Published 13:11 IST, December 1st 2019
12 sets of twins born in a span of one week in Missouri hospital
12 sets of twins born in a span of one week in Missouri hospital. Most of the babies were born prematurely and kept the neonatal care unit very very busy.
In just a span of one week, Saint Luke's Hospital in Missouri has welcomed 12 sets of twins. The hospital has said that this was the largest number of twins that the hospital has ever had at one time. A nurse that works in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital told local media outlets that the past week has been extremely busy.
Most of the babies born prematurely
All of the 12 sets of twins were born between five weeks to 14 weeks and were born prematurely. All of the children will be sent home from the neonatal care unit at different times over the coming weeks. New mom Amanda Tollifer said that her only goal was to ensure that her set of twins can go home for Christmas. The families of the twins come from various places including all over from Missouri and Kansas. Jen Williams, another mom of a set of twins will likely have to stay at the hospital for another 11 weeks until her original due date.
Despite the hectic atmosphere at Saint Luke's, Tyler Williams, the husband of Jena William had nothing but praises for the staff at Saint Luke's and said that all the people working there had been fantastic and that the family had experienced a good atmosphere in dealing with the early birth. Kyla Anderson who is a nurse at the neonatal care unit said that a sense of camaraderie has grown between all the parents that have welcomed twins. She added that this has been a really special experience because the moms and dads have met other families that have been going through the same unique challenge of having twins.
While the number of twins being born at Saint Luke is currently very high, the Centers for Disease Control said that in overall fewer twins are being born in recent years. The number of twins born between 2014 to 2018 declined by four per cent. A nonprofit called March of Dimes has also offered to provide classes to new parents of multiples in order to give them a chance to learn and bond together.
Updated 13:36 IST, December 1st 2019