Delivery Interval
A 15-year German study of 8,220 vaginally delivered twins (that is, 4,110 pregnancies) in Hesse yielded a mean delivery time interval of 13.5 minutes. The delivery interval between the twins was measured as follows:
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- Within 15 minutes: 75.8%
- 16-30 minutes: 16.4%
- 31-45 minutes: 4.3%
- 46-60 minutes: 1.7%
- Over 60 minutes: 1.8% (72 instances)
The study stated that the occurrence of complications "was found to be more likely with increasing twin-to-twin delivery time interval" and suggested that the interval be kept short, though it noted that the study did not examine causes of complications and did not control for factors such as the level of experience of the obstetrician, the wish of the women giving birth, or the "management strategies" of the procedure of delivering the second twin.
A longer delivery interval can lead to twins being born in different places. In one instance a woman in the north of England gave birth unexpectedly to a baby at home; she was rushed to the nearest hospital, which was in Scotland, where she gave birth to the second twin an hour and a half later. One twin is English, and the other Scottish, although both share British nationality.
Read more about this topic: Twin
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