U.S. Twin Birth Rate hit record high in 2014, a CDC report shows.
Recent statistics show that U.S. twin birth rate is higher than ever, but the birth rate for other multiples such as triplets and quadruples hit a two-decade low. According to a recent report, of 4 million newborns in 2014, 135,000 were twins. This means that one in 29 babies was a twin.
To get a larger picture, 35 years ago just one baby in 53 was a twin.
The data was taken from the 2014 birth statistics called the National Vital Statistics Report, which was published by CDC Dec. 23. Experts believe that the surge in twin births may be linked to American women’s habit to postpone their motherhood until in their thirties. Past studies had shown that women of that age have greater chances to have twins than their younger peers.
According to the report, American women tend to have their first child at the average age of 26.5. That is up 0.5 percent from the year prior and a record high. Additionally, there are fewer teenage moms now from the peak in 1990. Teen births sank to a record low across all races, the CDC report revealed.
Analysts also think that modern-day fertility treatments boost the odds of having twins. The report also shows that though twin births have been on a steady upward trend in recent years, other types of multiple birth such as triplets were on decline. Since late 1990s those births sank 40 percent, statistics show.
Some fertility experts think that that may have something to do with a change in procedures during in vitro fertilization. Because recent studies had shown that the more embryos you implant, the larger chances of genetic mutations are, doctors used implanted fewer reproductive cells in the procedure.
Moreover, in the wake of the ‘Octomom’ scandal nearly seven years ago, when a U.S. woman gave birth to a set of octuplets via in vitro fertilization, new guidelines urged doctors to use fewer embryos. The doctor in the Octomom case had transferred a dozen of reproductive cells.
Report authors noted that babies that were supposed to be triplets are now twins. According to the report, one in 881 births was a multiple birth last year.
The recent statistical data also show that the rate of premature births saw a slight decline from 2013, and about 8 percent decline from a decade ago.
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