Singer Jesy Nelson has told how she could lose her unborn twins after developing a complication in her pregnancy. The Little Mix star posted on Instagram to reveal she needs two scans a week on her babies as one or both could be at risk of dying.
The 34-year-old appeared with her boyfriend Zion Foster to explain what was going on. And saying as she had not realised the problem even existed the couple had decided to share their story to raise awareness of the problem.
In a video clip she said: “We wanted to let you in on our journey of what we’ve been going through. So we are having identical twins which is so exciting – we actually cannot believe it.
“But, unfortunately, there are complications that come with having identical twins. The type of twins we are having are called mono/di twins and so normally most twins will have two placentas that they feed off of.
“But when you have mono/di twins, that means your twins live off one placenta which can lead to lots of complications – one of them being one baby might take all the nutrients which, and it’s really awful to say, but could lead to both babies dying.”
The singer then added: “At the moment I am currently pre-stage TTTS which is twin-to-twin transfusion and I am being monitored very closely and I have to go and be scanned twice a week. The current situation that we are in at the moment is that every time I’ve gone it has got a little bit worse but we are just hoping and praying for the best.”
Jesy then became emotional as she told her followers: “We feel so blessed that we’ve been given twins but it’s just really sad that it does come with these complications which we had no idea about. We honestly had no clue that this kind of thing happens when you have twins and we just really wanna raise awareness about this because there are so many people that don’t know about this.”
“We feel it’s really important to share our journey with you.” She added: “We are just hoping for the best and we’re really fortunate that I’m lucky enough to be scanned twice a week and we get to check on the babies.” She promised to keep her followers updated every time they go for a scan.
What is TTTS
According to Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust TTTS is a complication that happens in around 10-15% of pregnancies to twins that share a placenta (monochorionic). It can occur at any time during the pregnancy but is most likely to occur in the early to middle stages, before 26 weeks.
It explained: “TTTS occurs when there are abnormal connections between the babies’ blood vessels on the surface of the placenta. This then causes blood to be transferred (shunted) from one twin (called the donor) to the other (the recipient).
“By donating some of its blood supply to its sibling, the donor has less oxygen in its blood. As the donor has less oxygen it prioritises the flow of blood to the brain.
“This may mean that other organs such as the kidneys do not receive as much blood which will reduce urine production and lead to a small bladder and less fluid around the baby. We can see this on ultrasound.
“The recipient twin has an increase in blood volume from the donor which can sometimes put strain on the baby’s heart as it must pump harder. The recipient will compensate for the extra blood by producing more urine, increasing the amount of fluid around the baby.”
It said mums-to-be with TTTS will be monitored closely and if it remains stable treatment might not be needed. But if it is advanced parents will be given treatment options,
It warns: “If no treatment is performed the outcome for the pregnancy can be poor with an 80% chance of losing at least one baby.” The most effective treatment is lasering the blood vessels of the placenta which connect the babies with a 75% chance of one or both babies surviving and a 50% chance of parents taking home both.
But it adds: “There are complications associated with laser, such as; preterm labour, rupture of membranes and have learning difficulties after birth.” TTTS is also linked with premature labour.