Births of triplets, quadruplets on decline in U.S

Declines of 50 percent or more were seen in certain states, and among women aged 25 and older, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).The falloff appears to be connected to changes in infertility treatments, which result in multiple births far less often now compared with the 1980s and 1990s, experts said.

"This is a very positive development because the risk for moms and babies will be lower," said Dr. Tomer Singer. He is director of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "We'll have healthier babies born closer to term and fewer health complications related to prematurity—like lung disease, heart disease and infections," said Singer, who wasn't involved with the new study.
 

For the report, Joyce Martin of the NCHS and colleagues examined birth statistics in 46 states and Washington, D.C., from 1998 to 2014. The researchers found the rate of births of triplets, quadruplets or more babies fell 41 percent—from 7,625 in 1998, when such births peaked, to 4,526 in 2014, reaching a rate of one in every 880 births. In seven states—Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Rhode Island—the rate of these births fell by at least half, the study findings showed. ■

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