Safer twin pregnancies: new guidance on ultrasound monitoring
Twin pregnancies carry additional risk for the mother and babies, which can have devasting outcomes if prenatal care is not managed properly. Mothers of twins should receive specialist care and extra monitoring by staff who are sufficiently trained to deal with the complexities of multiple pregnancies.
Sadly, this is not always the case. As a firm we specialise in birth injuries caused during the neonatal period and labour, and see that problems are more likely to arise during a twin pregnancy if maternity care falls below an acceptable standard.
New guidance published by ISUOG, the leading international society of experts in ultrasound for obstetrics and gynaecology, examines the important role of ultrasound in monitoring twin pregnancy. The detailed report is a welcome step towards ensuring healthcare professionals act on robust and up-to-date research to mitigate the risks of twin pregnancies.
Most women carrying twins, triplets or more will go on to have healthy babies, but it is important that they are monitored as "high risk" as they are more likely to develop certain conditions common in pregnancy such as anaemia, preeclampsia or gestational diabetes.
There are also rare complications that arise only from multiple pregnancies that need medical attention and monitoring, such as Twin-to-twin transfusion (TTTS), Twin Anaemia-Polycythaemia Sequence (TAPS), Growth Restriction (FGR) and Twin Reversed Arterial Perfusion sequence (TRAPs). Twin pregnancies also have a high risk of pre-term delivery, with 60% of births happening before 37 weeks.
The ISUOG report makes a series of evidence based recommendations and practice guidelines around how early and regular ultrasound should be used in twin pregnancies for safer outcomes. The document provides guidance on the methods used to determine gestational age and chorionicity (whether twins have a separate placenta or share), screening for chromosomal and structural abnormalities, and screening for TTTS, TAPS, TRAP sequence, growth abnormalities and the risk of preterm birth.
The rate of twin pregnancies has steadily increased in the past three decades as women have babies later in life and are using more assisted reproduction techniques. Fieldfisher is committed to lobbying for better understanding of the higher risk of complications involved in multiple pregnancies, and for safer care for all mothers and babies. We are extremely proud to be partnered with the Twins Trust and Footprints Baby Loss, two leading charities that provide guidance and support to families of twins, triplets and more.
You can read more about birth injury claims involving twin pregnancies and hear from our clients.
Contact us
For further information about twin birth injury claims, please call Julia Hamilton on 0330 460 6780 or email julia.hamilton@fieldfisher.com or call Marcos Eleftheriou on 0330 460 6352 or email marcos.eleftheriou@fieldfisher.com
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- You can speak to our medical negligence solicitors on freephone 0800 358 3848
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