WOMEN aged 25 to 29 are helping to nudge up the rate of multiple births, figures suggest.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the rate of multiple births, mostly of twins, rose to 16.1 per 1,000 women giving birth in 2015, compared with 16.0 in 2014.
In 2015, 10,901 women gave birth to twins, 169 to triplets and three to quads and above. Most twins and triplets are conceived naturally, but fertility treatment also increases the chance of a multiple birth. On average, one in 10 IVF pregnancies results in a multiple birth.
In the past, women aged 45 and over drove the rise in multiple births, due to higher levels of IVF among this age group. But, in 2015, the rise was fuelled by women aged 25 to 29.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here