Doctors are much more likely to make mistakes ordering medications or treatments for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit when the infants are twins or triplets, a US study suggests.

So-called wrong patient orders have long been a bigger risk in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) than in general paediatrics wards, researchers note in JAMA Pediatrics.

And these mix-ups are more common when newborns haven’t yet been named or have a name very similar to another hospitalised baby.

But research to date hasn’t offered a clear picture of whether siblings in multiple births are more likely to be subject to wrong patient orders.