Twins Trust is a charity that supports families with twins, triplets or more, with information and facilitates a network of community support. They ensure the unique needs of these families are understood by the professionals who care for them and that multiple births are reflected in research, care standards and public policy.
The charity developed a Maternity Engagement Project to support maternity units to ensure the care given to multiple pregnancies is delivered consistently and in line with national guidance. This includes antenatal discussions and giving information to parents, the scans offered and their timings and what should be done in cases where concerns may arise.
Abigail Higgins, the Preterm and Multiples Lead Midwife at United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (ULTH) led the project, which started with a baseline audit, in 2023 for the two maternity units; at Lincoln County Hospital and at Pilgrim Hospital, Boston.
An action plan was then created for improving care. Twins Trust supported ULTH throughout the next 12 months and then the maternity units were re-audited last summer.
The audit gave a score of compliance to NICE guidance. The initial scores were 67 percent for Lincoln County Hospital Maternity Unit and 95 percent for Pilgrim Hospital Boston. Re-audit scores rose to 95 percent for Lincoln and 98 percent for Boston. These results upgraded ULTH’s status from a ‘participating maternity unit’ to a ‘recognised maternity unit’.
Abigail said: “The multiple pregnancy clinics at Lincoln and Pilgrim have an allocated lead consultant, Dr Vandana Agarwal at Lincoln County Hospital and Dr Manjusha Sant at Pilgrim Hospital Boston.
“I attend these clinics and look after the families during the antenatal part of pregnancy. As a team we provide continuity and consistency, which is important to our families. It encourages a trusted relationship to form and gives families confidence in the care they receive, which is especially vital as multiple pregnancies are categorised as high risk.
“We do the simple things well, such as implementing a care plan for each patient and having a robust referral service if complications arise.
Libby Grooby, Director of Midwifery said: “I am delighted we are now an official Twins Trust Recognised Maternity Unit for the quality of care we provide for women expecting multiples.
“This group of patients, their babies and families have unique needs and I’m pleased staff have worked hard to improve standards and procedures to ensure excellent care for these patients.”
Recent patients have included the Martin family from Fishtoft, Boston who had twins, Elizabeth and Emmanuel, at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, in April last year.
Mum Penny said: “Our twins were conceived via our first attempt at IVF. We met our twin midwife Abigail Higgins at only a few weeks pregnant. We felt immediately reassured and settled by her professional demure and knowledge of twin pregnancies. She was very approachable and guided myself and my husband through all the scans, growth charts and answered any questions we had.
“The twins were born on schedule at 37 weeks and didn’t have to go to the neonatal unit. Abi had shown us the neonatal unit just in case, as one of our twins was measuring small. We were even visited by our lovely midwife after the birth, and that was very special for us. It was a full circle moment and a very much appreciated gesture.
“We will be forever grateful to Abi and for the kindness and reassurance she gave us on our pregnancy journey. We moved mountains to get to the point of becoming proud parents. It wouldn’t have been easy without her.”
Parents Isabelle and Alex Reed, also had twins at Pilgrim Hospital in Boston last year and were looked after by midwife Abigail Higgins.
Isabelle said: “I attended my 12 week scan already knowing we were having twins. I was excited to get more information. After we were called through by a midwife called Abi – she introduced herself as the twin midwife. We didn’t know this was a thing.
“Almost every time we had appointments, and we had lots due to issues, we saw Abi. She was our rock throughout and would happily explain what was happening in a way we understood. She made it a very personal experience; was always prepared for my never-ending list of questions and was always happy to help with whatever I needed.
“Our twins, Mya and Max were born and Mya needed breathing support, so she went up to the neonatal unit with Alex.
“Everyone in the hospital was so supportive with our journey and although we had lots of bumps along the way we felt reassured by Abi and her colleagues. Thank you!”
Shauna Leven, Chief Executive of Twins Trust, said: “It’s reassuring to see United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust named as a Twins Trust Recognised Maternity Unit.
“It shows how dedicated the staff are when it comes to improving services for all multiple birth families.
“This is why the Maternity Engagement Project is so important and one of our priorities at Twins Trust. We urge hospital trusts to sign up and save lives, while promoting good, safe quality care for all, in line with national guidance.”