We all know that maintaining a healthy weight is important before pregnancy, to ensure the best outcomes for yourself and your baby, but it seems the number on the scales may have a lot more to answer for.
Experts believe that rising obesity levels could be behind a surge in the number of multiple births over the past number of years.
Figures released by the Office Of National Statistics in the UK show that in 2015, 10,901 women gave birth to twins. A further 169 mums welcomed triplets, while three delivered quads or more.
In Ireland in 2013, 1,268 twins were born along with 31 sets of triplets.
And while previously women giving birth aged 45 and over have boosted multiple birth numbers (usually due to IVF), this latest surge in Britain has been pinpointed to mothers in their mid- to late-20s.
According to experts, this trend could well come down to the fact that more younger mothers are either overweight or obese.
A representative of the Twins And Multiple Births Association commented: “We can speculate that the increase in multiple pregnancies is likely due to emerging trends in fertility practice, but also an increasing number of mums with higher BMIs.”
“With multiples making up 1.6 percent of pregnancies but accounting for 7 percent of stillbirths and 14 percent of neonatal deaths, it is clear that more needs to be done,” they added.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth McLaren, head of birth statistics at the ONS, said: 'Since 1993, women aged 45 and over have consistently had the highest proportion of multiple births - partly due to higher levels of assisted fertility treatments at these ages.
"Our figures for 2015 show that the proportion of women having multiple births increased slightly compared with 2014.
"This increase was driven by women aged 25 to 29, since at all other ages the proportion of women having multiple births either decreased or remained unchanged."
