Some passengers called railway staff and alerted a medical team stationed at Lucknow of the ‘developments on the train’. The medical team was kept on standby mode.  Before the train could reach Lucknow, however, the woman gave birth to twin boys. Both the babies were handed over to the waiting medical team, safe and healthy.  The mother and the twins were immediately wheeled away to the Queen Mary Hospital here, officials told IANS.

Habibullah, the proud father of the twins, said they were going to their village Kundera in Gonda when his wife went into labour in Kanpur. But before he could decide on de-boarding the train, the train moved, and he was left with no option but to wait till the train reached Lucknow.  ‘I am very thankful to Allah and my fellow passengers who helped me a lot,’ Habibullah told IANS, adding that he and Zuben have four-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, who also arrived in a moving train. Cradling the two babies, Habibullah said he was feeling on ‘top of the world’ and shared the amusement of his co-passengers that his wife had delivered twins twice in a moving train. ‘Well, indeed this is some sort of a record, but what can I say,’ he said, sounding a bit surprised himself. ‘I can call this a rare blessing of god almighty that my kids come into this world in such a manner,’ he said.

Source: IANS

Jodie Dodd, professor from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Institute and the Women’s & Children’s Hospital, who led the study, said: “Infants of a twin pregnancy are recognised to be at risk of problems during pregnancy, particularly from a slowing of the rate of growth in one or both twins.”  ”This slowing of the growth rate can result in low birth weight, which is associated with an increased need for care in the neonatal nursery in the short term and increased risk of health problems in later life, including heart disease and diabetes. There is also the risk of one or both twins being stillborn.

“This is why we’ve taken such a great interest in the optimal time for twins’ birth. We found that at 37 weeks, elective birth is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of serious morbidity for infants, without increasing complications related to immaturity or induction of labour,” said Dodd. Dodd says there has been a lot of uncertainty in clinical practice about the optimal time for twins’ birth. 

“We hope this study will help clinicians to make recommendations to women with healthy twin pregnancies that lead to less complications at birth, and therefore lead to happier, healthier lives for their babies,” added Dodd.

Source: IANS

Those fertility-enhancing therapies include both assisted reproductive technologies and ovulation stimulation medications. About 12 percent of US women have had fertility therapies, according to a statement of Michigan State. ”With multiple births though there are greater health risks,” said Luke, researcher in the College of Human Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology at Michigan. “Continued research is necessary to improve outcomes. “Luke, who first reported the numbers in a report with Joyce Martin of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that births for triplets and higher numbers also grew: one in every 651 babies in 2009 compared with one in 2,702 in 1980. These findings were presented at the 14th Congress of the International Society of Twin Studies in Florence, Italy.

Source: IANS