The Type of Birth Delivery May Impact the Psychological Development of Twins

Published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Psychology, a team of researchers recently made some impressive headway in the realms of medicine and psychology. As some readers are already are well aware, childbirth is not an easy feat, a tolling process that you can never be truly prepared for.

Yet, understanding the different type of options available for when a child is born and how that can affect both the mother and child is crucial.  

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Unless you are living in a small town in Brazil, the chances of having twins are relatively small. Even more so, the process of birthing twins can pose a host of complications. The research team from the University of Malaga recently discovered the delivery method of twins may play a role in their neuropsychological development. 

Twins and Psychological Development

A correlation has been discovered between twins born by cesarean section and poor cognitive development compared to twins borns via vaginal delivery. This is the first time the effect of the type of delivery on twins has been studied. Aspects of intelligence in the twins are even susceptible. 

"We have verified that cesarean section becomes a risk factor to development. This is why gynecologists firmly believe in vaginal delivery benefits, and we defend the use of this surgical intervention only as an option when problems arise", said González Mesa, Professor of Gynecology of the UMA Ernesto.

Researchers looked at a total of 160 twins who were born in Hospital Materno-Infantil in Málaga in the year 2005. Within this sample, 55% of the twins delivered were born by vaginal delivery, while 45% by cesarean delivery. Children's neuropsychological and psycho-pedagogical development were tested from this group and what they discovered was interesting. 

"When comparing all data, we found out that those children that had a lower intellectual level and cognitive development were born by cesarean delivery", explained María José González Valenzuela, Professor from the Evolutive Psychology and Education Department and main researcher of the study.

The study itself is a means to answer the questions that surround twins' development and learning skills as a young child as twins often have major reading, writing and calculating difficulties.