A baby that receives fewer nutrients in the womb than his or her identical twin brother or sister has more developmental problems later in life. This is the conclusion of a study by the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). This study shows that adverse conditions in the womb can lead to lifelong adverse health effects. This is reported by the LUMC.
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The researchers looked specifically at genetically identical, or identical, twins where the shared placenta was unevenly distributed during pregnancy. This occurs in 10 to 15% of these twin pregnancies. “You can compare it with one child experiencing the Hunger Winter while the other is in the Bahamas”, explains Jeanine van Klink, child psychologist and researcher at the Willem-Alexander Children’s Hospital (WAKZ). As a result, one child is sometimes twice to three times as large during birth as the identical twin brother or sister.
Suspicion confirmed
The research team has now shown that if a baby falls behind in growth during pregnancy, this has adverse effects later in life. “We invited 48 twin pairs between the ages of 4 and 17 with a growth difference for this so-called LEMON study,” says PhD student Sophie Groene. All these twins were born in the LUMC. The WAKZ is the national referral center and top referral treatment center for identical twin pregnancies in which the twins share one placenta.
IQ-test
Groene: “We took an IQ test and motor research on all these children. We see that the children who are smaller at birth have, on average, lower scores on all domains of intelligence compared to their twin siblings and that they are more likely to have mild psychomotor developmental delay.” These results confirm what was often already believed by the parents and the researchers. “I have been working with this group of twins for about 10 years and always suspected that the smaller of the two developed differently in many cases. Now we have the first scientific proof that this is indeed the case,” says Van Klink.
By: National Care Guide
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