Taiwanese Mother of Twins Gives Birth to Second Child Naturally After 111 Days

'Birth Spacing' Successfully Achieved for the First Time in Taiwan

It was recently revealed that Taiwan successfully achieved a delayed interval delivery of twins with an interval of 111 days, drawing significant attention. Taiwan is considered a country with a serious low birthrate problem.

According to Yonhap News on the 24th, citing Taiwanese media such as China Times, Guotai Hospital in Taiwan reported that a woman in her 40s, Ms. Guanmo, gave birth to the second twin naturally on October 10. It is known that Ms. Guanmo had previously given birth to a daughter through in vitro fertilization (IVF) at the age of 34, six years ago.

A Taiwanese woman who successfully gave birth after a delayed interval of 111 days. Photo by Central News Agency of Taiwan

She then became pregnant with twins through a second IVF procedure. After traveling abroad at 19 weeks of pregnancy, she experienced premature rupture of membranes the next day and lost the first twin at 20 weeks. Following this, Ms. Guanmo was hospitalized for three weeks to receive antibiotic treatment and rest for the sake of the second twin. She continued weekly hospital visits and naturally delivered the second twin at 36 weeks on October 10.

Regarding Ms. Guanmo’s delivery, Chief Obstetrician Cheon Lijin of the hospital told the media, "When preterm labor occurs in twin pregnancies, continuous delivery usually happens within 24 hours," adding, "This case is quite rare."

According to him, there have been only 82 internationally documented successful cases of delayed interval delivery of twins. Chief Cheon explained, "(Delayed interval delivery of twins) has a success rate of only about 1 in 10,000," and added, "The longest recorded interval is 154 days in Portugal."

(This photo is not directly related to the article.) Pixabay

According to statistics from Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare’s National Health Department, the preterm birth rate in Taiwan rose from 8.5% in 2006 to 10.8% last year. This is attributed to the increasing age of marriage, which has led to a higher proportion of older pregnant women. It also appears to be related to lifestyle factors such as chronic diseases, smoking, and drinking. Taiwanese media reported that the average marriage age for men and women in Taiwan rose from 32.6 and 29 years in 2006 to 34.6 and 31.9 years in 2018, respectively.

Last year, the number of newborns in Taiwan hit a record low of 135,571, the lowest since 1945. Additionally, Taiwanese media reported that as of the end of June, Taiwan’s population was 23,412,899, a decrease of 709 compared to May, marking six consecutive months of negative population growth this year.