Press Release 28th September 2011

ASHFORD TWINS CLUB WELCOMES NEW NICE GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT OF MULTIPLE PREGNANCY

For more information, please call Lisa Lowery 07795 195704

Ashford Twins Club has welcomed the publication of Multiple pregnancy: the management of twin and triplet pregnancies in the antenatal period, new Guidelines produced by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence for clinical teams responsible for the care of women expecting twins or more.

The Guidelines, published after a campaign run by Tamba, the Twins and Multiple Births Association, which will be sent to all clinical teams in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, set standards for every hospital, aimed at making sure mothers expecting twins or more get the correct care during their pregnancies, which carry a higher risk for both mother and babies than singleton pregnancies.

These include:

• For each woman, there should be a core team of named specialist obstetricians, specialist midwives and ultrasonographers, all of whom have experience and knowledge of managing twin and triplet pregnancies, and an enhanced team for referrals, including a perinatal mental health professional, a women's health physiotherapist, an infant feeding specialist and a dietician, with the relevant experience of multiples.
• An appropriate care plan for each woman should be put in place.
• Gestational age and chorionicity (i.e. whether the babies share a placenta or have one each) should be established when crown-rump length measures from 45mm to 84 mm (at approximately 11 weeks 0 days and 13 weeks 6 days). This is the best time to determine if the babies share a placenta and it is also useful for determining the risk of Down's syndrome.
• Monitoring for intrauterine growth restriction from 20 weeks, with scans less than 28 days apart.

Consistent criteria for referral to subspecialist services, including: monochorionic* monoamniotic twin pregnancies, monochorionic monoamniotic triplet pregnancies, monochorionic diamniotic triplet pregnancies and dichorionic diamniotic triplet pregnancies, and pregnancy complications such as fetal growth problems or anomalies. (*monochorionic = where the babies share a placenta; monoamniotic = where babies share an amniotic sac)

Guidelines for determining the timing of birth in uncomplicated twin and triplet pregnancies.

Lisa Lowery (Chair) said:

"All women expecting twins or more deserve the highest standards of care wherever they live and whichever hospital they attend. These very welcome guidelines will help ensure that clinical teams can focus on delivering the right care, and make families more aware of the care they should be receiving."

"We will be working with Tamba to reinforce the message to the clinical teams in Ashford to take these NICE Guidelines seriously, and measure up to the required standards."

Ashford Twins Club gives members the opportunity to benefit from great company, mutual support, organised events and discounts in a number of shops and attractions. We meet every Friday 10-12pm at Hothfield Surestart Centre. Weekly subs are ££1.50 for members and £2.00 for non-members. Please see our website ashfordtwinsclub.co.uk for details on how to become a member and all the benefits that membership brings.