Natural/Home Birth?

Hi everyone -

I am new to Twinstuff and looking for some local resources (and also stories from women everywhere who have chosen to have a natural and/or home birth with twins). My husband and I live in west suburban Chicago and are having a rough time finding a midwife who will deliver a first time/twin pregnancy at home. One of our main priorities when we found out we were pregnant was hopefully being able to have a normal birth at home, but with twins this is seeming less and less like a possibility. We are coming to terms with the idea of a hospital birth, as long as we can find an OB who believes in vaginal birth with as few interventions as possible (assuming both babies are head down, there are no other complicating factors, etc.)

Is there anyone in this area who has had experience with twin home birth? Or hospital birth with a good OB? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

I would also love to hear from women everywhere who have had their twins at home or at least in a non-medical setting, and also from those who have GOOD memories of their hospital births!

Thanks to all and have a great weekend!

Allie

 

Hi! Welcome to TS and congrats on your twins.

I am in Canada so I don't have any specific advice for you related to where you live but I did have a natural birth. Home births are not permitted in Canada for twins so my birth was in the hospital. I was co-managed throughout my pregnancy by an OB and a midwife.

My experience was wonderful. I had wanted a home birth...when I found out I was having twins and this was no longer possible I was quite upset. Luckily my midwife decided to keep me as a patient (most refer when twins are discovered) and I had a very supportive OB who ended up coming in early to deliver me. When I went into labour Baby A was head down but Baby B was transverse. I had prepared for a vaginal breech delivery of B as she was either breech or transverse throughout my pregnancy. Luckily, after I delivered A, B flipped vertex and came out head first as well. I took a Hypnobirthing class and I think this really helped make my labour and delivery as easy as they were. Baby A was actually delivered on the floor of the bathroom at the hospital...she literally fell out with minimal work on my part which goes to show how relaxed I was during my labour, lol!

I did have to stand my ground on several issues but if this is something you really want it is entirely possible. My advice is to educate yourself so you are able to advocate for what you want. All the women here are great sources of support and advice and there are lots who have had home/natural births. GL!!!

 

My twins are 3 days old. We were planning another homebirth (had 2 before) when we found out we were having twins at 19.5 weeks. My midwife agreed to keep seeing me. I didn't have any problems at all with this pregnancy until 34 weeks when I came down with something, vomiting and diarrhea, that put me into preterm labor. We couldn't get the contractions stopped at home so I ended up in the hospital with magnesium (dilated to 5 cm) and then home on bedrest with Procardia.....

My midwife team saw me at home on Monday (36 weeks), I knew they would be out of town Tues. night and Wednesday and I agreed to deliver at the hospital if I had to when they were gone. Well, guess what.....Wednesday morning I started having contractions (7:30) so we headed to the hospital in the falling snow. Baby A (boy) had been vertex most of the time; Baby B (girl) would go from breech to transverse. She was transverse when we arrived at the hospital. They were born about an hour after we arrived. We did have to deliver in the OR but the OB let me stay on the bed (much to the OR team's surprise!) Baby B was born vertex at 9:40, the OB reached inside (not nearly as uncomfortable as I was afraid it would be) and broke Baby B's water, the OB was planning on delivering her breech but she turned vertex and was born at 9:43. All natural delivery, not even any tears! Even the OB said you couldn't have had a better twin delivery.

They came home with me the next day BUT only because I was an experienced mom plus a OB nurse....the lactation consultant said "they never let twins go home early!"

We didn't get our homebirth but did get a good natural hospital birth, my DH said "The twins were the best hospital birth we had!" (our first 2 were born in the hospital)

 

I had an OB the entire time but he allowed me to make a lot of decisions regarding my care and delivery. My baby A was head down and baby b transverse the entire time. My OB allowed me to choose either a c-section due to the transverse baby or vaginal as he was comfortable with a breech delivery. I trust my DR so we chose vaginal. They were born with in 25 min of us arriving at the hospital. No drugs and baby A born head down and baby B was pulled feet first. Also no tears. It was fast and chaotic but overall a great delivery. If you want a vaginal delivery even if B is transverse or breech find a Dr who is competent and comfortable with a breech delivery. Good Luck!

 

There are doctors out there that prefer vaginal delivery for twins. My midwife had to pass me off - because of insurance issues - to an OB. My doctor had done some of her training in conjunction with midwives. So she was very pro natural delivery and limited use of interventions. She never discussed the option of a c-section with me. She simply said that if Baby A were vertex, I would have a vaginal delivery. She was completely comfortable delivering Baby B breech. It was my first pregnancy, so I really didn't really get that I had an options. Thankfully my doctor's firm hand were what I needed.

I delivered in the hospital, but vaginally for both babies. My doctor came to the hospital as soon as she heard I was in labor and slept there with me. She was determined that no one else would deliver me. It turns out that Baby A's bag had been leaking for at least 12 hours. Ya know, at that stage it's hard to know whether the dribble is urine or amniotic fluid. :blush: So I ended up with pitocin to make sure that labor didn't stall. The contractions were manageable until the pitocin really kicked in, and I elected for an epidural. I fell asleep and woke up 2-3 hours later. 10-15 minutes of pushing for Baby A. One contraction for Baby B. We went home after 48 hours. It was a great experience.

In your situation, if you can't find a midwife, look for a doctor who works with midwives. A midwife you like can probably refer you to an OB. For insurance reasons, it will be very difficult to find anyone who will do a home birth. Just as important is the hospital. Does hospital policy require an IV? Do they require that you deliver in the OR? Are there full-time lactation consultants on staff? Do multiples get priority? Will the LC do house calls if you need help later?

Good luck in your search. It may help to reach out to some of the midwifery schools for referrals. I know there is a big one in Kentucky. I recall that there is one in Milwaukee, but maybe I'm imagining that.

 

i was going to say the same thing as PP - ask your local midwives which OBs/hospitals in the area they would recommend. they usually have a good feel for who's going to avoid routine interventions. are any midwives in your area able to do shared care? or have hospital privileges? that may be the next best option to home birth - a hospital birth with midwives. also, hire a doula (check out DONA International for more info).

i had a med free vag birth with my twins (also my first). we had originally signed on with midwives but then found out we were having twins. my midwives offered shared care but because we had to pay out of pocket at the time (they're now covered by provincial health care) & we were now having TWO babies, we decided to just transfer care to an OB. looking back, we should have stuck with the midwives. i spent a lot of time arguing with my OB about, well, everything. i finally had to tell her i was not going to talk about c-birth as an option again unless something significant changed between then & when i gave birth. all her reasons for wanting me to have a c-birth were for things that might go wrong, not for anything that was currently wrong. as far as i was concerned, if any of those things had happened during labour, i would have agreed to a c-birth at that point, but not before.

my doula was an invaluable support - she shared tons of useful info with us (especially about what to expect at the hospital), supported me emotionally through the ups & downs of my pregnancy, encouraged me, gave me water to sip & a cool cloth on my forehead when i was pushing, and reassured & encouraged my husband too. i also had to stand firm on a number of routine interventions once i was at the hospital & i wish i hadn't had to waste focus or energy on that, but at the end of the day, i had a beautiful birth & am so glad i stuck to my guns.

take the time to educate yourself, to know what you want and why. ask the "big" questions up front when meeting with possible OBs. be clear on why a med free birth is important to you. and don't be afraid to change care providers if needed. print off medical studies to take in & discuss with your care provider to back up your point. GL!

ETA: i just found this post on one of my favorite blogs - i wanted to share it because it's about a practice in the Chicago area (not sure if it's close to you though). anyway, it might be a starting point.

 

I am not sure about where you live but here there isn't a midwife around who would see you nor an OB who would agree to a home birth. Just to many things could go wrong with a multiple birth. My OB was wonderful I really really really did not want to have a section. So we compromised. I had to agree to deliver in an or just in case but she was all for a vaginal birth. Then when I had to be induced because baby A(Willa Grace) had hardly any fluid on her at 34 weeks I decided on an epi too. I was really scared and kept tensing up not because I couldn't handle the pain it was actually less painful than my full term singleton but just the fear because they were coming to soon. My OB insisted on having the epi placed no matter if I wanted the meds or not incase an emergancy section had to be preformed they wouldn't have to knock me out totally but I chose to have the meds to help me relax. After that it was PERFECT! Got the pit at 6am epi at 9 ready to push at 10. Delievered Willa Grace in about 3 minutes then 7 minutes later Wyatt was born. No tears no cutting. It was AWSOME.

Just remember it is your body, you can reach for the birth you want but be ready to compromise when you have to because more important than the type of birth is the end result of healthy twins and healthy momma.

 

A big thank you to everyone who has responded! It's inspiring to read about positive twin birth stories and to receive advice from others who have been in my shoes. Knowing that it really isn't as impossible as I thought to have a beautiful birthing experience in a hospital setting puts me at ease. All of the leads I have gotten so far (for OBs) have been from the midwife practice we've been going to and also from other local independent midwives. I also intend to look into things some of you have suggested, such as doula support and Hypnobirthing to make labor a little easier. Thanks again! I'm so happy to have found this forum

 

I will also say and I am not sure if its because it was my second birth and I knew more of what to expect or what but my birth with the twins was very special and peaceful where my birth experience with my 1st child was tramatizing to say the least.

With the twins we checked in dh and I hung out in the room dozed on and off til the contractions go to strong but most of the time it was watching tv, laughing and joking etc. Other than the fear I was having because of them being so early the most stressful thing and I guess looking back it wasn't so much stressful as anoying was the nurses coming in every 10 minutes or so to get the heart monitor back on one or both babies. WOW that was frustrating. Finally the OB broke my water with twin A and put the internal monitor on her so they could leave me alone LOL

 

I had two vaginal births before my twins. My OB got to the hospital looked with an ultrasound and told me I had a 50% of twin B going breach. Since she had been IUGR for months I was too worried about her to risk it again.
I went fo rthe C-section. Had an excellent experience. Nursed both twins for 30 min after birth. Both perfectly healthy, and I knew it was MY decision.

 

We planned a homebirth assisted by an independent midwife, and thought it was going to happen until I found out I was having twins at 20 weeks. My midwife, one of only a handful in the entire US who is also a certified nurse practitioner, and thus able to write prescriptions and do other medical stuff that most midwives can't, told me that she couldn't deliver me at home due to insurance and safety reasons. She had delivered 14 sets of twins at home in her 25 year career and just didn't recommend it. Instead, she recommended several OBs who were low intervention, and I started seeing both an OB and my midwife. I loved the differences between the two practitioners (my midwife worked out of her house and appointments usually consisted of an hour of chit chat about how I was feeling physically and emotionally followed by a quick exam, my OB worked at the largest hospital in our state and was more focused on the medical stuff, but still friendly and very collaborative).

In the end I had a C-section because both my girls were transverse and I was developing signs of Pre-eclampsia. I'm sad I didn't get that perfect home birth, but even so, I feel like I was able to manage my care the way I wanted to, and with my midwife's help (she acted as our doula when I actually went to the hospital), I was able to understand what was going on, and refuse the unnecessary (to me) medical interventions like Vitamin K shots, and the crazy eye drops that I didn't want for myself and my girls.

 

Congrats on your twins! You've already gotten some good advice from pp'ers. I think there's a mom here: "chicagomama" who had a great hospital experience in your area. Her OB had the skill and willingness to deliver breech-breech twins. Sounded like an amazing birth. You might try and get in touch with her and get his name.

My twins were also my first and we had an amazing homebirth. PM me and I'll give you the name of my midwife. She's not in your area, but I think she's active in national midwifery organizations and might be able to refer you to someone. I was her 43rd twin homebirth (all with very positive outcomes.)

I was very happy to be home, but felt I had no choice. From discussions I had with my OBs and L&D staff, I knew my preferences would not be respected. Especially as a first time mom with a family history of long, late labors. The thing with first time moms is that for many of us labor will not go smoothly. Both our minds and bodies and learning what to do. I called my midwife way too early, and didn't get enough rest or hydration. Classic rookie mistakes that would have resulted in a c/s for FTP had I been in the hospital. Which would have been totally unnecessary. My twins were happy, healthy and much calmer than I was all through labor.

What I will say with twins is that whether you go with an OB or a midwife, you really need someone with a lot of experience. Especially experience of the kind of twin birth you hope to have. Many OBs have never seen a vaginal twin birth, much less a non-medicated one. Also key to me would be to know whether they've seen a full-term vaginal twin birth, ideally with a first time mom. Many of the positive hospital birth stories I've heard are from experienced moms (who's labor generally goes more smoothly) or moms giving birth early (where labor is proceeding fast.)

One other suggestion: I continued care with my OB and peri until 37 weeks along, although I didn't mention my homebirth plans to them. If anything had come up to compromise either the babies or my health, I could have have transferred to the hospital seamlessly. That gave me a lot of confidence.

Looking back, the most of the little difficulties in our birth was from me being a first time mom (with an over-eager husband.) Nothing major, but for those, I was very happy to be home. There was a minor positioning issue with the twins that also slowed things down. It was something I could describe to my midwife from my last u/s, and that she could palpitate and had seen before. Her experience made all the difference. She came up with an easy solution, I pushed in the upright position I was most comfortable, and my girls were born at 39 weeks on the dot. Not a tear or a moment of PPD for me!

A longer version of my birth story is on a site I like, and you might find some other useful info:

http://www.naturallyparentingtwins.com/

Best wishes!

 

All the other responses really opened my eyes to some awesome things for a great birthing experience. Unfortunatly I had a C-Section with my son and there for due to Hospital policy I will have a C-Section with this pregnancy as well. How ever I had a GREAT exp. with my C-Section and it was the best option for us because my son was stuck in my pelvis and hadn't moved into the birth canal. I really loved our nurses and my OB is great how ever he also has midwives in his office that also participate in the whole pregnancy care. This time around we are starting with seeing one of the midwives instead of the normal OB although he will be doing the C-Section on me I am very happy to have my midwife.

 

Mine were born at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. I had a vaginal birth (with epidural). My doctor never mentioned c-section unless A was breech. In my case A was head down and B was breech and born by breech extraction. However, they did want me to have an epidural in case of an emergency c-section on baby B. If I wouldn't (for me was not a difficult decision) they may have to put you under completely. I am not sure to what extent that's optional. I was very happy with NMH both times (my oldest was born 9 days late, vaginal as well), not too much intervention, plenty of well trained staff, level 3 NICU ... it's a great teaching hospital.

My doctor no longer practices but I know all other doctors in the practice would have done the same for me. Quite a few (experienced ones) are still there.

PM me if you want.

 

I think the biggest thing is being comfortable with your doc or midwife. If you are you should be able to have these kinds of candid conversations with him or her.
I will be having a csection...I did with my 4.5 year old daughter bc she was breech and both of these babies are breech. Im ok with that! My first experience was wonderful and I figure this one will be too...plus, we are DONE having children, so Ill be getting a tubal just after I deliver and Im very excited about that too! My doc has always listened to me and my plans...he was willing to comply as long as the twins were doing well...

 

I had a home water birth 3 mo ago with our boys that was absolutely the most amazing experience. Our 1st set was a natural hospital birth with A vertex and B breech. I desperately wanted a homebirth with them but due to very negative family opinions we were a bit overwhelmed and chose the hospital route. I knew after that prenatal care experience and what an absolute war it was to get them here naturally that if we ever had another set of twins I would do everything I could to homebirth. So, when we shockingly showed up with our 2nd set I was elated. At 40 wks 2 days our 2nd set arrived at home in water in only 2 hrs. It was amazing.

Their birth story is here.

My cousin, known as beckstar on here, just gave birth to her twin girls at home with both breech. One arrived on Frb 14th at around 10pm and the other on the 15th right after midnight. She would not have stood a chance of getting out of the hospital without a c/s.


You can do it! If you search around in your area you can find an experienced midwife that you are comfortable with.

 

Here in Holland, widwife and home birth is the "standard" for singletons.
Butt with twins you have to see a gyn. and deliver in the hospital.
Cs only when medical needed and epidural is not common

I gave birth to my boys at 39+1 weeks with no painmeds.
When I got to the hospital I thought there would be lots of nurses and docs ( saw to much American tv hahahhah)
Butt I had 1 nurse and 1 intern. And the gyn who was on duty came later. After Cosmo was born nothing happend. got meds to start contractions and after 45 min Keagan was born with some help (he had no intension of beeing born yet).
The only extra for the twins was an u/s machine in the room