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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Judith RankinORCiD, Dr Louise HayesORCiD, Professor Nicholas EmbletonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2021, The Author(s).Background: Bereavement from a twin pregnancy can result in complex emotions as parents are often caring for a surviving sibling while mourning the loss of their infant. Health professionals have reported feeling ill-equipped to deal with the specific needs of parents in this situation. Our aim was to ascertain the current knowledge, training needs and self-rated confidence of health professionals in providing support to parents who have experienced a loss from a twin pregnancy. Methods: We used an online survey, sent by email via professional organisations and clinical networks, to neonatal and fetal medicine doctors, neonatal nurses, and midwives. Respondents provided anonymous responses to questions on their experience of training and knowledge of existing guidelines, confidence in supporting parents and current practice in their hospital neonatal unit. Results: We received 293 responses. Less than half (47.3%) of respondents had received training for supporting parents and 62% felt more training and further guidelines were required. Less than a third of respondents reported having no or some confidence when providing emotional support to parents. Conclusions: Current training and guidelines in the UK to support health professionals caring for parents who have experienced a loss from a twin pregnancy are inadequate. Guidelines for healthcare professionals who support parents experiencing the loss of a baby from a twin pregnancy are needed.
Author(s): Rankin J, Hayes L, Embleton N
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth
Year: 2021
Volume: 21
Issue: 1
Online publication date: 14/01/2021
Acceptance date: 05/01/2021
Date deposited: 22/07/2022
ISSN (electronic): 1471-2393
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-021-03543-9
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-021-03543-9
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