Tips on Premature Births and Feeding Your Twin Babies

A premature baby is defined as a baby born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy; an extremely premature baby is a baby born between 24 and 28 weeks in the womb. The moment of premature birth is likely to come as a shock. Whether you have had some warning, or have gone into spontaneous labor, this abrupt entrance into parenthood will not be what you had planned, or hoped, for.

There are many reasons why babies are born prematurely. For example, if you have had twins, triplets, or even more babies, it is likely they will have been born early. In this case you may have had some warning. Or your waters may have broken early, or a highly stressful situation may have started your labor. Alternatively, you may have suffered from pre-eclampsia (symptoms include high blood pressure and headaches), which can become dangerous and can only be stopped by delivering the baby. In a few cases, doctors discover that the baby is not growing well in the womb and decide that it is safer for her outside the womb. However, about a third of all premature births occur for no apparent reason.

Whatever the reason for your baby being born prematurely you can be assured that she will be looked after by experts who deal with premature births on a dally basis. While she will need care for a good few weeks, this may or may not be until her due date or beyond. The care team will carefully monitor her breathing, feeding, etc before making a final decision about when she is ready to be taken home.

Feeding your twins

You can fully breastfeed twins in the same way as you would a single baby. Your body will know to produce the right amounts of milk in accordance with the demand from both your babies. Make sure that midwives or breastfeeding counselors give you plenty of help to explore different feeding positions to suit all three of you. Learning how to feed both babies at the same time is a useful skill and one that you might need help to master. Handling and positioning two babies at once can be difficult at first so ask for as much help as you need. Feeding both babies at once means that the twins are more likely to settle together afterwards, which means that you will have more time to rest and care for yourself. However, some women prefer to feed their babies separately so that each twin has some individual attention from her mother. Whichever way you start, you can always change later on. Even If you have chosen to bottle feed, while you are in hospital and have the support of your midwife you may want to consider giving your babies the benefits of one or two early breastfeeds.