Twin pregnancy birth injury claims

Having twins, triplets or other multiples increases the risk of developing many of the complications of pregnancy. These complications include:

• Premature birth – Premature newborn babies’ organs may not have fully developed at birth, increasing their risk of injury from serious conditions which require early diagnosis and treatment, such as blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). They need help with breathing, feeding, controlling their body temperature or fighting infection, and usually need specialist care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU or SCBU).
• Anaemia in pregnancy can be caused by lack of iron but may be treated with changes in diet or supplements, such as iron tablets and folic acid. Untreated anaemia increases the risk of life-threatening injury to the mother and unborn baby from harmful conditions, such as IUGR (intra-uterine growth restriction), infection, heart failure and bleeding.
• Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) – Babies with IUGR don’t grow at the expected rate for their gestational age (number of weeks of pregnancy). It is normal for twins to be slightly smaller than single babies, but IUGR can be life-threatening for unborn twins if it is caused by problems with the umbilical cord or the placenta. 
• High blood pressure (hypertension) in twin pregnancy increases the risk of detachment of the placenta (placental abruption).
• Pre-eclampsia – If a pregnant woman has signs of pre-eclampsia she must be monitored carefully and treated to avoid serious injury to herself and her baby/babies. Treatment for pre-eclampsia usually involves admission to hospital, bed rest, medication and careful monitoring, to bring the mother’s blood pressure down to safe levels.
• HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening atypical form of pre-eclampsia which takes its name from key features of the condition: Haemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells), Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelet count (affecting blood clotting). HELLP develops late in pregnancy and is often misdiagnosed, delaying urgent treatment to deliver the babies and give the mother a blood transfusion. If HELLP is left untreated, the mother may become critically ill or die from liver rupture or stroke. The unborn babies may be stillborn or suffer brain injury from placental failure or abruption.
• Gestational diabetes refers to when a woman develops diabetes in pregnancy. In severe cases, the mother may need tablets or insulin injections to keep her blood sugar within safe levels. Gestational diabetes must be diagnosed, monitored and kept under control as it increases the risk of developing other complications of pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, shoulder dystocia, stillbirth, prematurity, and respiratory difficulties, neonatal hypoglycaemia and jaundice for the newborn baby.