Decode the phenomenon of natural pregnancy

Every month the woman has only one egg to ripen and fall. In some cases, there are 2, 3, 4 ovulation at the same time causing the twin fetal fertilization, tam thai, and fetus .

Explain the phenomenon of natural pregnancy

According to Dr. Le Thi Thu Ha, Head of Maternity Department, Tu Du Hospital (HCMC), multiple pregnancy is the simultaneous development of many fetuses in the womb. This is an abnormal number of pregnancies and not pathology. Can meet 2 pregnancies, 3 pregnancies, 4 pregnancies, even 8 pregnancies, but most often 2 pregnancies, called twins .

Ms. Hoang Thi Xuan (Quang Binh) is pregnant for 11 weeks.This is the case with 4 rare natural pregnancies.(Photo: Quang Ha.)

The rate of multiple pregnancies naturally varies among ethnic groups . Myrianthopoulos's study in 1970 showed that the white birth rate of white women was 1/100, the color was 1/80. Some areas such as Africa, the rate of multiple births is very high. Knox and Morley's research in 1960 conducted in Nigeria noted that the twins birth rate was 1/20. In Asia, this birth rate is 1/155. In general, the average rate of pregnant women in the fetus is 1/80, the fetus is about 1 / 8,000, the natural pregnancy is very rare, less than 1 / 10,000.

Today, the rate of multiple pregnancies is increasing due to the use of drugs in assisted reproductive techniques. There were reports in the IVF group, the incidence of multiple pregnancies via ultrasound on the 21st to 28th day after the embryo transfer was as follows: 47% of three pregnancies, 32% of twins and 18% of single pregnancies. Some of the four pregnancies have been reported in Vietnam, most after using fertility support. 2 years ago, there was a 5-year-old woman giving birth by artificial insemination.

According to Dr. Thu Ha, the mechanism leading to multiple pregnancies is that when a woman's egg and a man's sperm meet each other, fertilization will develop into an embryo . Normally, women only have one egg ripe and shed every month. Male sperm have tens of millions of babies for one ejaculation, but only one "good guy" gets into the egg causing conception and gradually develops into a fetus.

If everything is perfectly normal, enough days, the woman will give birth to a baby. During development, fertilized eggs suddenly "get excited " split in half, will develop into two babies. This phenomenon is called twins and eggs (two eggs per pregnancy). Children born in that case will be of the same sex and the same genetic factor, the shape is very similar even if it is difficult for parents to distinguish it.

Another double pregnancy situation is having two eggs ripening and falling at the same time, the eggs will be fertilized by two different sperms . This case is called an egg of two different pregnancies (two two-fetal pregnancies), two babies born may be the same or opposite sex, have different genetic characteristics. These eggs may fall from an ovary, or from two ovaries, sperm may be from the same person or different fathers. Many fertilized eggs can occur in the same sexual intercourse or different intercourse, but during the same menstrual cycle, called simultaneous fertilization . The phenomenon of multiple insemination (fertilized eggs in different months) has not been seen in humans.

Artwork: Internet

Similar to twins, women with 4 pregnancies may have one of the following situations:

1. There are 4 fertilized eggs with 4 different sperms (4 4 eggs).
2. There are two pregnancies from two fertilized eggs with two sperm. The remaining two pregnancies are due to a fertilized egg with a sperm and a double later. Thus, in this situation, there are 4 pregnancies 3 eggs.
3. There are 2 fertilized eggs with 2 sperm. Both fertilized eggs are dichotomous (4 pregnancies from 2 eggs).

Dr. Thu Ha recommends that women become more and more pregnant, the risk of maternal and baby health increases. When the fetus develops, the phenomenon of maternal hypertension is common, the rate of pre-eclampsia increases significantly in addition to the risk of maternal diabetes in pregnancy.

Multiple pregnancies also increase the risk of anemia . Because maternal erythrocyte demand increases and the need for hematopoies increases with the number of pregnancies, the likelihood of anemia is high. It is estimated that more than 40% of pregnant women with pregnancies are anemic. Depending on the level of iron deficiency and red blood cells in the mother's blood, symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath and reduced oxygen intake during pregnancy can be caused.

According to statistics, in the case of multiple pregnancies, many abnormal developments can occur such as abnormal fetal, umbilical cord, fetal failure, etc., should increase the rate of caesarean section. Because the uterus is too big, it often has the phenomenon of postpartum uterine atony, which increases the risk of postpartum haemorrhage. The number of pregnancies is high, so the uterus grows rapidly and the mother becomes tired, has difficulty breathing, increases the risk of each other's strikers and placental placenta.

Usually, women with multiple pregnancies are prone to premature miscarriage, so the rate of multiple pregnancies decreases gradually compared to the gestational age.Preterm birth , ie born before the 37th week of pregnancy, is also common. Premature babies often have problems with premature births such as respiratory failure, lung disease, gastrointestinal disease, retina, reduced or hearing loss, intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis.

There are many risks for both mother and baby in multiple pregnancies . Therefore, the experience of the world and Vietnam has a strategy to reduce pregnancy in cases of three pregnancies, four pregnancies or more. Usually, intervention will be done to reduce the remaining two pregnancies. When the number of pregnancies decreases, the weight of the remaining pregnancies will increase and the gestational age will increase , the ability to feed the babies will be higher, reducing the rate of morbidity and mortality in children.

Pregnancy reduction interventions are usually performed between 10 and 12 weeks of pregnancy. However, abortion is a procedure that may cause some risks such as miscarriage and infection, so both partners' consent is required before proceeding.