Natural/Vaginal Birth of Identical Twins

[MissHoney]

Hi,

We are having identical twins and really hoping for a very calm and natural vaginal delivery at SVP in Melbourne. Does anyone have any positive information to share about this. I've heard there can be a risk of needing a c-section for the second twin?

Many thanks

[visitor1]

I have no advice but wanted to say congrats and that i hope you get your natural VB!!!!

[diva det]

hi there
they will only to a natural birth of twins if twin one is head down.

Most OB's insist on an epidural as well, just i case they have to get them out quick or they have to manually turn the second twin after the first one is born. Talk to your OB about your options
My twins were born c/section as they were prem and both breech
The rate of c/sections is definately much higher for twins than for a single birth as the chances of things going against you is alot higher.
HTH and let us know how you go
BTW any reason why you chose SVP? just curious?
odette

[MissHoney]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, it's good to know that it's possible. I've read one birth story as suggested by one the members (it was very long and detailed, but very useful) and will print out the other two.

Odette wanted to know why SVP. No particular reason other than it is Dr. Lionel Steinberg's base hospital. We have just discovered though that they don't have baths and I think I might try to get into Frances Perry where they do. I really want to use water for pain mgmt as we are going to try for an all natural delivery if we can! I had an epi with first baby, not against it if necessary but would prefer to be mobile for full use of gravity.

[Pandora]

My gf had her twins naturally at RWH, though they had the 'twin one head down' policy there as well.

[Leemar]

Hi MissHoney- Congratulation on your twins.... A girlfriend of mine had her twin girls natural with no problems. I had my twins C/S at 34wks5days they were both laying sideways so there was no way of vag birth for me. Good Luck though.

[Yael]

Sorry to hijack the thread, just wanted to ask a qn

I was watching some videos on youtube, of triplet births, and they were all c-sections... which made me wonder, is it possible to safely deliever triplets vaginally and is it done??

[motherduck]

Hey Misshoney i hope you get your vaginal delivery mine were both breech the link to thier birth story is in a post above.
The reson i didnt want a C/S was because of the healing time if it would have been nececary then that would have been ok, better off out and safe.
Hope your birth is as you want best of luck.
Jean

[paradise lost]

Yael, if you hop over to Websites & Online Stuff there's a link to a video of a triplets homebirth, vaginal, all fine. It gets a bit sad as one of them gets ill at around 4 months old (meningitis) but the (water)birth looks beautiful and all survived it safe and sound.

Hana

[Yael]

Oh Hana your right, and i just watched that last week...

I think i need to see somebody about my short term memory problems

What about in hospitals.. do they normally support vaginal triplet births?? Not that i think it will ever happen to me, just curious

[Yael]

Good luck Miss Honey

FPH have really great baths - really really deep and great for pain relief. Although i'm hoping you would get a lot of care b/c of having twins, my last experience with getting decent post natal care at FPH wasn't good..

I want to go to SVP (my mum is a nurse there), but my obs only works at FPH, so i didn't have that much of a choice.

Good luck with what you choose, and i hope you have a great experience with your twins!

[MissHoney]

Acually, I was trying to get into FPH because of the bath thing but there is a very long waiting list, so we will go to SVP and it is settled now. By the way, the new FPH will not have a bath b/c of occ health and safety issues (lifting out)...such as shame, there are lots of alternatives to bath design to avoid staff having to lift!

I saw Lionel the other day and all is well with the twins, they are the same size and no probs with bp etc. BUT apparently, he will induce me at 37 wks if I haven't started labour. The placenta deteriorates faster for identical twins and that is the reason. I want to avoid having syntocinin as the last experience wasn't good (felt very rigid and ceased up). He said that it wouldn't matter b/c they would give me an epidural pretty much right away (insurance for the 2nd twin in case he needs to pull 2nd bub out with his hands, or manouvre etc, do a c-section). I'm a little upset about all of this, really wanted to try for a natural labour . Looks like it won't be possible unless I stay at home for as long as possible. I am confident that I can do it naturally but am a bit anxious that something might go wrong with the 2nd twin. I am cautious by nature so I'm not sure if I can take Lionel on with an opposing view.

I have some thinking to do now about all of this and whether my wish for a totally natural labour is a bit risky with identical twins (and whether I want to argue with Lionel about it). My main aim is to avoid a c-section and tear and have 2 healthy and robust babies.

What do people think?

[pansy]

Hi Miss Honey congratulations on your twin pregnancy..I have 9 month old fraternal twin girls born vaginally.Twin A was head down the entire pregnancy and my OB said that if she stayed that way all was good for anatural delivery.I remember asking her at one stage during my pregnancy if I had to have an epidural as I was told this by someone.She said in most cases yes as when twin A is delivered Twin B has room to move and may turn sideways and a little intervention by her would be needed.I saw my OB at 36 weeks and my blood pressure had risen quite significantly so I was told to have blood and urine taken.At 36wand 4 days I went to the hospital as I thought my waters were starting to leak.When I got to the hospital the midwife said nothing was happening and put me into a room for the night as I hadnt been sleeping very well.My OB came in at 8am to do her rounds and told me to stay in overnight and she would do an internal the next day and may induce me for the wed.At midday she came into my room to let me know that I had pre eclampsia and do an internal.As she did my internal she told me that I was already 4cm dilated and she could feel twin As had (she was very low down), next minute my waters broke all over her and the bed lol and I was taken around to delivery.At around 1pm I had an epidural at around7pm I started to feel contractions in my right groin and thigh..As much as it was painful I went with it as I had a better idea of when I had to push.I was fully dilated by 8pm I started to push at 8.30pm and gave birth to my beautiful daughter Vashti at 9.26pm.My OB then placed her hand up ther to break twin Bs waters and hold her so she wouldnt move.At this time I passed out and was brought back around by my Hubby and OB .Bernie (my OB) used the vac on her forehead to help her down the birth canal and a few more pushes and at 9.45pm Ilaria came into the world...I was so proud of myself for having a natural birth.I stayed in del suite for the night to monitor my blood pressure ,it stayed high for 6 months after the birth and next pregnancy it will be monitored from word go...Good luck for your impending birth I hope my story has given you a bit of an insight to a twin vaginal delivery.Any questions feel free to ask......I have also wondered about the possibility of triplets being born naturally. As twins run in my family I have a feeling I might be in line for triplets next pregnancy.....lol....My renal specialist told me that I would have to go on medication next preg because of the PE but told me if I had triplets he couldnt help me...Ive since had a dream that I naturally delivered triplets 2 boys and a girl...keep posted next year when we decide to fall again my dream may come true...oooweeoo....

[BellyBelly]

Miss Honey, if you would like a natural twin birth, you do have options but it may mean changing care. There are some beautiful twin DVD's out there, Davini Malcolm's Lotus Birth DVD is beautiful, waterbirth of twins 40wk+. Lotus birth is just leaving the placenta to detach naturally.

I have supported a twin vaginal birth at Box Hill Hospital and they induced her in her 38th week I think - the birth story is on the main site I think along with other twin waterbirths (at home). https://www.bellybelly.com.au/articles - click on the birth stories link. She wanted a natural birth too as she was a homebirther previously but got intense pressure for an induction and did go down that path. Babies were fine but of course not the path she wanted.

Depends what your preferences are, if you prefer private care or would be willing to look at other options. You could also have a scan for placenta function and that might help you buy some time if the scan shows it is all okay.

[BellyBelly]

Very common story sadly.

[diva det]

unfortuately there are so little Ob's who are prepared to just let nature take its course with twins. There are so many variables with twins, and so many things that can go wrong- even more so with ID's..
I really wanted a natural birth, but chose a hospital (FP) that had a level 3 nursery in case things went wrong. i knew that by going there that my chances of having a natural twin birth were pretty low as my OB was more inclined to do a c-sec, unless twin 1 was head down.
My decision to forgo a natural birth and go to FP saved my babies lives.

What I am trying to say is that although it would be great to have the best of both worlds for both mum and babies - with twins its that bit much trickier, and it is very hard to get a balance between the two ( or 3 lo)
good luck with your choices, and whatever you decide -stick to your guns, as you alone will know what is best for you and your babies!!

[MissHoney]

I've been away for a while but want to thank people for their responses. Pansy's story is interesting and it does give me hope for having a natural delivery, past 37 weeks. Apparently, the placenta with identical twins deteriorates more quickly than with fraternal twins. Someone suggested I could ask for a scan to check the placenta if I get to 37 weeks and there is pressure to induce me.

Kelly, I will check out Davini Malcolm's Lotus birth dvd. Where is it available?

Somewhere else on this forum I have posted about using water etc. There is no bath at SVP in Melbourne where we are booked in. Couldn't get into FPH and in fact in the new FPH they will not be installing baths in the delivery suite for Occ Health and Safety reasons.

I'm actually finding the whole fight for natural birth with twins quite confusing and hard work. To be honest, I'm a bit scared of doing the wrong thing by my babies, particularly the second. I think I need to wait until closer to the time and I'm sure my intuition will guide me as to the best way to proceed.