Multiple pregnancy in the Maltese population.

This study analyses the multiple birth statistics for the Maltese Islands since 1959. Hospital twin births delivering during the period of 1983-1985 are analysed for a number of variables. The incidence of multiple pregnancy for the Maltese Islands appears to have decreased slightly since 1959 with an overall rate of 10.21 per 1000 maternities. The ratio of dizygotic to monozygotic twinning was computed to be 1.64. Patients with multiple pregnancies are shown to be generally elderly and multiparous. The pregnancy outcome is more likely to be complicated by an operative delivery, while the infant is more likely to be premature and of low birth weight. The perinatal mortality rate for multiple pregnancies is markedly in excess of that for singleton births.