Women’s & Children’s Hospital in Lafayette is offering courses to prepare parents who are expecting multiple babies in one pregnancy.
The hospital says that for many parents, the thought of having multiples can be daunting, but that those parents don’t have to go through the experience alone or unprepared.
The ‘Marvelous Multiples’ prenatal courses are free for parents of twins, triplets, or more to help them navigate the road to parenthood with multiple babies. The courses are taught by registered nurses and ‘millennial moms’ who, the hospital says, are experienced in the care of both moms and babies.
The series is broken up into four, two-hour courses.
Marvelous Multiples I provides a solid foundation upon which parents can begin to build their new life with twins, triplets, quads or more. Here, parents learn basic information about fertility treatments, types of multiples and prenatal care for their little ones, such as nutrition and weight gain, and how to manage pregnancy discomforts. Also, parents become familiar with various forms of fetal health testing, including ultrasounds, amniocentesis, non-stress testing and much more.
Marvelous Multiples II helps parents of multiples better understand issues that may arise during a multiples pregnancy and how to address each. Topics covered include prematurity risk and NICU care, signs of and treatments for preterm labor, hypertension, gestational diabetes, amniotic fluid and placental complications, twin-to-twin transfusion and how their little womb mates grow.
Marvelous Multiples III & Tour includes the signs and stages of labor, the differences between vaginal and cesarean birth, pain management, recovery, postpartum care, bonding, interaction with siblings and the importance of schedules and routines in the care of multiples. Also included in this session is a guided tour of the multiples birth experience at Women’s & Children’s Hospital.
Marvelous Multiples IV focuses on breastfeeding, pumping and bottle-feeding for multiples, as well as beds and safe sleep, clothing, strollers, equipment, etc.
To learn more about the course and to register, visit womens-childrens.com/Expecting.
