Multiple joy for special siblings

Tamba supports families with twins, triplets or quads

Scotland's largest gathering of young twins, triplets and quadruplets has taken place.

More than 180 sets of the youngsters from across the country were meeting at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling.

They were all aged five and under and were celebrating the 30th birthday of the Twins and Multiple Births Association (Tamba).

The event was aimed at highlighting the support available to families.

Helen Peck, Tamba's Scottish co-ordinator, said: "To actually be there on the day and see all the people with the same common interest at heart and a lot of whom have gone through the same challenges from pregnancy right through to adulthood, it's just amazing, it's mind-blowing."

'Daunting prospect'

Mrs Peck, from Stirling, has four-year-old twin daughters, Rosie and Mary.

She believes it is important parents know help is available if they have any concerns.

She added: "It is a really daunting prospect when you find out that you're carrying more than one baby, because by nature humans aren't really built to carry more than one baby, so it can be quite scary. On the other hand, you feel truly blessed and quite special.

"Obviously there are the added health difficulties and medical problems you can have - twins are likely to be born quite prematurely, triplets even more prematurely and quads even more prematurely than that.

"So you're dealing with a whole other ball game where you can have children in the premature baby unit for quite a long time, getting fed through tubes, so it can be a really emotional time."