Low twinning rate and seasonal effects on twinning in a fertile population, the Hutterites. 1993

K Nonaka, and T Miura, and K Peter
Department of Hygiene, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

This paper analyzes from the mid 18th century to 1987 the birth records of the "Dariusleut," one of the three subgroups of the Hutterite population. The aim of this study is to describe several aspects of the twinning rate in a fertile population. The overall rate of twinning was 0.90%: 103 twins among all 11,492 maternities. The rate peaked at the 7th birth order and at the maternal age of 40 years and over. Until the mid 19th century when the Hutterites lived in Russia, the twinning rate was higher (1.5%), and it decreased during the migration period in the second half of the 19th century (0.7%). After the group had settled in the USA and Canada, the population maintained a twinning rate of 1.0% until 1965. After 1965 the rate decreased to 0.7%, partly due to a decline in fertility among women aged 30 years and over. There was a significant seasonal variation: the twinning rate decreased to 0.5% in May-July compared to 1.2% for the other three seasons during the years up to 1965 (P < 0.01), while more recent mothers did not show such a seasonal variation. The incidence of twin births in this population seems to have been influenced by environmental factors, which would change their effect seasonally and secularly.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008423 Maternal Age The age of the mother in PREGNANCY. Age, Maternal,Ages, Maternal,Maternal Ages
D011247 Pregnancy The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH. Gestation,Pregnancies
D011272 Pregnancy, Multiple The condition of carrying two or more FETUSES simultaneously. Multiple Pregnancy,Multiple Pregnancies,Pregnancies, Multiple
D001722 Birth Order The sequence in which children are born into the family. First Birth,Birth Orders,Birth, First,Births, First,First Births
D005006 Ethnicity A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships. Ethnic Groups,Nationality,Ethnic Group,Nationalities
D005260 Female Females
D005298 Fertility The capacity to conceive or to induce conception. It may refer to either the male or female. Fecundity,Below Replacement Fertility,Differential Fertility,Fecundability,Fertility Determinants,Fertility Incentives,Fertility Preferences,Fertility, Below Replacement,Marital Fertility,Natural Fertility,Subfecundity,World Fertility Survey,Determinant, Fertility,Determinants, Fertility,Fertility Determinant,Fertility Incentive,Fertility Preference,Fertility Survey, World,Fertility Surveys, World,Fertility, Differential,Fertility, Marital,Fertility, Natural,Preference, Fertility,Preferences, Fertility,Survey, World Fertility,Surveys, World Fertility,World Fertility Surveys
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D012621 Seasons Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Seasonal Variation,Season,Seasonal Variations,Variation, Seasonal,Variations, Seasonal

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