Multiple Births – A Reason Of Concern Rather Than Joy?

Thanks to fertility treatments, multiple births have become more common in the last few decades, according to statistics. The most recent case, which astonished the medical world, is that of a woman in California who gave birth to the second set of octuplets in the history of the United States at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Bellflower on Monday.

The babies, six boys and two girls, are doing well, according to the doctors dealing with the case. However, they will remain in incubators for the following six weeks, as they were born nine weeks before term.

The first set of octuplets was born in Houston, Texas, in 1998, six girls and two boys. Unfortunately, one of girls died days after birth because of heart and lung failure. The other seven recently celebrated their tenth birthday. Their parents, Nkem Chukwu and Iyke Louis Udobi said they are more than grateful to see their children healthy and active.

Besides the excitement of such an event, it is common knowledge that multiple births are risky, as the uterus is capable of carrying and feeding a certain number of foetuses. Therefore, multiple births increase the odds of having babies born before term, which as well increase the risk of developing health problems and dying.

In fact, the more premature the babies are delivered, the greater risks they have of dying or suffering serious lifelong problems, according to Dr. Norbert Gleicher, medical director at the Center for Human Reproduction in New York.

“The media should not make this into heroic case,” Gleicher said about the octuplets in California. “This is anything but a heroic case. This is very bad medicine,” he added, referring to the fact that medical guidelines limit the number of embryos implanted at the same time to two or three at most. Multiple births pose risks for the mother as well, as she is more likely to develop gestational diabetes, hypertension and preeclampsia.

Source: Anna Boyd E-Flux Media