Estimation of optimal birth weights and gestational ages for twin births in Japan.

ABSTRACT:

Background

As multiple pregnancies show a higher incidence of complications than singletons and carry a higher perinatal risk, the calculation of birth weight - and gestational age (GA)-specific perinatal mortality rates (PMR) for multiple births is necessary in order to estimate the lowest PMR for these groups.

Methods

Details of all reported twins (192,987 live births, 5,539 stillbirths and 1,830 early neonatal deaths) in Japan between 1990 and 1999 were analyzed and compared with singletons (10,021,275 live births, 63,972 fetal deaths and 16,862 early neonatal deaths) in the annual report of vital statistics of Japan. The fetal death rate (FDR) and PMR were calculated for each category of birth weight at 500-gram intervals and GA at four-week intervals. The FDR according

SUBMITTER: Kato N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1402276 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature