Recent national reports have once again highlighted the challenges faced by multiple birth families, the need for more research and adaptation in practice and policy.
The EBMBC recently welcomed findings from a new report that has exposed the struggles faced by multiple birth families in the UK. The State of the Nation research released on 11th September by Twins Trust, written by Per Capita, reveals that multiple birth families are more likely to struggle to meet financial costs, find appropriate childcare, and get the emotional and extra care support they need.
Key findings include noting that the UK offers little by way of additional support to parents with multiples and the financial cost of having multiples is at least £20k more than having two singletons in succession. Families face this cost in one go rather than being able to spread it out. This comes in addition to lost earnings with families with multiples seeing an average decline in income of approximately £12,500, representing approximately 15% of household income. Social pressures are also noted - with sleep deprivation, work/caring duty co-ordination challenges, amongst some of the greatest concerns for parents with multiples, with high levels of self-declared anxiety up to 2-3 years post-pregnancy.
Our research into the needs of multiple birth families in the first 1,001 days – conception to two years – has identified similar issues to those found in this report. Working with Health Visitors and maternity services, we’ve highlighted gaps in professional knowledge and implementation of multiple specific care that must be addressed.
Lord Darzi’s investigation of the NHS in England (released on 12th September) arrived hot on the heels of the Twins Trust report. The report as a whole gave a rapid assessment of the current state of the NHS. When addressing maternity services, the report noted that ‘there have been positive developments in reductions of stillbirths and a small decrease in neonatal mortality…’ (chapter 2, point 3).
This observation is sadly not true of multiple births. According to data from MBRRACE-UK 2022, the stillbirth risk in twins is more than two times higher than in single births – and this gap continues to widen. In addition, the risk of neonatal death is three times higher for multiple births than singletons.
The Darzi report also highlights that recommendations from previous reports to address maternal complexities and service inadequacies have not been universally adopted.
From our perspective, one such recommendation is from the Ockenden Report 2022; and is the recommendation for all services to have a specialist service for multifetal pregnancy (Immediate and Essential Action 8). Our work tells us this it yet to be widely implemented.
The voices of parents in the Twins Trust/Per Capita report, underline the extent of the additional and specific needs of multiple birth families, needs which are still so often overlooked by routine care and service delivery. This emboldens the EBMBC’s vision of improving care for the multiple birth population by working across research, education and practice.
