by Lauren McCann & Jennifer Taylor
Child Life Manager   Child Life Specialist

Today the city of Memphis and the entire country were made aware of amazing medical services Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital provided to two very special little boys. Jacob and Joshua Spates, conjoined twins born in January 2011, were successfully separated on Aug. 29 due to the dedicated care of hundreds of people at Le Bonheur. Among the team members who cared for the boys and their family were the child life specialists who provided services prior to their birth and following their delivery.

Child Life began providing emotional support and sibling preparation to the mother while she was pregnant with the boys. At the Maternal Fetal Center, Child Life serves as a member of the health care team to provide patient- and family-centered care to not only the mother, but the entire family. Since she has other children, Child Life worked with the mother to prepare her and her other children for the birth of their unique siblings. Dolls were sewn together to give the other children a visual understanding of how the twins would look after birth.

Following the boys’ exceptional birth, Child Life then began providing services in Le Bonheur’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  Child Life focused on promoting normalcy by creating a stimulating and child-friendly environment within their hospital room.  This included decorating their room to create a homelike ambiance.  During the time they were joined as one, Child Life also provided visual and auditory stimulation to the boys, engaged them in developmentally appropriate activities to aid in encouraging their developmental milestones, and provided overall comfort to both the boys and their mother.  Although the boys were joined as one, they were always seen as two separate individuals by our staff.  This is especially true in that when Child Life would work with them, one might have been awake while the other slept, making it a challenge to avoid waking the other. 

When it came time for the separation surgery, Child Life was also there to provide ongoing emotional support to the mother.  While the mother was very happy to know her boys would soon be separated, this emotional time was also full of stress and anxiety.  Child Life was there to provide active listening, support, and a calming environment during the 13-hour surgery.

Today, as the boys heals from their separation surgery and begin to make developmental strides as individuals, Child Life continues to provide developmentally appropriate activities and engage the boys in their new found environment as two boys, no longer conjoined as one. 

Child Life is honored to be a member of the multi-disciplinary team at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and we are privileged to have assisted in the extraordinary event.  If you would like more information about this amazing story, please visit www.lebonheur.org/twins