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The Epidemiology of Multiple Pregnancies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

F. Parazzini ,
A. Villa ,
S. Moroni ,
L. Tozzi  and
S. Restelli
F. Parazzini*
Affiliation:
The “Mario Negri” Istitute of Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy Ist. Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Milan, Italy
A. Villa
Affiliation:
The “Mario Negri” Istitute of Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy Ist. Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Milan, Italy
S. Moroni
Affiliation:
Ist. Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Milan, Italy
L. Tozzi
Affiliation:
The “Mario Negri” Istitute of Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
S. Restelli
Affiliation:
The “Mario Negri” Istitute of Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
*
Istituto “Mario Negri”, Via Eritrea 62, 20157 Milan, Italy

Abstract

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Over the last decades the frequency of multiple births has been on the decline in most developed countries. This trend, however, has been restricted to dizygotic twins, while monozygotic rates have remained stable or risen slowly. In more recent years, however, the fall in multiple dizygotic birth rates has ceased and a slight increase is observed. This trend and the increased frequency of triplets or higher-order births, registered from the early 1980s onwards, are essentially related to treatments for infertility. No single risk factor, such as maternal age, parity, oral contraceptive use, or declining fertility rates can explain the overall declining trends. In this paper we review the descriptive epidemiology and the main risk factors for multiple pregnancies.

Keywords

EpidemiologyRisk factorsMultiple pregnancies
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 43 , Issue 1-2 , April 1994 , pp. 17 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1994

References

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