Their live daughter will be baptized in a few months, and the priest will acknowledge and remember her twin during the ceremony.įor her son, Samantha planned a simple but beautiful Thai funeral. Melissa and her husband had their daughter’s remains cremated and keep the urn in their home. Both of my patients chose names for the deceased twins. Rituals to honor and remember twins who have died are most important. They can anticipate being able to hold the baby as soon as possible after delivery, and for as long as possible. Parents can plan to take photographs or make handprints and footprints, which they will be able to keep as reminders. We can take the time to consult with our neonatologists, who are expert in providing maximum comfort for a newborn who may only gasp a few breaths or might live for just a few hours. If we know that a twin has already died in utero, or will die shortly after birth, then we have an opportunity to discuss the family’s preferences in advance. How can we help families cope with the loss of a twin? One year later, her daughter is doing well, with five teeth and just starting to walk. Her daughter remained in the NICU for weeks and was ultimately discharged home. She spent the remainder of the night with her son, who died minutes after birth.
Samantha delivered via cesarean section at 26 weeks, in the middle of the night, when she went into unstoppable preterm labor. The other twin, a girl, appeared normal throughout the pregnancy.
Even at that early gestational age, we knew that he would not live for long after birth, and might pass away during the pregnancy. At 14 weeks, we found that one of the twins, a boy, had several serious abnormalities. Samantha’s twins were not identical, and were conceived through in vitro fertilization. Her live twin did well she spent a few weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and is now home and thriving. She and her husband were able to hold the deceased twin for several hours after delivery. Melissa remained pregnant for 13 more weeks and ultimately underwent cesarean section at 32 weeks. Unfortunately, two days after the surgery, one of the twins passed away. The joy of delivery is clouded by sibling loss.Īs early as 18 weeks, Melissa’s identical twins showed signs of a complication called twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, which occurs when one of the twins essentially donates blood to the other.Īt 19 weeks, Melissa underwent surgery to try to correct the problem. The hope and anticipation of bringing home two healthy babies comes grinding to a halt. We must all understand that the life of one twin does not eradicate grief for the sibling who died. And I’ve learned that though outsiders might see a glass half full, this experience is uniquely devastating, both emotionally and medically. This doesn’t happen often, but I have taken care of a number of patients recently who have lost a twin during or shortly after pregnancy. The specific complication that has given me pause in the last year or two is the loss of one twin, either during or after pregnancy. What I witness in my own office is part of a nationwide trend: Over the last two decades, the twin birth rate in the United States rose 76 percent, from 19 to 33 per 1,000 births.Īnd never before have I taken care of so many twin pregnancies with complications. Never before in my obstetric practice have I taken care of so many twin pregnancies. Twitter facebook Email This article is more than 8 years old.
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