Double trouble

KARACHI: Twins do double the joy of parents but the chances of complications during and after pregnancy are also double.

Miscarriage, pre-term labour, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and conjoined twins are a few types of pregnancy complications. “One of my twin girls was a breach baby so I had to have a caesarean even though I was 37 weeks pregnant,” said Azmeah Khan, a stay-home mother. “Otherwise, the pregnancy was very smooth.” Imtiaz Ali, also a father of twin girls, said his wife had to stay in the hospital for two months before her delivery as the doctors found out about the twins during her sixth month.

“The doctors told my wife to be on a complete bed rest and the delivery took a very long time,” he said. “My wife also had issues with her blood level,” he added. Doctors are also twice as vigilant. Azmeah said her gynaecologist made her have an ultrasound every 25 days to check for any possible abnormalities. Twins are generally smaller babies because the rule, according to Dr Azra, is that the more the babies, the more premature they will be.

About the postpartum period, Azmeah said, “One of my girls was 5lbs and the other was a little less than that so she was in an incubator for a day.” Twins can be a handful when raising them. Attention, love and food has to be equally divided. “It’s twice as tiring because after you’re done feeding one child, the second is up. After feeding the second, the first one wakes up. It never ends,” said Azmeah. One twin is always dominant and has a stronger personality.

Parents have to be cautious in giving them attention as equally as possible. Another problem such parents face is that if one child falls ill, the other twin will follow. “It was very stressful when both the girls wanted the exact same thing,” said Ali. Azmeah added, “It was very difficult for me to handle them when both the girls wanted the same red dress and there was only one left in the shop.”