Tuesday 24 May 2011

Did You Know






That since the start of the 21st century the odds of having twins has increased dramatically, in fact, since the 1980's the chances of a twin pregnancy has increased by 50%. Let me just stop here and say, I am not currently pregnant, this is speculation only. Anyway, 1 in every 34 children is a multiple. How scary. Not only that, but it seems we were quite lucky the littlie was a single and our chances of having twins next time around are also quite high. There are certain factors which increase the chances and I/we fall into many of the categories, such as,


  • Maternal Age - if you are over 35 the odds are 21.7%, by the time you are 45 the odds are 56.7% ( I am 41 in case you didnt know)

  • Maternal History - if you, your mother or grandmother has had or is a fraternal twin (non identical), this could be a sign of hyper-ovulation, where more than one egg is released per month. This is often hereditary. See my post HERE about the fraternal twins in my family.

  • You are overweight or very tall. Well, I am 5ft7 so not very tall, but my BMI is over 30 which is the classification they use in the study as more likely.

So three fairly compelling categories. The study also lists taking chlomid and having had twins already, and being Nigerian as the other main factors.
I am not taking chlomid but since I only have one viable ovary (or rather fallopian tube) I am taking Vitax (or chasteberry), you can find more info on it HERE. Vitex seems to regulate things so maybe it lowers the odds of hyper-ovulation? It doesn't say so though. 
Anyway, I am pretty tired as it is so imagine a multiple pregnancy and the first few years after a multiple birth. Yikes!!! It is outwith my control, but let me just say, yams are off the menu. See Point 2


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