Twins and Multiples: A Four-Part Series

If you are a parent of a premature baby, chances are you have spent some time in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit of your local hospital. While there, you probably noticed that many of the isolettes held twins or other multiples. Therefore, the statistics shouldn't shock you: over half of all multiple pregnancies end prematurely (Helen Harrison, The Premature Baby Book). In a multiple pregnancy, pre-term labor is 10 times more likely to occur. In addition, conditions such as toxemia, placenta previa, placental abruption, gestational diabetes and premature membrane rupture appear more often. Due to these and other reasons, NICUs house a large number of twins, triplets, and other multiples.

Twins have long been the subjects of research studies and general curiosity. Although we (the editors) do not have twins, we are interested in them. We also want to provide those who have or are expecting to have twins/multiples with helpful information. Thus, we are writing a four-part series on twins and multiples. The articles will appear each week under the following headings: General Information, Bonds between Twins/Losing a Twin, Famous Twins/Fun Twin Facts, and Resources.

As always, we hope that you will contribute your opinions, advice and favorite twin resources (Web sites, books, articles, etc.) to help us make these articles as informative as possible.

We look forward to delving into the study of twins/multiples, and hope that you will find the articles stimulating and helpful.

The Eds.

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