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It was always a bit of a "family joke" that Sally Brown would give birth to twins.
Key points:
- Eleven sets of twins were born at Darwin Private Hospital in 2019
- In 2018, six sets of twins were born at the facility
- Twins accounted for 6 per cent of the 372 total babies born at DPH in 2019
So she and husband Paul were not surprised when they went for a routine pregnancy scan and found out they were expecting two babies.
Angus and Willow were born on October 30, 2019 — one of 11 sets of twins born at Darwin Private Hospital (DPH) last year.
DPH nurse and midwife Jemima Hart said while 11 sets wasn't the highest number of twins born at the facility in one calendar year, twins accounted for nearly 6 per cent of the 372 total babies born at DPH in 2019.
"Last year we had 11 twins in our 400 or so births, which is quite significantly more than the year before," Ms Hart said.
"We had about the same number of births in 2018, but only roughly about six sets of twins. So it's definitely increased in the last year."
In 2011, when 16 sets of twins were born at DPH, a total of 723 babies were born at the facility — making twins about 4 per cent of the bubs born that year.
Livebirth twins at DPH:
- 2009 — 1 set
- 2010 — 7 sets
- 2011 — 16 sets
- 2012 — 13 sets
- 2013 — 10 sets
- 2014 — 10 sets
- 2015 — 3 sets
- 2016 — 11 sets
- 2017 — 9 sets
- 2018 — 6 sets
- 2019 — 11 sets
Mrs Brown wasn't surprised to learn the hospital had welcomed a higher percentage of twins last year.
"It's strange," she said.
"Before I had the twins I didn't notice as much, but now I see a lot of twin mums out and about with quite young twins.
"There must be something in the water this year, other than that I have no idea."
A difficult pregnancy
Mrs Brown said the twin pregnancy was quite challenging, and at 26 weeks she was put on hospital bed rest for six weeks.
"Then the twins were in special care at Darwin Private Hospital for another four and a half weeks before we could bring them home," she said.
She said being away from daughter Matilda, now 3, was the biggest challenge.
"But we made it through and it was worth it, we got two healthy babies in the end."
Now the twins are at home in Palmerston, Mrs Brown is struggling to make time for everyone.
"The lack of sleep I expected, and you don't get much sleep, but it's amazing how much you can push through and function on so little sleep," she said.
"Having already had a daughter I know that it gets tougher not easier.
"So when they start walking and they are at that stage where they can talk and walk around but they don't listen yet — that I am absolutely dreading."
Mr Brown is mostly dreading having two teenage daughters at home.
"Every father has that worry about teenage girls, it's a different type of struggle," he said.
Will 2020 break all records?
Ms Hart is not sure what influenced the sudden spike in twin numbers, but believes Darwin's young, transient population could be a contributing factor.
"We also have a lot more IVF babies as well, that can contribute to the twins," she added.
She said it was too early to tell if 2020 would bring even more twins.
"People are only just starting to book in — there's three booked for the first few months of the year, but we'll probably have more," she said.
"September is the busiest time of the year for babies to be born and we don't have those numbers yet."
Ms Hart said it was always exciting when twins were born at the facility.
"They have a really good bond. Most of the babies, even if you put them on separate sides of the cot, they'll wiggle in against each other. We love seeing that," she said.
Topics: community-and-society, family-and-children, family, health, doctors-and-medical-professionals, darwin-0800, tiwi-0810, nt, australia
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