Having twins is a moment of excitement tingled with nervousness and anticipation for the parents. There is much information for the parents to gobble up as twins are on the way. There are multiple tips for healthy pregnancy to be taken on-board as you prepare for the hectic pregnant time. If the parents knew what to expect during pregnancy, labour, and beyond, the nervousness would dissipate easily.
- Prenatal Precautions:
Monitoring the pregnancy routine is critical as there would be multiple issues like preterm labour and preeclampsia (a condition characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine). A single child pregnancy puts enough stress on the body and twins would exponentially increase that. The doctor would be regularly performing ultrasound at each visits in order to measure the length of your cervix. This would help the doctor ascertain the delivery date as well as track the growth of the babies. Doctors would choose the mode of birth depending on the baby’s size. It can be a natural or C-section.
- The D-Day:
Immediately after the babies are born, your doctor will assess whether they need to go straight to the intensive care unit for the babies. There are times when the doctors will evaluate the weight of the baby or premature birth before opting for the serious treatment of the babies. Twins are more likely to be sent to the intensive care for they are born earlier than the single baby. The duration of stay for the twins would be one or two-day max.
- Recovery Time:
The myth that woman delivering the multiple babies takes more recovery time than the woman with single baby has been torn apart. In the case of a vaginal delivery, one can see that recovery time is easier for the twin’s mother. There will be a waiting period of 6 weeks before one can start exercising with physical efforts. A new study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in Baltimore found that woman who delivers multiple is often found to have moderate depression than mother with one baby. The aim is to get both babies on the same eating and sleeping schedule right so as to allow the mom to have breathing space. Different time schedules for the babies will hurt the mother physically and emotionally.
Understanding the unique challenges and joys of twin babies is exciting and rewarding. Dr Neelima Mantri is a leading Infertility Specialist in Mumbai. She has helped the woman pregnant with twins to undergo a healthy delivery. Consult the doctor and enjoy a rewarding parenthood with the joys of babies’ laughter.