Pregnancy

[jiacinto]

Why is it that sometimes a woman gets prengant with twins? And then one vanishes away?

I am watching Discovery Health Channel and these thoughts come to mind.

What happens if one of the baby has a missed abortion and the other lives?

What should an OB/GYN do in that case?

[Don_G]

1. I Didn't Do It, I Swear

I barely know the girl!

[Cleita]

2. Did you get a girl in trouble Carlos?

Or, are you researching a book?

[jiacinto]

3. Watching the Discovery Health Channel

nt

[alwynsw]

4. Survival of the fittest

It's nature's way of eliminating either the weaker zygote or one with less than optimal chances of survival.

[populistmom]

5. Let's see

I'm a mom (who's been pregnant) who's beginning a career in nursing (still very much in school) hoping to work in women's health, not exactly qualified, but I'm a pretty good layperson perhaps.

I would suspect generally if something like that happened, it would be fraternal twins (i.e. not genetically identical). About 20% of all pregnancies spontaneous abort and it stands to reason, if someone's pregnant with twins, there's a good chance that one might not make it. Since most spontaneous abortions (miscarriages) happen within the first couple of months when the embryo is very small (like under two inches long), it stands to reason the tissue wouldn't be very much adn could conceivably either be reabsorbed or not be a big issue.

An ob/gyn would most likely leave things alone as not to risk the other fetus. DOing a D&C to remove the nonviable embryo/fetus would likely cause miscarriage or premature delivery of the other fetus.

On edit: I can't believe I forgot this. When I was pregnant for the first time, I actually bled a month into it, but 8 months after that I had a healthy daughter. I never did that with subsequent ones. I was told years later, this probably happened to me (i.e. a lost twin) and nature just took care of things.

[jiacinto]

6. Ok

Are you training to become a midwife, nurse practioner, or just a nurse?

[populistmom]

7. Right now just a nurse

I've done some work in postpartum care in a more nonclinical setting and want to expand on that. I don't think I want to become a midwife, but perhaps a nurse practitioner down the road. I've always found the whole sexual and reproductive health stuff interesting.

[jiacinto]

8. You could do both

nt