Premature Twins

Not all twins come early although there is a higher risk with a multiple pregnancy of premature birth.  The average length of a twin pregnancy is 37 weeks.  Babies born before this time are termed as premature or pre-term.  Babies can be born alive after 26 weeks gestation but obviously need very special care to give them the best chance of survival.

Personal Experience: My fraternal twins were born at 39 weeks plus 4 days but my identical twins were premature twins at 35 weeks plus 2 days.

Twins born earlier than 37 weeks may need to be cared for in a Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) or Neonatal Unit with the type of care and length of stay depending on just how early they were born.  Some premature babies will just need time to grow and extra help to feed.  They will be fed in hospital by a nasal feeding tube until they are strong enough to take the milk via breast or bottle for themselves.

It is a very good idea to arrange a visit to the Special Care Baby Unit of the hospital where your twins are likely to be delivered to prepare you just in case your twins decide to arrive early.  Premature babies are very small and fragile and it can be a shock if you have never seen just how small a preemie baby is or the equipment, wires and incubators that are part of the special care they need.

Reasons for Premature Delivery

Twins being born early can be due to the rupturing of the membranes, cervical incompetence or the need to deliver the babies early due to pre-eclampsia or concerns over the growth of the babies.  Antenatal screening might show that the babies are not growing well and they would be safer outside of the womb despite being premature.

If there is a risk of labour starting earlier than 35 weeks gestation or labour does start early, steroid drugs are often administered to help the babies’ lungs to develop.

Twins in SCBU

Having twins early can be an enormously worrying and stressful time for parents. You will need the support of friends and family particularly if you have older children to take care of too.  Your older children will still be indeed of your time and reassurance.  It can be really difficult to juggle every day life and the life that you will lead whilst your Twins are in hospital.

Even though you know your twins are receiving the best care to help them get strong you can’t help but to worry about your babies.  It can be a very strange time for parents and you can feel slightly detached or even surplus to requirements whilst the care for your babies is being administered in hospital by doctors and nurses instead of at home by you and your family.

If you have had a C-Section you may only get a small glimpse of your babies before they are whisked away to SCBU.  In some cases your babies can even be taken to a completely different hospital.  Understandebly, this can cause enormous anxiety and worry for you.  If your partner or a friend can visit your babies whilst you are recovering this will help ease your mind while you concentrate on recovering yourself.  Expressing milk can be a great way to feel like you are doing the best you can for your twins and your breast milk can be fed to your babies in between premature baby formula.

If your twins are going to have a long stay in SCBU you will soon get in to a routine.  At first the majority of the care will be given by the medical staff but as they get bigger and stronger the care you can give them personally increases. You will be encouraged to spend as much time talking, touching, stroking and cuddling your babies as possible as “skin-to-skin” contact has been found to be highly beneficial for development.   This is also a positive balance to some of the medical procedures that premature babies endure.

And of course, it won’t just be Mum and Dad who are worrying about the two latest arrivals in Special Care but siblings, grandparents and friends and other family members.  It is often not possible for many visitors to SCBU and often limited to siblings, parents and grandparents maybe one or two at a time.  Having someone to let everyone know how things are progressing is important and if you do have time to keep a blog this is a great place for everyone to stay in the loop. Many parents report how writing everything down helped them make sense of everything during such a difficult and emotionally charged time.