Probability of Multiples
QUESTION
Dear Midwife,
My maternal grandmother had 3 sets of fraternal twins. My mother is a fraternal twin that gave birth to identical twins. My husband's maternal grandmother had a fraternal set of twins. The male twin had a set of fraternal twins as well.
I am about 5 weeks pregnant with my third pregnancy, I am 38 year old African-American female. I have had extreme nausea for 2 weeks, my breasts are VERY VERY sensitive, and my pants are tight.
I guess I'd love to know what the probabilities are of carrying twins. My first Dr.'s appt. isn't until 2/19.... of course I will ask my OB/GYN but I thought I'd throw that question out there....
ANSWER
For women who have had children before, often the first sign that they are carrying twins is MUCH worse morning sickness than they are used to. Also, your chances go up with age. So maybe . . .
-- Cynthia, CNM. PhD.
Cynthia Flynn
Cynthia Flynn, CNM. PhD, is the General Director of the Family Health and Birth Center which provides prenatal, birth, postnatal, gynecological and primary health care to underserved women and their families in Washington, D.C. Recently Cynthia served as Associate Professor of Nursing at Seattle University. There she not only taught, but remained in full scope clinical midwifery practice at Valley Medical Center where she cared for pregnant and birthing women, and practices well-woman gynecology, family planning, and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases.
Cynthia founded Columbia Women's Clinic and Birth Center, where she took care of pregnant women and infants up to two weeks of age and attended both birth center and hospital births. Before Cynthia earned her CNM, she worked as a registered nurse in labor and delivery and postpartum and is a certified Doula and Doula trainer.
