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Natural Birth
katiebenes
member
Natural wannabe and twins?
katiebenes
member
I'm planning on natural childbirth... and just found out I am having twins.
Anyone a pro at this?
Eat your food people. You are pregnant, not made of glass. ~PrimRoseMama
The Benes Boys were born 9/3/13! woooo
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Natural wannabe and twins?
No twins here, but it is totally possible! Realize that for most twins, 36-38 weeks is considered "full-term." If you can make it longer than that, even better!
Definitely get as many books on natural childbirth as possible. I like Ina May Gaskin. Also, read birth stories of other moms who had natural births with twins... always helps to boost your positive thinking!
Find a really good doula, especially if you are doing a hospital birth. Make sure you have a detailed Birth Plan and that you have looked at possible complications and how you would like them handled. Make sure you and your husband have discussed the Birth Plan thoroughly, along with your doula. It is so important to have a strong support system in place during your birth experience!
I'm a FTM and wasn't even considering a Doula before since one of my support staff is a vet at both natural birth and natural into emergency c-section.
I'm not even sure if Twins does much more to the birthing process then adding extra pushes... just so excited and ready to START RESEARCH! (but there's so much misinformation out there too)
Not by self-experience but a colleague at work had 3 children all med-free, the 2nd and 3rd were the twins. She said it was super easy to deliver because they were so tiny in comparison to the first one.
She said pain was even less than the first delivery and much more bearable. I think you can pull this off!
GL!
My midwives just delivered twins at home about a month ago. I only talked to one of the midwives about it and she confessed to being skeptical that they could do it at home before the day came. There are many opportunities for complications with twins, the main issue, I believe is that one can be "ready" to come out and the other not.
I would talk interview obs/midwives and shop around until I found a practitioner who was comfortable with delivering twins vaginally (i.e. has enough prior experience with this) and go from there. Also, I would make sure that the OB or midwife has experience turning breech babies. The simplest complication with twins is that one or both may be breech. Turning can hurt but it can be endured naturally. The problem is that many midwives and many more OBs have not learned the art of turning or delivering breech babies.
I live in Middle Tennessee and if I were having twins the first place I would go is the Gaskin Farm in Summertown, TN. They are famous for their experience with all kinds of natural birth scenarios and they practice many skills that are becoming extinct in modern medicine.
It is possible, though more challenging. The woman I used to nanny for had her twins med-free.
You will need to find a doctor who is on the same page as you. I know someone and her doctor told her he won't deliver twins vaginally under any situation. Some will only deliver them if both are head down (that was the case for the woman I nannied for), and some will deliver them as long as baby A is head down. You are smart to start researching all this now! Congratulations on your double blessing!
This! I had my identical twin boys in the hospital med-free. The OB you decide to go with makes the biggest difference. My OB was awesome! He let me go into labor on my own, and was willing to do a breech extraction if baby B were to flip. My boys were mo/di twins (two amniotic sacks, one placenta...the type of twins you have is important to know) and ended up weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 7 lbs. 14 oz. It was the most wonderful experience ever. Good luck to you!
So many things to ask my doctor at my next appointment lol. I know at least one of the doctors in the group (the one I met with first) is experienced with various natural birth techniques. He actually ran through the different kinds with me.
My goal is totally drug free if possible...
My Mom and I were talking (she had natural births and on this subject my hubby tends to bow out and say "I'm so not involved in that one, your body your choice)
and we determined that if either twin is distressed we will follow the doctor recommendations
I'm waiting for the delivery of "Your Perfect Birth" and another one my SIL recommended
If you have babies that are head down, a supportive OB/MFM, and no complications, then I think it can totally be done. My advice it to keep an open mind, though because there are so many variables in a twin birth and the chances of everything being in your favor are pretty slim and mostly out of your control.
I was fortunate in that I had 2 head-down full term babies, an MFM who would support whatever pain relief options I wanted, and no complications. However, I was just too huge, exhausted and uncomfortable to incorporate any of the natural pain relief techniques I had used with my singleton birth - changing positions would have required a pulley system! Plus we delivered in the OR with about 10 other people in the room, per hospital protocol - not exactly a serene setting. I opted for the epi and had a great experience.
Good luck with your pregnancy and birth!
TTC #2 since July 2010
March 2012 IVF (MDL Protocol) Started stims 3/3; ER 3/11 (9R, 8M, 7F) ET 3/16 (5dt of 2 blasts graded 3AB and 3BA, 3 frosties(!!) Beta 3/26 = 386; Beta 3/28 = 827; u/s 4/11 says TWINS! Boy/Girl Twins delivered at 36 weeks 6 days
It is possible to have a natural birth but if you're looking to have a home birth, many midwives don't do home births for twins if they can go into the hospital with you. Over 70% of twins are born via c-section in the US, sometimes only the second is born this way but a c-section no less.
Sometimes both may be head down and then after the first is delivered the second one flips. If that baby is coming breech the hospital policy may not allow a breech birth. They also may not be able to get down low enough to engage during labor so you'd end up with prolonged labor / failure to progress.
Good luck, I hope you're able to have the natural option, I know of a few twin pair that were born naturally. If I see their moms, I'll try to chat with them about it.