New Study Looks at Risk of Anal Tears During Twin Birth

A 2018 study compare women delivering twins with women delivering singletons. The researchers wanted to explore if women delivering twins are more at risk of obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) during delivery. There are four degrees of tears, OASIS are third- and fourth-degree tears. The results of the study were published in Neurology & Urodynamics. 51957 women, who gave birth to singletons, and 261 women, who gave birth to twins, were included in the study. All women gave birth in London between 1999 and 2015. The women in the two groups were compared in relation to age, ethnicity, how many children they’d given birth to previously and how old their babies were at birth.

Twin moms had more instrumental deliveries

The researchers also looked at how the mother and babies were doing during and after delivery. The researchers found that women delivering twins had significantly more instrumental deliveries. An instrumental delivery is when a baby needs help to be born with instruments that attach to his or her head. The women, who gave birth to twins, were older and delivered smaller babies. The researchers found that the women pregnant with twins weren’t significantly more at risk of third- and fourth-degree tears compared to the women delivering singletons.