International Multiple Birth Awareness Week 2023

6 – 12 November

Supporting multiples and their families through life — it takes a
community

The goal for IMBAW 2023 was to raise awareness around the challenges faced by multiples and their families and how the community can support them.

So why is support so important for families with multiples? Multiple birth families are faced with increased mental and physical health risks as well as general challenges that include:

• high-risk pregnancies
• premature birth
• higher medical needs
• pre- and postnatal depression
• social isolation
• financial hardship
• schooling issues
• identity problems
• getting sufficient sleep
• the logistics of feeding, clothing and bathing multiples
• babies experience less one-on-one time cuddling and being spoken to by their parents higher rates of parental guilt and despair and post-partum depression for both mothers and fathers
• strains on family relationships, including higher rates of divorce and relationship breakdown.

Therefore, it is critical that multiples and their families be supported at every stage of their journey, from conception to adulthood. This is why for International Multiple Birth Awareness Week 2023 our theme was support. Without a community around them it can be extremely challenging for families with multiples.

In addition to supporting families with multiples it is also critical we support the supporters (e.g. medical professionals and teachers as well as those volunteers that help run our multiples clubs/organisations) through education, training and resources to help them support families with multiples. IMBAW was also a chance to do a shout out to those that support the multiples community.

For further information on this topic, contact the ICOMBO Chair chair@icombo.org