20 May 2020

First-time mum Tanya gave birth to twins Bonnie and Stanley a week before the country went into lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She’d just got them back to their Norwich home with husband Alan, when the new lockdown guidance was issued and the couple soon realised that grandparents and close family would not be able to give their precious twins a cuddle.

“It was upsetting, but like everyone else we understood why and stuck to the rules,” said Tanya, whose twins were born by c-section at 37 weeks.

Our parents have only ever seen the babies behind glass – they were desperate to give them a cuddle.

The new mum had two visits from the midwife at home. Dressed in full PPE the midwife was able to reassure Tanya that things were going well. But a few days later Tanya was concerned that Stanley wasn’t putting on weight.

“He didn’t seem to be getting on as well as his sister. I really wanted him weighed as the last time he was weighed he remained under his birth weight.

“I think the midwife could hear the anxiety in my voice about Stanley. I felt I had to put the pressure on to get another visit.

“But she came, and her visit made a big difference to me. I was able to ask lots of questions and felt reassured at the time.”

However, just a few weeks later Tanya was becoming concerned. Her husband had returned to work at home and she found it difficult to talk to people about how she was feeling about the twins’ feeding and sleeping routines.

She said when one was awake the other was asleep and she was starting to feel overwhelmed at having two on such different routines.

That’s when she got in touch with Twins Trust.

Helen from Twins Trust and qualified childcare support practitioner Patsi, who is Norland trained and has been a volunteer since the charity launched the service, both spoke to Tanya.

“Patsi was brilliant. So experienced and talked me through a proper routine to introduce to the twins,” said Tanya, “so now we feed them before we go to bed at 11pm – once in the night and again at 7am. I now feel that I am actually getting some sleep, which is amazing, and I feel so much better.

“They both adapted really well and it’s just so nice to speak to someone who understands. Helen has also been great with following up with me, and as she has boy/girl twins herself, it was so lovely to have that connection as I didn’t know anyone who has twins.

It is a great service and I never felt rushed or made to feel that I was doing anything wrong. It was reassuring and I felt I could ask anything.

Tanya was also full of praise for Twins Trusts’ Practical Parenting course which took place in February (now all the charity’s courses are online and can be viewed here). 

“I am so glad I went on that and the lady who ran it set up a what’s app group for everyone and now we all stay in touch.

“I was the first mum to have twins from the course so now I feel I may be able to help some of the others if they have questions.

"I can’t wait until we can see each other again and meet each other’s babies!"

Twins Trust adapted its unique support service to help parents who might be feeling overwhelmed and isolated.

Helen Regan, from Twins Trust, said:

You do not need to feel that you are in a crisis to apply for advice or support. If you feel that you would benefit from help and information for your twins, triplets or more on feeding, sleep, weaning, implementing a routine, or any other challenges you are currently facing, please get in touch.