%2Ffaces%2FVerificationSearch.jsp%3Fclear%3Dtrue
- American Academy of Pediatrics - http://www.aap.org/
- KidsHealth(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/index_noflash.html
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/
- FastStats: Multiple Births(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/multiple.htm
- PeriStats: Perinatal Statistics(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/
- When You Are a Twin or Triplet(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/home_family/twin_triplet.html
- High Risk Pregnancy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/highriskpregnancy.html
- Children and Teenagers - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childrenandteenagers.html
- Pregnancy and Reproduction - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pregnancyandreproduction.html