Coping with the arrival of more than one baby can present different kinds of challenges for new parents. This week is the Twins and Multiple Births Association awareness week, so I’ve asked Linda Jones, herself the mother of twin girls, to write today’s guest post.

I love having twins. Just as, if I had been blessed with having one child at a time, I would have loved having them too. But for families of twins, there are unique challenges that many of us would argue can be overlooked. 

Imagine:
• Not having any ‘hand-me-downs’ and having to buy two or three of everything
• Not being able to go back to work at all, even if you wanted because the cost of childcare is out of your league
• Being the one at your antenatal group in a wheelchair because you can't walk and everyone saying stuff like: "Ha! I thought I was bad until I saw you" (yeah, thanks a lot Mrs Tactful of the Year…)
• Preparing for the birth of babies who are much more likely to be born premature or need special care
• Not being able to get your twins into the same school
• Losing one of your triplets at birth
• A greater chance of PND or relationship breakdown

As the awareness week gets under way, the focus is on an initiative called Get Ready for Multiples which aims to tackle post natal depression in multiple birth mums. Nearly one in five mothers of multiple births develop PND  almost double the number of mothers of singletons who experience this debilitating condition.

DID you know?
* Around one in 70 pregnancies is a multiple birth, with one in 34 children being born a twin.
* If you already have two children and are in your 30s, your chances of having twins are increased.
* If you already have twins, a chance of a second set is around one in 16. You knew that, right?

written by Liz Jarvis

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