Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
20 sets have been born since Jan. 20; average is less than 10.
CLOVIS — This is what you call doubling your pleasure.
According to nurses at Clovis’ Women’s Medical Center, there has been a large increase in the amount of twin pregnancies within a 100-mile radius of Clovis.
Certified nurse midwife Cristi Lubera said the center usually delivers under 10 sets of twins annually, “which is just barely average.”
So far this year, “It’s more than double,” said Lubera. “This year, we’ve delivered in Clovis — since Jan. 20 — 40 babies (that are twins). We still have 11 sets (coming) that we know of.”
Certified nurse midwife Larissa Apodaca said she was not sure of any particular reason for the increase.
“It’s exciting to see the numbers,” said Apodaca. “It’s just been a normal, spontaneous happening. It’s all different races and ages, from this area, some from other areas. It’s a wide variety.”
Lubera said infertility medicine and mothers over 35 having children are two causes for twins, but this does not seem to be the case at the center.
“For us it’s been fairly random,” said Lubera. “A lot of these girls are a wide variety of ages. It’s very random, but it’s interesting. We don’t see a lot of infertility (medicine) here.”
Lubera also said military families transferring in and out of the city is another potential factor, but still an unsure one at the center.
Clovis resident Traci van der Ploeg is expecting twins, and is due sometime in late March or early April.
“For me personally, I think it’s genetic,” said van der Ploeg. “When we went to our first ultrasound, my husband was in shock but I was not. I was really surprised to hear how many ladies were pregnant with twins.”
Van der Ploeg added it is exciting to see with more increased twin pregnancies, twins will no longer be an anomaly in schools.
Chief Sonographer Paula Criss said using assisted means is another root cause for having twins. Yet again, this has not been found among the center’s patients.
“A majority of them are naturally occurring,” said Criss. “It’s exciting and surprising. Most of the ones have been near term.”
In the 28 years working at the center, Criss said she has not seen as many twins as she has this year.
“It’s unusual. It’s fun,” said Criss. “It’s double the blessing. You can’t beat that.”
