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[Order of twins--random choice of natural selection?]
Zbyszko Malewski1, Agnieszka Seremak-Mrozikiewicz, Krzysztof Drews
1Kliniki Perinatologii AM im. Karola Marcinkowskiego w Poznaniu.
Objective:
Testing of hypothesis that the order of twins is random.
Design:
Confrontation of birthweight and incidence of stillbirth between twins.
Materials And Methods:
The group of 829 twin deliveries was investigated. Probability of distribution was assessed according to Bernoullie's trials schema.
Results:
The first twin was usually heavier then the second one (p = 0.05), especially at term. Order of twin delivery was influenced by a birthweight difference > 250 g. In cases of single twin intrauterine death, the alive, term baby was delivered as the first one statistically more common (p = 0.029), despite of smaller number of cases. Discussion suggests that differences between twins are rather reasons of observed order than results.
Conclusion:
Hypothesis of natural selection of stronger baby for the first delivery was presented.