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Is there a role for a twins clinic? An evaluation of parents' responses
I M Bendefy1, A Elliman, S Prior
1Multiple Births Foundation, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, London, UK.
Insights
Parental feedback shows the Twins Clinic effectively addresses unmet needs for multiple birth families, particularly concerning behavior and development. Improved professional education is key to reducing reliance on specialized clinics.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Family Medicine
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Families with twins often face unique challenges not adequately addressed by general healthcare.
- Existing support systems may not fully meet the specific needs of multiple birth families.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess parental satisfaction and outcomes from attending a specialized Twins Clinic.
- To identify the primary reasons for referral and the helpfulness of previous assistance sought.
Main Methods:
- Postal questionnaires were distributed to parents of 141 twin pairs referred to the Twins Clinic.
- Data collected included referral sources, reasons, prior help-seeking experiences, clinic experiences, and visit outcomes.
Main Results:
- 80% of families responded, with 89% self-referring.
- Common referral reasons were behavioral (34) and developmental (28) issues.
- 88% had sought prior help, but only 29% found it effective; 84% reported positive outcomes from the clinic, including reassurance and information.
Conclusions:
- The Twins Clinic successfully meets the needs of families with multiples.
- Enhanced education for health professionals and the community could potentially reduce the necessity for such specialized clinics in the future.
Abstract:
To evaluate parental responses to the Twins Clinic, postal questionnaires were sent to the parents of 141 pairs of twins, born outside the maternity hospital who were referred to the clinic in the first three years. The main outcome measures were: the sources of, and reasons for, referral; previous attempts to find help; experiences at the clinic and outcome of the visit. One hundred and thirteen families (80%) replied, of whom 101 (89%) were self-referred. The most common problems for which twins were referred related to behaviour (34) and development (28). In 99 (88%) cases, parents had already sought assistance from other sources (39 from health professionals) but only 29 had found this helpful. In 95 (84%) cases, parents felt there had been a positive outcome from attending the clinic, in the form of reassurance (87), change of management (39), successful support for applications (19) or information (11). Parents' responses indicate that the Twins Clinic meets the needs of families with multiples who are inadequately served by existing sources of help. These will only be improved through education of health professionals (and of the community as a whole) so as to obviate the need for Twins Clinics.