c-section or vaginal birth?

I am new to the forums and am pregnant with mono/di twins. At my appt. this past week at 30 weeks baby A was vertex and Baby B was breech. Just wondering if anyone had babies in these positions and if so if you delivered vaginal or c-section?

 

Hi,

Congratulations for your twins and welcome to twinstuff. Do you know if they are boys or girls? Is this your first pregnancy?

About your question, in theory they should be able to deliver vaginally as long as twin A stays vertex, but at 30 weeks, it's still too early to call it. They can still flip - my twin B flipped after week 36. Both my twins were Breech at the delivery so I had to have a C-Section. However you have them, I hope they are healthy, I think that is more important in the big picture. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

 

Baby A was vertex and Baby B was transverse for me, so I went with a c-section. I did have the option for vaginal - my doctor said once Baby A was delivered, he hoped Baby B would come down breech and I could deliver, but if that didn't work, I would have an emergency c-section for Baby B. I choose to not have to recover from both types of deliviries.

Welcome to the board!

 

If you find the right care provider, they can support you in a vaginal birth regardless of whether the babies are breech or vertex. There are different risks and benefits to each option so it's important to ask lots of questions, do some research & make an informed choice.

 

As Monica said, they can flip at any time. My baby b was breech at my 38 week u/s and vertex at 39.

I would still have a plan in case baby b doesn't flip. Unfortunately, I am probably not much help there as my twins were di/di and I don't know what special issues there might be for mo/di.

 

Congratulations and welcome to TS!! My baby b was sort of horizontal and the OB had planned on attempting a vaginal breech extaction but it wasnt necessary, she moved after baby A was delivered. It's so tough to plan, you just never know when they will flip!

 

Thank you for the replies. We have a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old daughter. We have decided to keep the babies sexes surprise. We didn't find out with the girls and liked the surprise. We decided since this will be our last pregnancy to stay with the surprise. My maternal fetal medicine doctor has said all along that if Baby A is vertex they will do vaginal birth. I am just nervous to end up with a vaginal and c-section! Ouch!

 

My Baby A was head down while Baby B was transverse at delivery. Once Baby A was out of the way, the other 'fell' into a head down position and was born with no issues. They are top heavy, after all.

 

Mine were vertex and breech. Actually Sabrina turned transverse after Sydney was born and I almost had a c-section AND a vaginal delivery, because she wouldn't budge despite the Dr's best efforts. At the last minute, her water broke, she dropped breech, the Dr. grabbed her feet and with one push she was out. It turned out her umbilical cord was only about 7 inches long so she probably couldn't turn and was also probably more transverse all along, just crammed in there in such a way that she kind of looked breech. I had a very experienced Dr. who had now qualms about delivering baby B breech. I'm not sure what would have happened if baby A had been.

 

My baby A was vertex, baby B was breech. C-section was never discussed, as long as A would stay head down and B wouldn't be more than 2lbs heavier than A (they measured 1oz apart and were born 1oz apart). My hospital is a large teaching hospital and one of the largest birthing centers in the US (largest in Midwest) so all 6 OB at my practice back then we're able and willing to do a breech extraction. They're still teaching residents as well.

My B turned breech between 26 and 30 weeks and did not turn back, not even after A was out. So they grabbed him by the feet, rotated, pushed 1 more time and he was out 4 minutes later. His Apgar was 5/9, he was slightly stressed, didn't breath right away but was fine within minutes and both came home 48 hours later. I was back on my feet, as normal within 72 hours.

A breech baby B is not a reason to perform a C-section, however, you need an experienced doctor who can do the extraction (it's not necessarily taught at all hospitals anymore). My OB was not willing to turn externally as it tends to put lots of stress on the baby without any guarantee (time consuming). Research is not conclusive but breech extraction definitely has a high success rate for vaginal delivery.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7485286
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3252881/
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/83040-overview

For me it was quite clear, I was in very good hands in a very good hospital and I wasn't going to sign up for major surgery after having a successful birth already and baby A who already paved the way (she was 7lbs11oz, and my oldest was 9lbs2oz). In my case, it was quick, smooth and safe, and never felt I put myself or babies at risk.

 

Thank you for the info. My doctor has said pretty much the same thing. I would much prefer to have a vaginal birth for the healing time. He has said he has done many breech extractions. I think chasing a 4 year old and 2 year old and also twins will be much easier this way.