Here is a list
Death around birth
Stillbirth
Neonatal death
Separation of siamese twins
The twins body leaves from the womb during pregnancy
Total miscarriage of one twin
Abortion causing total miscarriage of one twin
When a twin dies before birth, the sole survivor needs help and understanding. Womb twin survivors are the sole survivors of a twin or multiple pregnancy. This group, 1 in 10 of the population, includes survivors of a stillbirth, miscarriage, abortion and a "vanishing twin" pregnancy. It is a story of a twin bond broken by death, leaving a lonely survivor.
Showing posts with label neonatal death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neonatal death. Show all posts
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The healing path. The death of a womb twin
Here is a list
Death around birth
Stillbirth
Neonatal death
Separation of siamese twins
The twins body leaves from the womb during pregnancy
Total miscarriage of one twin
Abortion causing total miscarriage of one twin
Monday, May 09, 2011
What is a womb twin? (1) a full-term, perfect dead baby
If you are the womb twin survivor, who was your womb twin? The first step on the healing path is to make your lost twin real, and this series of blogs for this week will look at the various forms that womb twins can take. All this information is there in your Dream of the Womb, and the intention is to help you make sense of it all.
A full term, dead baby
The most obvious form of a womb twin is a full-term and perfect dead baby - or dead within a few hours or days of birth. (In this case some people also call the survivor an "early loss twinless twin".) The causes of stillbirth and neonatal death among twins are slightly different from those in a singleton birth, in that there are two babies to be delivered. Perhaps the second baby is at risk because of being left in the womb after the delivery of the first, plus very often being in the breech or transverse presentation , which makes delivery very difficult. However I have heard stories of womb twin survivors whose twin was born first and still dead at birth, so this does not necessarily follow.
We never knew there were twins!
There are also stories of twins who are delivered unexpectedly because no one realised that there were twins - where the twin hearts beat as one, in the absence of ultrasound there can be no clue - except perhaps the fact that Mum is very large. In this case, where the first twin is born alive, it all seems to be over and the baby is here, only for there to suddenly be another baby, born dead but un-looked for and therefore never fully acknowledged. This little baby may never be named or mentioned again - that is, until the survivor comes asking questions!
If the first baby is born dead, then the second arrives as the unexpected "redeemer", a miracle, a living second twin!
The twin bond remains
If your twin was there with you and alive until birth, then the bond you have with him or her is as strong as any twin whose twin sibling is still alive. For a twin, the primary attachment is the twin because that was the first relationship - the first lesson in love. This is no less the case because the twin died at birth. You had nine months in the presence of another living, responsive little person and that experience is hard-wired into your memory. It has become the template for all your relationships in born life, as you seek out your twin, and your sense of twin-ship, in others.
More in this book
A full term, dead baby
The most obvious form of a womb twin is a full-term and perfect dead baby - or dead within a few hours or days of birth. (In this case some people also call the survivor an "early loss twinless twin".) The causes of stillbirth and neonatal death among twins are slightly different from those in a singleton birth, in that there are two babies to be delivered. Perhaps the second baby is at risk because of being left in the womb after the delivery of the first, plus very often being in the breech or transverse presentation , which makes delivery very difficult. However I have heard stories of womb twin survivors whose twin was born first and still dead at birth, so this does not necessarily follow.
We never knew there were twins!
There are also stories of twins who are delivered unexpectedly because no one realised that there were twins - where the twin hearts beat as one, in the absence of ultrasound there can be no clue - except perhaps the fact that Mum is very large. In this case, where the first twin is born alive, it all seems to be over and the baby is here, only for there to suddenly be another baby, born dead but un-looked for and therefore never fully acknowledged. This little baby may never be named or mentioned again - that is, until the survivor comes asking questions!
If the first baby is born dead, then the second arrives as the unexpected "redeemer", a miracle, a living second twin!
The twin bond remains
If your twin was there with you and alive until birth, then the bond you have with him or her is as strong as any twin whose twin sibling is still alive. For a twin, the primary attachment is the twin because that was the first relationship - the first lesson in love. This is no less the case because the twin died at birth. You had nine months in the presence of another living, responsive little person and that experience is hard-wired into your memory. It has become the template for all your relationships in born life, as you seek out your twin, and your sense of twin-ship, in others.
More in this book
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Philip Dick - womb twin survivor?
Talking of definitions, which I was yesterday, there is another definition that some people find difficult to decide upon: what do you call the sole survivor when the co-twin dies within a couple of months of birth?
The Lone Twin Network include among their members:
This shows that the moment of birth is crucial in the definition. If your twin died some weeks before birth and was born with you, then you can be a "lone twin". If your twin was miscarried before 24 weeks, you cant.
The members whose twin died around birth can both womb twin survivors and lone twins, for they satisfy the criteria of both groups: they only knew their twin in the womb. We have many people who post on the forum come to the womb twin lunches and who are members of WombTwin.com, whose twin died close to birth. They can properly call themselves "womb twin survivors" and feel a part of our group.
A grave
The great advantage of having lost your twin at birth rather than before, is that there just might be some kind of grave or marker that your twin once existed. It is very hard if no such place exists. The practice of burying a still born twin with an adult stranger is no longer so common, at least in the UK, for it is considered good practice that every body, however small, must have a separate burial place. (This decision is the work of SANDS in London.)
Philip Dick, author of Blade runner, lost his twin sister at six weeks. A post on the womb twin forum alerted me to this fact. He is interviewed here, but he did not mention his twin. However it is clear from his biography that the loss badly affected him.
He was born prematurely, along with his twin sister Jane, in Chicago on December 16, 1928. His father was Edgar Dick, his mother Dorothy Kindred - from her maiden name came Dick's middle initial. Jane died six weeks after her birth, a loss that Phil felt deeply throughout his life. As time went on, Phil came, with whatever justice, to blame his mother for Jane's death. His relationship with both of his parents was decidedly difficult, and made only more so when they divorced when he was five years old.
Sister Jane, his mother, and his father served as models for many of the characters who would populate Dick's fictional universes in the decades to come. In particular, the death of Jane - and Phil's traumatic sense of separation from her, an experience common to many twins who have lost their sibling - contributed to the dualist (twin-poled) dilemmas that dominated his creative work - science fiction (SF)/mainstream, real/fake, human/android. It was out of these pressing dualities that the two vast questions emerged which Dick often cited as encompassing his writing: What is Real? and What is Human?
He heard a voice in his head, a female, who gave him some ideas for his books. His twin was his muse and accompanied him in life in this way. They are buried together, united at last in death.
The Lone Twin Network include among their members:
- those whose twin had died at or around the time of birth;
- members whose twin had died in childhood
- those whose twin had died in adult life.
This shows that the moment of birth is crucial in the definition. If your twin died some weeks before birth and was born with you, then you can be a "lone twin". If your twin was miscarried before 24 weeks, you cant.
The members whose twin died around birth can both womb twin survivors and lone twins, for they satisfy the criteria of both groups: they only knew their twin in the womb. We have many people who post on the forum come to the womb twin lunches and who are members of WombTwin.com, whose twin died close to birth. They can properly call themselves "womb twin survivors" and feel a part of our group.
A grave
The great advantage of having lost your twin at birth rather than before, is that there just might be some kind of grave or marker that your twin once existed. It is very hard if no such place exists. The practice of burying a still born twin with an adult stranger is no longer so common, at least in the UK, for it is considered good practice that every body, however small, must have a separate burial place. (This decision is the work of SANDS in London.)
Philip Dick, author of Blade runner, lost his twin sister at six weeks. A post on the womb twin forum alerted me to this fact. He is interviewed here, but he did not mention his twin. However it is clear from his biography that the loss badly affected him.
He was born prematurely, along with his twin sister Jane, in Chicago on December 16, 1928. His father was Edgar Dick, his mother Dorothy Kindred - from her maiden name came Dick's middle initial. Jane died six weeks after her birth, a loss that Phil felt deeply throughout his life. As time went on, Phil came, with whatever justice, to blame his mother for Jane's death. His relationship with both of his parents was decidedly difficult, and made only more so when they divorced when he was five years old.
Sister Jane, his mother, and his father served as models for many of the characters who would populate Dick's fictional universes in the decades to come. In particular, the death of Jane - and Phil's traumatic sense of separation from her, an experience common to many twins who have lost their sibling - contributed to the dualist (twin-poled) dilemmas that dominated his creative work - science fiction (SF)/mainstream, real/fake, human/android. It was out of these pressing dualities that the two vast questions emerged which Dick often cited as encompassing his writing: What is Real? and What is Human?
He heard a voice in his head, a female, who gave him some ideas for his books. His twin was his muse and accompanied him in life in this way. They are buried together, united at last in death.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Chapter three: The death of a twin around birth
Chapter Three : the death of a twin around birth
This chapter was so sad to write. There are some very sad stories included, sent to me by womb twin survivors, but I can't publish them here because of copyright and privacy issues. They make poignant reading.
Multiple pregnancy is dangerous for both mother and babies. There is a higher incidence of neonatal death, SIDS and stillbirth in a twin pregnancy than in a singleton pregnancy. If your twin died in the third trimester or around birth, then you can call yourself a womb twin survivor, because you only knew your living twin when you were together in the womb.
Here is a snippet for you:
Stillbirth of one twin
When labour begins, even after careful examination of the mother, it is not always obvious that there are twins. These days, a twin birth is often induced early or at least monitored with extreme care. However, before ultrasound scans - and even today in less well-equipped hospitals - it can happen that a second baby is delivered and takes everyone by surprise. Under those circumstances things can go very badly for the second twin, especially if he or she is in a breech presentation (head uppermost.) With these unexpected twin deliveries, the second baby is often stillborn or lives only for a very short time. Many do not survive the trauma of birth. The stillbirth rate in twins is double the rate for single births.
Accidental death of one twin
Even shortly before birth, a trauma to the womb or the mother may cause the death of one twin by precipitating a sudden labour when insufficient medical attention is available to prevent disaster. Sometimes one baby is born dead as a direct result of the trauma.
Umbilical cord complications causing the death of one twin
The average umbilical cord is about 55cm long. If the cord is much longer it can twist into a knot and the blood supply can no longer reach the baby, in which case the baby asphyxiates and dies. If it is too short, then when labour begins, the placenta may be torn from the wall of the womb causing a fatal haemorrhage. When MZ twins share an amniotic sac, the two cords may become entangled and the blood supply to one or both babies may be interrupted, with fatal consequences. Also a longer cord can become wrapped around the neck of one of the babies, who is at risk of asphyxiation during delivery. As prenatal ultrasound is becoming increasingly sophisticated, many of these conditions are being diagnosed before birth. However, some of these problems are not apparent before delivery, even with the idea of ultrasound. Where the placentas of DZ twins overlap, this may badly affect the position of the cord of one twin. Meanwhile, the other twin has a centrally-attached cord, and will thrive and grow rapidly, while the other, with little access to nourishment, will be much smaller and may not survive.
Infection causing the death of one twin
Bacteria entering the vagina can cause an infection and inflammation of the amnion and chorion (the membranes surrounding the baby.) If an infection develops in the third trimester of an MZ twin pregnancy the inflammation of the shared membranes can trigger premature labour, as a result of which one or both twins may be born dead or die at birth.
More about this book
This chapter was so sad to write. There are some very sad stories included, sent to me by womb twin survivors, but I can't publish them here because of copyright and privacy issues. They make poignant reading.
Multiple pregnancy is dangerous for both mother and babies. There is a higher incidence of neonatal death, SIDS and stillbirth in a twin pregnancy than in a singleton pregnancy. If your twin died in the third trimester or around birth, then you can call yourself a womb twin survivor, because you only knew your living twin when you were together in the womb.
Here is a snippet for you:
Stillbirth of one twin
When labour begins, even after careful examination of the mother, it is not always obvious that there are twins. These days, a twin birth is often induced early or at least monitored with extreme care. However, before ultrasound scans - and even today in less well-equipped hospitals - it can happen that a second baby is delivered and takes everyone by surprise. Under those circumstances things can go very badly for the second twin, especially if he or she is in a breech presentation (head uppermost.) With these unexpected twin deliveries, the second baby is often stillborn or lives only for a very short time. Many do not survive the trauma of birth. The stillbirth rate in twins is double the rate for single births.
Accidental death of one twin
Even shortly before birth, a trauma to the womb or the mother may cause the death of one twin by precipitating a sudden labour when insufficient medical attention is available to prevent disaster. Sometimes one baby is born dead as a direct result of the trauma.
Umbilical cord complications causing the death of one twin
The average umbilical cord is about 55cm long. If the cord is much longer it can twist into a knot and the blood supply can no longer reach the baby, in which case the baby asphyxiates and dies. If it is too short, then when labour begins, the placenta may be torn from the wall of the womb causing a fatal haemorrhage. When MZ twins share an amniotic sac, the two cords may become entangled and the blood supply to one or both babies may be interrupted, with fatal consequences. Also a longer cord can become wrapped around the neck of one of the babies, who is at risk of asphyxiation during delivery. As prenatal ultrasound is becoming increasingly sophisticated, many of these conditions are being diagnosed before birth. However, some of these problems are not apparent before delivery, even with the idea of ultrasound. Where the placentas of DZ twins overlap, this may badly affect the position of the cord of one twin. Meanwhile, the other twin has a centrally-attached cord, and will thrive and grow rapidly, while the other, with little access to nourishment, will be much smaller and may not survive.
Infection causing the death of one twin
Bacteria entering the vagina can cause an infection and inflammation of the amnion and chorion (the membranes surrounding the baby.) If an infection develops in the third trimester of an MZ twin pregnancy the inflammation of the shared membranes can trigger premature labour, as a result of which one or both twins may be born dead or die at birth.
More about this book
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