ABSTRACT
Mental development scores were examined for two groups of at-risk twins throughout their childhood-those classified as small for gestational age (SGA), and those twins falling below 1,750 g birth weight. Improvements in neonatal care are sustaining many infants who would have previously died, and many high-risk pregnancies produce infants with prosper and thrive. Twins offer a powerful resource to study the relationship between risk and recovery. Twin pregnancies are typically treated as risk pregnancies because of intrauterine crowding and limitations in nourishment for the fetuses. The mental development scores showed a changing pattern of relationships with certain key variables relating to birth size and family status. Accordingly, the three socioeconomic status groups were recomposed into a single group of low-birth weight infants, and multiple regression analysis was performed, with four demographic variables as predictors. The effects of prenatal malnutrition have been widely studied, and many of the results are surveyed in a volume edited by Lloyd-Still.
