2021 Volume 35 Issue 1 Pages 11-21
Purpose
This study aimed to elucidate the experience and expected midwifery care of women who deliver twins after assisted reproductive technology (ART).
Methods
A descriptive qualitative study was conducted with five primiparas who delivered twins after receiving ART treatment. In 2018, semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants, followed by thematic analysis.
Results
The analysis revealed that women who became pregnant with twins after undergoing ART treatment demonstrated four characteristics: (a) Persistent anxiety both during and after pregnancy related to the possible sudden loss of one or both of the children, (b) Sense of alienation from losing continuing midwifery support postpartum, (c) Bouts of unexpected, intense pain after parturition, and (d) Panic associated with parenting of twins. The studied women identified four themes of support that they expected to receive from midwifery care: (a) To be provided with information to dispel their anxieties related to having a high-risk pregnancy, (b) To be introduced during pregnancy to other women who had been pregnant with twins, (c) To be empathized with about how hard it is, both mentally and physically, to carry and deliver twins, and (d). To be appreciated for the effort involved in carrying and then raising twins.
Conclusion
After repeated experiences of being disappointed following anticipation of motherhood during their fertility treatments, women who become pregnant with twins through ART face anxiety when they learn the high-risk status of their pregnancies from medical personnel's behavior. Anticipatory worry about the possibilities of fetal deaths and abnormalities throughout their pregnancies and continuing post-partum fear related to sudden death of the child were common characteristics seen in the subjects.
Women who become mothers of twins after ART may have a difficult motherhood experience due to the fear of their child's death.
Midwifery care should continue post-partum, confirming the healthy growth and survival of children and giving patients a sense of comfort and relief after they have become mothers.
