Multiple Birth Essay

Introduction

In this project multiple births will be discussed in depth. The main focus will be on the cause of all types of multiple births. The following questions will be answered, what causes multiple births? Is it natural? What is the maximum amount of children you can have at one pregnancy and is it harmful?

What is the problem?

The problem is that a lot of people think that the only type of multiple births is identical twins. Some even believe that kids from one birth have identical finger prints and they are born at the same time. This is a problem because these statements are myths and there are a lot of myths about multiple births. Therefore I will be explaining the real facts about multiple births in order to eliminate these myths.

Some women have also been trying to conceive multiples but they do not know how to increase their chances of getting multiples and the risks they could go through when conceiving multiples. The risks of conceiving multiples will be discussed and also the ways to increase the chances of conceiving multiples.

What are multiple births?

Multiple births is when two or more children are born by the same pregnancy. These children can be identical (monozygotic) or fraternal (dizygotic). Multiple births doesn’t only mean twins or triplets, there can be four children from the same birth or even more. There are a few things that can increase the chances of conceiving multiples; 1) women can start eating hyper-ovulation stimulating foods such as dairy products and wild yams. 2) They can try getting pregnant in between their 30’s and 40’s mostly the age of 35. 3) Seeking fertility assistance can help and 4) increase intake of folic acid (www.newhealthguide.org, 23/01/2013).

Monozygotic twins

Monozygoti...

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...think because some twins can finish each other’s sentences, they can sometimes feel each other’s pan and identify each other’s thoughts they have a “twin telepathy”. This is a myth because this can happen with any two people; close siblings, husband and wife, close friends who have shared experiences, genetic similarities and a close bond.

5) Twins have the same parents: this is true in most cases but twins can have different fathers if a woman has intercourse with two men at a very short period of time then sperm from each man fertilises an egg.

Names of multiples births

1) 2 children: twins

2) 3 children: triplets

3) 4 children: quadruplets

4) 5 children: quintuplets

5) 6 children: sextuplets

6) 7 children: septuplets

7) 8 children: octuplets

8) 9 children: nonuplets

9) 10 children: decaplets (Top 10 unique and Unusual Twins, multiples.about.com, P.P.Fiero, 2014)