Imagine this… after a long, hard labour, you finally have the sweet reward of your baby in your arms… ahhh, bliss. But the contractions don’t stop, and instead of a placenta arriving… it’s another baby!
A brand new mother of one from Wisconsin in the United States had absolutely no idea that she was expecting surprise twins throughout her whole pregnancy. And the look of surprise on her face as she gave birth is utterly priceless.
Surprise twins birth
We recently shared this post on our Facebook page and it got an amazing response with over 5000 reactions and 800+ comments.
Lots of people told us that it had also happened to someone in their family and we were shocked to know that it really isn’t that uncommon.
https://www.facebook.com/BellyBellyBaby/posts/10157591334057406
Mums share their surprise twins birth experiences
The mother captured in these stunning images above shared on her Facebook page,
“I had my first baby with two pushes, I remember my first words were “IT’S SO TINY!!”.
Then I had another huge contraction, one nurse said “Oh it’s probably the placenta already coming.”
But another one said “Oh it’s a water bag! I’ve never seen that before” and in my head I’m screaming “it’s ANOTHER ring of fire!!!”.
My second twin came less than two minutes after my first with another two pushes and she was born ENCAUL.
I was just in shock, the staff were shocked and I wish I had someone taking pictures of my husband because I’m blind and couldn’t see his expression.”
“I think I got a visit from every staff member during my stay, I don’t think people believed it actually happened and had to see for themselves.”
After seeing the post on Facebook, the BellyBelly community shared their own surprise twin experiences.
Zakiyah told BellyBelly, “Mum used to tell us basically the same as this woman only one heart beat was heard, and her scans only showed one baby. The day she had us my mums mother ( my grandmother) was here from overseas. Mum said that when I was born she was lifting her leg up to get on the bed and I was born grabbing hold of her thigh and then all off a sudden when the nurses left the room mum felt another push and my grandmother had to call the nurses back over. Everyone was in so much shock. We where the first twins born that year in the hospital.”
Natalee said, “This happened to my mum 40 years ago!! 18 months later I was born – extra scans to make sure I was 1 of 1. 3 under 2 and they say I was planned.”
Nat’s mum Fiona told BellyBelly she actually discovered she was having twins on the day she went into labour after doctor’s performed an Xray on her. What a surprise she was given!
Adele also shared, “This happened to my Mum 40 years ago! I’m twin number 2! The nearest scan was an hour away and not a big thing back then , same re heart beats ( must’ve been in sync) when the Dr listened! Born at 34 weeks, 3lbs 11oz & 3lbs 12 oz in a country hospital! Mum birthed one baby (my sister Alexandra Maloney) then next minute they see little toes, me!”
Melbourne mother, Brooke King, also welcomed surprise twins that sparked quite the controversy.
Brooke shares, “My darling surprise twins came into this world in such a hurry, with just 1 hour of active labour and birthed gracefully into our bath at home. We expected a placenta and instead were blessed with a twin. Both midwives were suspended, controversy was ignited and the story circulated all over the world, with over 1.5 million views, comments and likes.” You can read more of Brooke’s story here.
How does a surprise twin birth occur?
While it’s difficult to find actual figures on the amount of surprise twin births occurring, as you can see, there are really quite a few women who have experienced a surprise twin pregnancy.
This may be because the ultrasound is misleading or misinterpreted or because some women do not get prenatal care.
A hidden twin on ultrasound commonly occurs in the first trimester of pregnancy. Because the embryo is smaller and it can be difficult to both see the baby and hear its heartbeat.
Also, if babies are monochorionic or are both inside a single sac (chorion), the environment would force the fetuses to be so closely positioned that makes it tricky to be detected in an ultrasound scan.
If you would like to know more about twins, read the following BellyBelly articles ;
Pregnant With Twins
Fraternal Twins
