Delivering twins at 37 weeks?
Published on: 28/10/2016
Research has indicated that some twins should be delivered at 37 weeks gestation, in order to minimise risk of stillbirth and neonatal death.
The research, published in the British Medical Journal, assessed uncomplicated twin pregnancies over the past 10 years and reported stillbirth rates and neonatal deaths up to 28 days old. They considered the balance between the risk of stillbirth, and the risk of neonatal death from delivering after 34 weeks.
The results founds that the risk of stillbirth was the same up until 37 weeks for twins that had individual placentas. At the point of 38 weeks gestation the stillbirth rate increased by 8.8 deaths per 1000. In pregnancies where twins shared a placenta, the risk of stillbirth appeared higher than the risk of neonatal death for after 36 weeks gestation.
The current recommendations vary, ranging from delivery between 34 and 37 weeks for twins sharing a placenta, and 37 to 39 weeks for twins with two individual placentas.
The researchers are therefore suggesting that for twin pregnancies with two placentas, a 37 week delivery should be considered “to prevent the significant increased in stillbirths associated with expectant management compared with the risk of neonatal deaths associated with early delivery”