About our Project
About
Parents expecting twins or higher order births are more likely than those expecting a singleton to experience a bereavement. In the Northern health region of England, among 9,805 multiple pregnancies notified to the Northern Survey of Twins and Multiple Pregnancies during the ten years 1998-2007, one or more babies was lost in 857 pregnancies. Health professionals working in neonatology provide medical care for the surviving baby after a loss from a multiple pregnancy, but also play a key role in supporting parents at this time. When parents lose a singleton or all of the babies from a multiple pregnancy it is clearly recognised as a tragedy, but when one twin survives the parents face a complex situation: mixed emotions of enormous grief for the baby who has died and great joy at the birth of their surviving twin.
A qualitative study carried out by our group (Richards et al 2016) found that health professionals working in this area often felt that they lacked confidence in supporting parents and felt fearful of ‘saying the wrong thing’. In response to this, we have undertaken co-design work with health professionals and parents to develop guidelines to help professionals in this situation.
On our website you will find information about the work we have done so far and resources that you can access, if you wish.
