Twin birth

DoulaRaVenMa · July 2014

I really would like a vag birth but know that with twins it just might be a csection.

Wanted to see ask you ladies how many of you had twin both vag or one vag one csection or both by csection??

Also did you deliver in the OR? If so how many people did they let in the room?

dmurrie · July 2014

Right now, both twins are vertex and we expect a vaginal birth. They're term tomorrow and will be induced next Friday if they don't come out on their own before then. My OB doesn't let them go past 38 weeks. Hospital policy is an OR delivery either way, just in case they have to do an emergency cesarean. For the same reason, they recommend always placing an epidural, even if they don't run any drugs through it. If you have to have an emergency cesarean and don't have the epidural in place, they have to put you under general anesthesia, and you won't be awake for the birth of your babies.

We're giving birth at a teaching hospital so anticipate a little bit larger of a crowd of their staff than usual. The staff members and visitors allowed varies from hospital to hospital.

DoulaRaVenMa · July 2014

Thank you both.
Right now I can't even find a OB that will let me try a vag twin birth

whitehousem · July 2014

Both my boys were head down and I had a vaginal birth for both. They wheeled me (aka ran me down the hallway) to the OR when it was time to push. Baby B ended up being bigger and his shoulder got caught so they had to reach in and help him out. Baby A had his cord wrapped around his neck but he was fine. It was overall uncomplicated. They let my DH and mom in but that was up to the OB on call. From what I've read, most OBs will at least let you attempt a vaginal birth if Baby A is head down and larger than B. There are varying degrees of experience and comfort if Baby B is breech and needs to be turned or extracted. Keep looking for a OB!

dmurrie · July 2014

I feel I should add, my OB strongly recommended running drugs through the epidural because "sometimes baby B will flip once baby A is out and they have more room. In that case, they would reach in, grab for the feet, and deliver baby B breech... Which can be rather painful.". And in very rare cases, baby B may end up cesarean after A is delivered vaginally.

She'll be out of town this weekend but said if she's gone, any of her partners "would be more than capable of delivering a set of vertex twins" and attempting vaginally.

Around here, it completely depends on the positions of the babies. If baby A is breech or transverse, I think that's an automatic cesarean at most places. If B is breech or transverse, it varies between OBs. If both are head down, you should be able to find someone willing to attempt to deliver vaginally.

JenyB6 · July 2014

Both of my previous babies have been vaginal. My twins are currently head down been that way for 3 wks now. I have my induction scheduled for Tuesday so we will see.

sterling1987 · July 2014

I delivered both vaginally. I could tell my OB really wanted to do c section but I was firm in my decision to try. I did have to have an epidural just in case and had to deliver in the OR. My DH was allowed in with me. Everything went smooth! Girls were born 3 minutes apart. Once baby A was out they had two nurses kinda push on either side of my stomach to help prevent baby B from flopping over. Seemed to work and in just a couple more pushes baby B was out

Both of my girls were head down and baby A was bigger than B.

DoulaRaVenMa · July 2014

Thanks Ladies!!
I am not giving up hope of finding a OB that will at least let me try a vag birth. Just so far everyone I have called has said no.

txaggiechristine · July 2014

My twins were born 18 months ago. I had a vaginal birth in the OR in case an emergency C/s was needed! Good luck!

shanaynerz · July 2014

Because I've already had two vaginal births and Baby A is bigger and head down, they're going to let me deliver vaginally. I do have to deliver in the OR as a precaution; that seems like standard practice. They won't wheel me in there until about 7cm though.

ETA: Dunno if it matters, but I ended up delivering my twins by emergency C-section due to being unable to find Baby A's HB and movement on u/s while waiting to be induced. Things can change so fast with twins!

zazu13 · July 2014

Both csec after 34 hour induced labor stalled. Delivery was planned for ER regardless and only one person was allowed. I begged for 2 (wanted mom there) but they said no.

12bailey18 · July 2014

What type of twins do you have? That plays a big part (for my hospital) on whether or not they will do a C-section. My hospital has been very open and optimistic about a vaginal birth (mine are di-di) but it's me who is leaning towards an elective C section. I'm delivering at a military hospital and I have a lot more confidence in their ability to do a C section vs. a twin delivery and the process of that; breech delivery or rotating baby B should she need it. I'm just not comfortable with that at this hospital.

12bailey18 · July 2014

Also, I can have 2 people in the room for a vaginal or elective C section. Not sure about emergency.

carrotcake06 · July 2014

I has a c/s. Baby A flipped breech and stayed that way so I had been anticipating a c/s but when my water broke, his cord prolapsed so it was an emergency under general anesthesia. It was the opposite of ideal and scary as hell, but everyone is here and safe.

I had a previous uncomplicated vag delivery w my oldest and if the stars had aligned, I could have attempted vag.

JessaPrimate · July 2014

@whitehousem‌ What was the size difference between your babies? Did you have a growth scan ahead of time that indicated a difference?

24karat · July 2014

My team was very natural birth friendly but they ruled out vaginal birth for my twins by 34 weeks. I had mono-di with several complications, growth discordance, and both in transverse so there was no choice. It was the recipe for an automatic c-section. Looking back at it I'm very glad the twins made it clear which way to go. Our Baby B was completely entangled around his neck by his cord (my OB and midwife both said they'd never seen a baby so tangled up before) so things would more than likely have taken a very bad turn had I tried vaginal delivery.

Their main conditions for a vaginal attempt:

Both head down OR Baby A head down if Baby B was smaller
Delivery in the OR
Epidural and IV lines placed as a precaution

As far as people in the OR, only one person was allowed to be with me for the planned c/s. If I had attempted vaginal delivery and an emergency c/s became necessary, they would allow no one in the OR...even DH would get kicked out.

Heirloom28 · July 2014

I had a vaginal birth in the OR. I had an uncomplicated mono-di pregnancy. Baby A was born head down and baby B was a breach extraction. Everything went fine and my doctors were very supportive of a vaginal birth as long as baby A was head down. They allowed me to have 2 support people in the OR.

CNYBride05 · July 2014

Vaginal and there is a pinned post about this somewhere.

Odebdo · July 2014

C section at 33 weeks...babies were never in position for anything other than a section. My doctor would only allow if baby a was head down...she was breach, baby b transverse...so no options...whatever it took I was ok with.

ppants · July 2014

I had a vaginal delivery @ 32w3d when my water broke. Both were head down from 25w on. DS was delivered 1st. They broke DD's water and had to push on the outside of my stomach to help move her down. They are 17 min apart.

I did have to deliver in the OR in case they had to do a c/s. DH was the only one allowed in the room during delivery. I had a wonderful experience with my vaginal birth. Good luck!

Rynleigh · July 2014

Vag delivery in the OR (for safety, in case of emergency) - both boys were head down.

curlylocks3 · July 2014

Mine were both head down but the plan was for a breech extraction of B once I passed 32 weeks. I delivered in the OR and am so glad I did. A's delivery was uncomplicated and since L&D was so busy (and a bunch of people that needed csections apparently) they talked about moving me back to a regular room once B was engaged. Fortunately they didn't because he had an occult cord prolapse. He was very close to being out when it was apparent and as they were grabbing stuff to convert to te emergency csection I kept pushing (physically couldn't have stopped) and he was delivered as a vacuum assist. We got very very lucky but I would not advise against delivering out of the OR- too many variables. My husband was my only "support person".

1blueridgemama · July 2014

I had a previous CS but our MFM has said that since placenta previa has resolved and Baby A, who's bigger, is head down, we can plan for vaginal/VBAC. She's been very supportive of vaginal being the plan. Of course, we know that there might be reasons CS is safer and if so, we will go that route but at 24+5, the plan is vaginal.

shelly2314 · July 2014

DoulaRaVenMa said:

Thank you both. Right now I can't even find a OB that will let me try a vag twin birth

WOW! That is a shame. My OB told me up front that they would definitely try for a vag birth (if both were in position or even if only one was). If only one was in position they would defer to whatever I wanted. That stinks that no OB around you is willing

whitehousem · July 2014

JessaPrimate said:
@whitehousem‌ What was the size difference between your babies? Did you have a growth scan ahead of time that indicated a difference?

Baby A was 5lb 10oz and B was 7 lb (about 20% difference) Had a growth scan one week prior and A measured bigger and the difference was about 3% if I recall correctly. They never measured more than 10% off and usually were about the same. So much for growth scans...

Sorry for the delayed response!

cls78 · July 2014

At my first ob appt last week my OB said if they are positioned right I could do a vaginal birth. GL to you.

MrsKatieHarris · July 2014

i was hopefully to have my boys both vaginally, but after baby A came out, baby B went into distress and became an emergency c-section. I delivered baby a in the L/D room and then was rushed to the OR. They are almost 8 y/o. if I had to do it all over again I would elect for the c-section. recovering from both methods was very hard. good luck with your decision.

Bigboneded · July 2014

My OB says if A is head down we can try vag, if neither is in position or able yo get positioned, c section is best. He told me one of his nurses did vag delivery with her twins, one head down and then breech- he said its not optimal, but both babies were fine then :-)
Good luck, how far along are you? Any moms of multiples groups in your area you might canvas to find an OB willing to try vag delivery if all looks good?

skeppler1 · July 2014

Was able to vag for both. Both were head down from early on. Baby A was almost a pound bigger and led the way for Baby B. My OB also said that there was a chance for baby b to flip since there would be so much room after baby a came out but there were nurses that pushed on my belly to keep baby b in the correct position.

I delivered in the OR because I was delivering twins. My hospital that is routine in case something did go wrong and they had to do an emergency c-section. I think there were about 3 doctors, and a team of 4 for each baby at least and then towards the end there were a couple of students in there also since it is a teaching hospital.

It was a little awkward in the beginning but you soon get over that. There definitely were A LOT of people to help my babies which was great. Baby A had his cord wrapped around himself and his hand so he had some bruising but was perfect. Baby B was perfect also. They both had to stay in the NICU for 13 days though.

twinlove314 · July 2014

Both of my boys were head down. Baby a was delivered vaginally, baby b's cord prolapsed and was an emergency c section. Good luck finding a doc

MrsP419 · July 2014

I was a great candidate for a vaginal delivery because both my twins were head down and I had had two successful vaginal deliveries, but I still elected a C-section. I was just so afraid to risk having an emergency C or a double whammy. My practice did not do breech extraction, and I know a baby B could easily flip head down and refuse to come out. I had the utmost confidence in my OB as a surgeon, and he supported my decision. I had an amazing experience. I would do it over again in a heartbeat if I had to deliver twins again. It was a lot to wrap my brain around at first (everything is with twins), but once I did, I had no regrets. The only thing that bummed me out was not being able to have a second person in there…I wanted my mom to see them come out, and I never really bothered to look into it further.

LegallyBlonde217 · July 2014

Before I answer the question, I'd like to state this possibly unpopular opinion. If you can't answer the questions asked, you shouldn't post an answer. (For example: If you haven't already delivered twins then you should not be posting an answer in this thread.)

I delivered both twins vaginally. All of the OBs in my practice encouraged it, actually. I was able to start pushing in my L&D room, but once I was fully dilated, they wheeled me to the OR for the delivery of both babies. I was only allowed 1 support person in the OR, which was my husband.

Good luck finding an OB who encourages you to try for a vaginal delivery!

Kaly16 · July 2014

Repeat csection.

macchiatto · July 2014

I delivered both twins vaginally. My OB was fine with me delivering in my LDR room but there was an OR team prepped and ready to go, waiting in the hallway, in case of emergency.

KDR1979 · July 2014

Baby A was head down the entire pregnancy. Baby B was breech until ~20 weeks then he also turned head down. They stayed vertex/vertex the remainder of the pregnancy. I had a vaginal delivery in the OR (with a light epidural) @ 36wks 1 day. I pushed 4x for tiny DD (5lbs, head ~20th percentile). My OB broke baby B's water and helped turn his head (he was trying to come down sunny side up) then I pushed him from 0 station x 45 minutes. They were born exactly 1 hour apart. He weighed 6lbs 9oz, head ~90-95th percentile! I had a small 2nd degree tear that was sore for only 1-2 days. I hope you can find an experienced OB that will let you try for a vaginal birth!

JodiAriel · July 2014

I had a vaginal delivery in an OR at 40w0d after being induced 3 days earlier.

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