THE ONSET OF INTER HUMAN CONTACTS - LONGITUDINAL ULTRASOUND OBSERVATIONS IN EARLY TWIN PREGNANCIES

Twin pregnancies provide us with the opportunity to observe first reac tions towards touch in utero, and this study illustrates the onset and development of these contacts. Forty women with twin pregnancies volu nteered to take part in this study, 25 of whom (five monochorionic, 20 dichorionic pairs) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Between 8 and 12 weeks' gestation, ultrasound examinations were performed transvaginal ly, and from 13 weeks onwards transabdominally, at weekly intervals. U ltrasound findings were recorded on videotapes and were analyzed retro spectively. The first contacts producing reactions in th co-twin were defined as primary contacts, which could be slow or fast arm/leg/head/ body contacts. Primary contacts followed an action-reaction model, and usually lasted < 3 s. These contacts were initially slow and then bec ame fast. The first reactions of the co-twin towards touch were observ ed at 65 postmenstrual days. Contacts of longer duration between both bodies including extremities, or contacts initiated by sucking movemen ts towards the co-twin were defined as complex contacts and were obser ved from 85 and 92 postmenstrual days, respectively. Nearly all contac ts occurred significantly earlier in monochorionic compared to dichori onic twins. Female/female pairs seemed to develop complex body contact s earlier than male/male pairs, but for the onset of other contacts we have not yet found significant differences between gender combination s.