Celebrating multiple birth families

Bunbury will be seeing double this week as the South West Multiple Birth Association celebrates Multiple Birth Awareness Week from March 11 to 18.

The week, which follows the theme Strength in Numbers, aims to bring attention to the important work of the association in providing vital support to multiple birth families.

The South West branch has been running in affiliation with the Australian Multiple Birth Association since 2001, with the branch meeting for playgroups on the second and fourth Fridays of the month at Hudson Road Family Centre.

Association founder and president Nikki Webb, who has identical twin boys almost 18-years-old, said the club was a supportive environment for families with multiples.

“The club is a wonderful place to meet other families with multiples, to have a support network that understands the unique situations that families of multiples find themselves in and to access resources and benefits that being part of a large nationwide organisation brings,” she said.

“It is $2 to attend and newcomers can have two visits then are required to obtain membership, which includes the playgroup, insurance, newsletters, social events and access to the club’s library of books.”

Treasurer Jacinta Hilder, who is the mother of four-year-old twin boys Kade and Rylan, said the association offered support to mothers of multiples at all stages.

“For first-time mums it’s daunting to have one baby and then when you have two it’s just like ‘wow’,” she said. “The club offers support for mothers because having two at the same time is challenging and it is just someone to talk to,” she said.

To get involved, visit www.swmba.amba.org.au or call 9721 7330.