The frequency of multiple births in Gondar Hospital northwestern Ethiopia.

The frequency of multiple births was analysed using data on 12287 deliveries conducted at the Gondar College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital in Northwestern Ethiopia, between 1977 and 1985. There were a total of 183 multiple births giving a frequency of 14.9 per thousand deliveries. The prevalence rates of twins and triplets were 14.4 and 0.49 per thousand deliveries respectively. Increasing rates of twinning by maternal age and parity were observed, the peak prevalence was seen after the sixth parity and in mothers 40-44 years old. Using Weinberg's differential method, the monozygous and dizygous twinning rates per thousand deliveries were 4.8 and 11.7 respectively. The latter rate tended to increase with both parity and maternal age. The findings of this study suggest a lower frequency of multiple births than in previous reports from Ethiopia and other African countries and hence are not characteristic of the continent. The rates found occupy an intermediate position between those for Caucasians and Africans. Multicentre data should, therefore, be analysed to confirm the findings of this and other reports concerning multiple births in Ethiopia.