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Temporal Trends in the Rates of Multiple Maternities in England and Wales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Aldur W. Eriksson  and
Johan Fellman
Aldur W. Eriksson*
Affiliation:
Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Population Genetics Unit, Helsinki, Finland. [email protected]
Johan Fellman
Affiliation:
Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Population Genetics Unit, Helsinki, Finland.
*
*Address for correspondence: Aldur Eriksson, Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Population Genetics Unit, PO Box 211, FIN-00251 Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

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After a long continuous decrease, the twinning and higher multifetal rates in many developed countries have increased during the last 2 to 3 decades. This change has been attributed to delayed childbearing and to increased use of subfertility treatments, particularly in women over 35 years of age. In this study we analyze how these new trends depend on changes in the effect of maternal age on the rates of multiple maternities. Our study is based on data for England and Wales for the period 1938 to 2003. The temporal variations show a decreasing trend to a trough around 1980 and after that a steady increase. This increase was more marked for higher multifetal rates and was particularly high for quadruplets. Furthermore, we identified changes in the age-specific rates resulting in increased levels for older mothers. These findings are in good agreement with our results from Nordic populations.

Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 10 , Issue 4 , 01 August 2007 , pp. 626 - 632
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007