They say good things come in threes, but for six Nelson mums who attend a rather special Plunket coffee group, it comes in twos.
The mums, and some dads, and their twins, ranging in age from newborn to 21 months, attend the weekly multiple-birth meetings at the Richmond Plunket Rooms. The group was formed by Community Karitane to support the parents and help address the unique needs of families experiencing a multiple birth.
Debbie Harvie from Community Karitane says the meetings are a relaxed and fun affair where parents can “have a cup of coffee and discuss day to day challenges of raising twins”. She says it was formed after “we had a couple of mums in Stoke asking about a multiple-birth group” and now it has a loyal following.
Mum Jodie Colvin says there is definitely a need for the group. Although Jodie says she treats her twins, seven-month-old Macie and Charlie, the same as the rest of her children, twins make simple things like going to the supermarket a major logistical operation.
“Just moving two babies around can be difficult,” Jodie says. “You can’t just get out of the car and pick two babies up and carry them into the supermarket.
“And you try pushing a twin stroller through the barriers they a have there – you always have to go through the checkout.”
Charlie Johnson, mother of five-month-old Sam and Summer, says trying to look after the twins and still tend to the rest of the family can be demanding. “I have a three-year-old as well, so trying to juggle everything can be hard. Try getting dinner ready when your three-year-old is hungry and the twins haven’t slept.”
Rebecca Cooke, mother of Sophie and Madeline aged 21 months, says she enjoys going to group meetings because “it’s nice to talk to people who understand twins and find out how they cope and sort things out”. She says one of the key messages that all the mums agree on is that a supportive partner is essential. “Sophie and Madeline had colic so I had two screaming babies for the first 18 weeks. I would walk them around all day and then when my husband came home from work I’d hand them to him and he’d start walking – it would have been impossible on my own.”
Keiko and Bruce Melton, parents of Emma and Kaori aged 11 months, say they have had to make some big changes since the twins were born. Bruce, who managed a restaurant, “quit and got a day job” so he could be at home and help out at night. “Even getting out of the house on time to go somewhere is like a military operation,” Bruce says.
Jodie says one of the biggest problems she has encountered is trying to find day care for twins so she can finish the last year of her accounting degree at NMIT.
“The NMIT day care has a long waiting list, so there’s not much chance of getting two children in there and it would cost me a small fortune to put them in a private day care.”
Debbie says it is quite exceptional to have six sets of twins in the group at the one time, with multiple births making up only 1.5-2 per cent of all births in New Zealand. Last year, there were 808 sets of twins and 11 sets of triplets born in this country. “There seems to be quite a few multiples births in the Nelson area at the moment,” Debbie says.
The multiple births group meets at the Richmond Plunket Rooms every Tuesday at 10.30am. Anyone interested can contact Debbie on 544 7554.
