Twin births in the university of Portharcourt teaching hospital Portharcourt: a 6 year review

Objective:To provide information on twin births and associated factors in Port barcourt South South Nigeria. Methods: Data on twin deliveries from 1st January 2003 to 31st December 2008 were collected and analysed. This included the maternal age and parity, gestation age,Apqar scores, sex and birth weight of twins. Results: A total of 11042 deliveries occurred over the study period with 333 being twins giving a twin rate of 1:33. Male twins constituted 48% of twin births with male to female ratio of 1:1.08. The mean age and parity of mothers were 29.6 years and 2.5 respectively. Presentation of the eephalic/cephalic for the first and second twins was the most common (63.4%). Severe birth asphyxia (first minute Apgar score 1-3) occurred in 3.9% of twins. Male-male twin pair occurred in 28.5% of twins, male-female in 39% while female-female occurred in 32.5%. The Caesarian section rate was 48%. Conclusion: The twining rate in this study is high. In this locality, there is a need for early ultrasound scanning of pregnant women particularly those of parities 1 to 3 and those aged 25-34 years in whom highest rates of twinning occurred to detect twinning when present and refer them to sufficiently equipped centres for adequate antenatal and perinatal care.