Twin Pregnancy: a Challenge for Patients, Families and Health Professionals

Twin pregnancies represent 3-4% of all births and in the last two decades the rate of twin pregnancies has steadily increased, essentially due to the spread of assisted fertilization techniques, the use of drugs that stimulate ovulation and increase in maternal age at conception. Multiple pregnancies pose unique challenges for the patient, families, caregivers and society. Indeed, twin pregnancy is associated with an increased risk compared with singleton pregnancies of all feto-maternal complications of pregnancy (Level of Evidence II-2). In twin pregnancies (both monochorionic, MC, and bichorionic, BC) the incidence of preeclampsia is about 10%, 3 times higher than in singleton pregnancies. In singleton pregnancy, the mean gestational age (GE) at delivery is 39 weeks, the mean GA at delivery in twin pregnancies is less than 36 weeks, reflecting a 9-fold higher prevalence of spontaneo