Twin birth injury claims
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We deal with twin birth injury claims, and understand the particular challenges that parents face. In this short article a member of our medical negligence team looks at some of the medical complications that can arise.
For many, confirmation of a multiple pregnancy not only comes with the shock of having to grow, deliver and then look after more than one baby, but often any birth plans you had previously devised go out the window. We are told from this point on that our pregnancy is high risk and we are under consultant-led care.
Having a multiple pregnancy increases the risk of many complications for both mother and babies. Unfortunately, this means that the opportunity for medical issues to arise increases. These include:
IUGR
Intrauterine growth restriction occurs when there is unequal placental sharing and one twin has a smaller share of the placenta, leading to slower growth.
Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia can affect all pregnancies, but the risk is higher for twin and multiples pregnancies. Pre-eclampsia occurs when the placenta does not receive enough blood from the mother’s body. If undiagnosed or untreated, pre-eclampsia is extremely serious for mother and babies.
TTTS
Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is extremely rare. It occurs when a blood transfusion occurs from one twin to the other. It can be very dangerous for the twins and frequent monitoring is essential.
Pre-term delivery
Around 60% twins are born before 37 weeks and 80% of triplets are born before 35 weeks.
Iron deficiency anaemia
With a multiple pregnancy, you are at an increased risk of anaemia. It is essential that blood tests are carried out to monitor this. Having had this missed during my own pregnancy, if you start to feel extremely tired or have shortness of breath, I would urge you to contact your GP.
My experiences as a twin mum
As a twin mum, I understand, unlike others, the good and the bad of twin parenting.
We are all stopped numerous times a day by strangers to tell us how lucky we are and how they wished they had twins. We do know how lucky we are, but that doesn’t help us on the bad days when we have two children needing our attention and never being able to give one of them 100%.
I also understand the anxiety that as soon as two or more babies are seen on the scan, we are immediately said to be a high risk birth, and transferred to consultant-led care. We are told to prepare our hospital bag from 28 weeks as pre-term births are the norm and advised that we will be scanned every 4 weeks. As someone who has never even broken a bone and having dealt with birth and maternal injuries for over a decade, the thought of regular hospital visits filled me with dread.
I was fortunate enough to have a straightforward pregnancy, with only one fainting episode on the hottest day ever recorded (at the time) and a very reasonable employer who allowed me to work from home when I could not quite manage the 4 minute walk to the office. My birth was also straightforward, and following elective caesarean section, I was out of hospital after 24 hours. I appreciate that a straightforward pregnancy and birth is a luxury many mums, and in particular twin mums, do not have.
Despite the NHS website stating that is a good idea to discuss your birth options with your midwife and consultant early on, the only chance I had to discuss my birth options, as the midwifes deferred this to the consultant, was when I was 34 weeks gestation. I was adamant that I wanted to go ahead with a planned caesarean as I felt that this was the best thing for me and my babies. Although I was well informed when I attended the appointment, by the end of it I did start doubting myself. The consultant tried his very hardest to convince me to have a vaginal birth. I became confused and did not know what to do for the best, but I stuck to my guns and the elective caesarean went ahead. However it worries me how many other mums are pushed into a birth that they did not feel was right for them.
If you would like to discuss a twin birth injury case with us, then contact our free helpline on 0333 888 0436 or email [email protected].