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8 Sets of Twins In NICU At Desert Regional Medical Center
Have you ever thought how likely it was to give birth to a set of twins? According to the website What To Expect, just over three percent of babies in the United States are born in sets of two, three, or more. In that 3-percent, eight sets of twins are currently in the NICU at Desert Regional Medical Center. The nursing department at Desert Regional Medical Center say they’ve never seen this many twins in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit let alone the delivery unit itself. I spoke with officials on just how rare this instance is. "I’ve been here for 15 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. So it’s common to possibly have maybe three or four sets at the most…but now that we have eight, the staff has just been in awe." Maggie Stutz, the Nursing Director of Women, Children, and Infants says. Aside from the 8 sets of twins in the NICU, they have had roughly 12 twins born in the hospital within the last few months. Starting with a set of twins born in October, that started the twin trend. "So it started with our first set of twins came in somewhere around early October, and they were 24 week twins. So when those types of twins are born, we know that they’re going to be here for at least three to four months." Stutz says. It’s not only the doctors who were in shock, Faviola Hernandez, a new mother of twin boys says "It’s kind of weird. I mean, first of all, just having twins in itself is sometimes a little overwhelming, but it was exciting actually." Faviola says she spoke to the parents of another set of twins in the NICU," with one set, I don’t even know if they’re still there because they were there a couple of weeks ago… and they were already a little bit more as they were born a little later they were born like, early 30 weeks." With the holiday season nearing, she has a single wish for her twin boys. "For them to just come home healthy. Like I just I honestly, when you see your babies struggling at such an early age and everything, all you pray for and hope for is for them to have a long healthy, happy life like you really that’s all you want." Much like Faviola, officials say their wish is for families to feel at peace, knowing their children are in the best care this holiday season. To help Faviola and her family with their medical expenses while her twins are in the NICU, check out their Gofundme. https://www.gofundme.com/f/hernandez-twins-nicu-stay-fund?utm_campaign=p_nacp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer
By: Tiani Jadulang
December 16, 2022