A 40-year-old woman gave birth on Double Ten National Day, 111 days after the baby’s twin was lost in a natural miscarriage, Cathay General Hospital said yesterday.
The incident is a medical landmark in Taiwan for the longest interval between the birth of twins, as well as the longest length of pregnancy, Cathay General Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Department director Chen Li-chin (陳俐瑾) told a news conference in Taipei.
The woman surnamed Guan (關) had given birth to a girl conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) about six years earlier before deciding to implant two embryos to have another child, Chen said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
However, the mother experienced a prelabor rupture of membranes causing one of the fetuses to be miscarried at 19 weeks gestation, while the other was kept after she was treated with potent antibiotics and cervical cerclage, also known as a cervical stitch, she said.
As the twins were fraternal with separate placentas and umbilical cords, the second child could be kept and developed in the mother’s womb, she said.
While 99 percent of twins are born within an interval of 24 hours, a delayed-interval delivery in twin pregnancies such as Guan’s case is rare, with only 82 such cases recorded globally, indicating a success rate of less than 0.01 percent, Chen said.
Globally, delayed intervals average 20 to 60 days, with a record high of 154 days in Portugal, she added.
The incidence of preterm births in Taiwan has risen to 10.8 percent last year from 8.5 percent in 2006, mostly likely because of the increased percentage of twins conceived through IVF and pregnancy at advanced maternal ages, she said.
Women of advanced maternal age who are pregnant with twins are advised to be aware of uterine contraction and have their cervical length measured at 16 to 24 weeks of gestation during the second trimester, she said.
They should promptly go to the hospital if they experience symptoms of preterm labor, such as bleeding, uterine contraction and their water breaking, Chen added.
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