Overall favorable outcomes for twin pregnancies in moms 45-plus

(HealthDay)—Twin pregnancies in older women (at least 45 years of age) overall have favorable outcomes but are associated with high rates of some complications, according to a study published in the May issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Rachel S. Gerber, M.D., from New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and colleagues retrospectively evaluated pregnancy outcomes among 139 women with twin gestations who were at least 45 years old when they delivered (2005 to 2016).

The researchers found that the mean maternal age at delivery was 47.3 years, with 99.3 percent undergoing in vitro fertilization and 95 percent using donor eggs. The average gestational age of delivery was 35.4 weeks, with 22.3 percent delivering before 34 weeks of gestation. High rates of cesarean delivery (93.5 percent), preeclampsia (44.6 percent), and gestational diabetes (19 percent) were seen. In nulliparous women, preeclampsia occurred in 50.5 percent of patients versus 30.5 percent of women with a prior birth. Preterm birth at less than 34 weeks of gestation occurred in 18.1 percent of white women versus 30.3 percent of nonwhite women.

"Twin pregnancy in a predominantly healthy cohort of women who were at least 45 years old when they delivered was associated with high rates of cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, and gestational diabetes, but overall favorable outcomes," the authors write.

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