RESEARCH FROM THE Central Statistics Office (CSO) has revealed new facts abouts twins in Ireland, including that 24% of parents dress their twins in matching outfits.

The Growing Up in Ireland study compared the development of nine-month-old twins versus singletons of the same age.

It seems Irish twins are extremely close. Over 82% of mothers said that their baby liked being with their twin most of the time.

But not close enough to warrant upset over being separated, 64% of mother said that their baby was never or hardly ever upset if parted from their twin.

CSO CSO

The research also included medical findings on twin babies, including the fact that less than a third of twins were delivered without medical intervention and unbreeched, compared to over 60% of singleton births.

More than a third of mothers of twins had a planned caesarean, this figure was nearly three times more than other mothers. There was also a higher rate of emergency caesarean among mothers of twins.

Over 75% of twins were born early (between 35 – 39 weeks), whereas this accounted for only 36% of singleton births. 

There was also a slight difference in breastfeeding figures. More than half of twins (53.9%) were breastfed for some time after birth compared to 60.6% of singleton babies. 

A higher percentage of mothers of twins reported they had undergone medical fertility treatment for their pregnancy compared to parents of singletons.

The number of parents minding their child themselves when the baby was nine months old was higher for parents of twins at 69%, in comparison to around 59% of other parents.

There was also a 10% different in the number of mother who reported they had concerns about some aspects of their baby’s behaviour or development, with 10.9% of mothers of twins reporting this compared to 6.8% of mothers of singletons.