Mother Of Twins To Be Want To Know: Can I Have A Vaginal Birth With My Multiples?

 

Mother Of Twins To Be Want To Know: Can I Have A Vaginal Birth With My Multiples?

 9-4-2012

My natural rockstars are 30 months & 2 days old

 

 

Can you have a vaginal birth? In a word…YES! I talk about this subject in depth if you want to see a lengthy article on the subject of birthing twins naturally. Unfortunately, you will have a very hard time, I actually found it impossible in my area anyways, to get a midwife for a twin pregnancy. However, there is definitely a very good chance that you CAN have a vaginal birth, even though you will have to be in an operating room, which isn’t quite as cozy as a normal L&D room. That is simply a safety precaution.

 

More than half of all twins are born vaginally. I would assume, and my doctor backed me up on this, that some of the other roughly 45% are elective c-sections, which makes your chances better. In saying that, if you are REALLY looking to have your twins via the vaginal route you have a far greater than a 1 in 2 chance, as plenty of c-sections in twins are in fact planned out of fear, or known-ahead-of-time necessity.

 

Some examples of necessity are:  Baby A is in a breech position. This makes for an impossible vaginal birth, however it is a rarer choice of positioning for baby A, or babies A & B (roughly only 30% of the time). A high risk pregnancy related issue such as certain types of identical twins, or a mother’s health issue that makes a vaginal birth too risky. Or if you are carrying more than twins. A vaginal delivery is never attempted on triplets, quads, etc.

 

You will definitely want to get informed sooner than later in a multiple pregnancy, and make sure you not only find a doctor you feel comfortable with who has an amazing bedside manner, but who also agrees with your choice of birth plan. If he or she isn’t on board to at least help you with your desires, though anything CAN happen, run don’t walk to a new OB/GYN.

 

My greatest fear was the risk of having one baby born vaginally and one born via c-section. That fear was weighing on me, and also the fact that my baby B was breech. I almost caved last minute and considered an elective section. I was told..and researched it to find that only in 5% of all cases does this type of complication arise, so I knew odds were heavily on my side. My twins were born vaginally and healthy. It was my smoothest, quickest, birth experience ever in fact.

 

If I had had a previous c-section, I likely would not have tried vaginal. In fact, many doctors won’t do a VBAC for twins. Then again, there are plenty who nowadays won’t deliver a breech, but I found one. (Younger, newer doctors are not trained much any more about breech birth delivery.. so don’t go too young.) Also, if you want to attempt a VBAC with twins..find a doctor that will help you do so! They are out there, you just have to look.

 

 

 

Tips to follow

 

1. Set up your birth plan early

 

2. Find a doctor that is on your side

 

3. Check out the c-section rates at the hospital you will be delivering at.

(Don’t put an extreme amount of stock in that though, as the hospital I birthed at had quite a high number.)

 

4. Keep an eye on the positions of your babies

(Though this can change, especially in baby B quite late, twins do tend to run out of space much earlier. Most twins stay put by 28 weeks. The word is MOST though. At 24 weeks my baby B flipped to breech and remained there. Baby A was head down from 20 weeks onward, if memory serves me.)

 

5. Keep yourself healthy and as stress-free as possible

(This helps with pregnancy-related complications such as high blood pressure or pre-term labor that can increase the chances of needing a section.)

 

6. Mentally prepare yourself for the possibility of a c-section

(Not everything in life can be predicted. You don’t want to be completely blindsided.)

 

And just know that no matter how they are born.. they are well, well worth whatever entrance they may choose to get into this world, and inside of yours.

 

Do know there IS much to hope for.

 

 Have a great twin pregnancy!