Like most expectant moms, Monica Nicknair signed up for a childbirth class to prepare for her labor and delivery. But as the only one expecting twins in the class, Nicknair learned she had specific concerns and questions about a multiples birth that weren't being addressed.

"The instructor of the birthing class was no help to me with my questions regarding what to expect or knowing I probably would have a C-section," says Nicknair, who resides in Bangor, Maine, with her identical twin 16-month-old daughters, Emilia and Armanda. "She could only talk about singletons. I wish there would have been a class with other moms who were expecting multiples, because it would have given me more insight into what I was experiencing."

Nicknair, however, is grateful she ended up finding support and information from a local parents-of-multiples group. Still, she wishes the hospital where she gave birth could have assisted more. "I wish I could have talked to someone about the babies pressing on my lungs so much I could hardly breathe, and one baby weighing more than the other, and not knowing if the smaller one of the two would actually make it, and one being breech, while the other one wasn't," she says.

As the expectant mother of twins, Nicknair likely isn't alone in her childbirth class experience. But there is good news: More and more communities are providing childbirth classes specifically geared toward parents expecting twins or more. Hospitals and birth centers seem to be more aware of the need to provide this service, experts say, which is critical for moms and dads who will be adjusting to life with not one, but two or more new babies.

"It has been my experience that most parents of multiples are not prepared for their hospital experience," says Stacey Garnett, R.N., M.S., director of maternal child health services at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md. "They are not prepared for the number of people involved, the technology involved or the special care multiple gestations require during the delivery process."

A popular childbirth class available in hospitals across the country is Marvelous Multiples, taught from curriculum hospitals buy and tailor to their specific needs. The Birmingham, Ala.-based organization provides information on pregnancy and birth as well as postnatal care.

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