Biomedical Ephemera, or: A Frog for Your Boils

Frozen transverse cross-section of a uterus from multigravida [twin] at the thirty-sixth week.

No contractions have occurred, and the cervix is unshortened, indicating birth was not imminent. Death from eclampsia.

In twin pregnancies, there is an increased risk of eclampsia and pre-eclampsia, and delivery is often induced before the due date, either by the body itself, or by an obstetrician. In addition to the increased risk of eclampsia, multigravida pregnancies are at risk for many other adverse events during development and delivery, and as such are treated as “high-risk” pregnancies, even if the mother and fetuses are both perfectly healthy.

The Practice of Obstetrics. J. Clifton Edgar, 1907.