Moncton doctors seeing double after hospital experiences twin boom

Staff at the Moncton Hospital’s maternal-fetal clinic have been pulling double duty.

Over the summer months, the number of twins born at the hospital has doubled compared to what they’re used to.

READ: Moncton Multiples providing ‘immeasurable’ help to new parents of twins, triplets

“Definitely in Moncton there has been an increase in the number of twins,” said Dr. Lise Gagnon, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the clinic.

“At this point, we don’t know why that’s happening. Lots of these twins were what we call spontaneous conception.”

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That means they were not conceived by in vitro fertilization or the use of fertility drugs.

Becca and Zane Dunstan’s twins, Olivia and Declan, were born at the end of June, at the start of the summer twin baby boom.

“It’s crazy to see how many twins there are,” said Becca.

The new mother says that twins run in her family, so she was not entirely shocked when she realized she would be giving birth to two little bundles of joy.

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“There are a couple of sets of fraternal and a set of identical,” she said.

According to hospital records, just over 30 sets of twins are born at the Moncton Hospital every year.

So to have half that amount born in just a few months is making doctors do a double take and it begs the question, ‘Is there something in the water?”

READ: US woman has 3 sets of twins in 26 months

Gagnon laughs at the suggestion, saying there is no obvious explanation.

Regardless, the baby boom has kept the maternal fetal clinic hopping.

“The amount of time to scan a twin pregnancy is double. You have two babies to follow and twice the amount of anatomy to review,” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The amount of time to scan a twin pregnancy is double. You have two babies to follow and twice the amount of anatomy to review," she said.

Gagnon adds that twin pregnancies, by nature, are more likely to have complications.

Olivia and Declan were born premature weighing in at just over two pounds each and had to spend weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit before their parents could take them home.

“You think you are strong but when you go down there and see them in their little isolettes and you see how small a two-pound baby is, it’s a real shock,” said their mother.

The double duty baby boom may not be over yet; more multiples are due later this fall.