from Section 3 - Fetal Medicine
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2021
Multiple pregnancy is a high-risk pregnancy. The antenatal care of these pregnancies is often complicated and intrapartum care may be technically challenging and require a skilled and experienced clinician. Women with multiple pregnancies have increased risk of adverse outcomes for both mother and fetuses during the pregnancy and childbirth, such as an increased risk of miscarriage, anaemia, hypertensive disorders, haemorrhage, operative delivery, caesarean section (CS) and postnatal complications. Maternal mortality is 2.5 times higher in multiple births than in singletons [1], and there is an increased risk of preterm birth, pre-eclampsia, prelabour rupture of membranes (PROM), placental abruption, other placental abnormalities (including placenta praevia), gestational diabetes, pyelonephritis, postpartum haemorrhage, etc. The hospital admission rate of such patients is six times greater than in singleton pregnancies [2]. Multiple pregnancy is associated with a sixfold increase in the risk of preterm birth, which is the leading cause of infant mortality and long-term mental and physical disability, including cerebral palsy, learning difficulties and chronic lung disease [1]. All these potential complications provide the incentive for doctors to learn more about multifetal pregnancy to enable them to provide optimal clinical care to such patients in accordance with the best available evidence and standards of care.
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