Twins and homebirth...update post 14

[turnquia]

So I really wanted to homebirth this time and we still may. We found out we are having twins so now we are trying to figure out, if homebirth is still for us.

Would you homebirth twins? Why or Why not?

Under what circumstances would homebirth be out or a must for you?

I'm leery only because of the 2nd baby issue. There really is no way to guess how they will come out, because there is no engagement in the pelvis at all. They can come out cord or arm first, feet first or head first. Cord prolapse would be my largest concern. Or some other unforseen circumstance.

however hospital birth.. oye I really don't want to go through that fight again... let alone while having twins. My OB is totally on board with a "hospital homebirth" lol but its not the OB's I mind.. its the nurses

Right now my plan is to be patient and play everything by ear, see what happens and go with mine, my husbands, my midwifes and my Ob's gut instinct. (My OB is pro-homebirth for a singleton, not as much for twins, but supportive of my decision no matter what it is).

I feel so torn, I want my homebirth...but I want to make sure I make the right decision.

[annettemarie]

I'll be honest-- we had a homebirth before, and we're not having a homebirth with twins. My husband isn't comfortable with it, and after I researched it, I wasn't either. That isn't to say it can't be done. But I have limited choices around here with homebirth midwives. If something does, heaven forbid, go wrong, the nearest NICU is 45 minutes away. It's really hard to be planning a hospital birth, especially after having a homebirth, but in my mind, the babies' safety trumps what I want, and based on what I've read and people I've talked to, the hospital seems safer to me in this case. And yeah, it's the second baby issue.

Honestly, I think you need to do your own research and listen to your own heart on this one.

[Belle]

The midwives we hired were comfortable with twins. They are teachers at a midwifery college. We had a vertex singleton but when we hired the midwives we wanted to make sure that they were comfortable with breech and twins. We wouldn't have been deadset on a twin homebirth if it happened to be twins but we wanted the option. The protocol for hospital twin birth is very frightening and not really evidence based.

My midwives did have a client a few weeks ahead of us who had twin daughters in their home. Baby B was breech. I saw an album of the birth photos that the parents had given the midwives to share with other clients. It was a beautiful birth.

[dannic]

I think it would depend on positioning for me...If babies were in a good position (not transverse, ect,) then I'd try for a hb. I think the cascade of interventions could be even harder to thwart with twins, and I'd still prefer a natural, peaceful birth at home.
I recently gave this a lot of thought as I was measuring bigger early (not normal for me) and felt movement early as well. We spent a few weeks discussing hb and twins, ect, but I don't seem to be carrying two, lol.

[HeatherB]

Congrats on your twins!

It sounds like you have a great team working with you. For me, with my highly experienced midwife, I would definitely do a home birth with twins.

I would choose NOT to only if there was a clear, compelling indication of a problem that would be improved by being in a hospital.

For me, though, my midwife is the one the other MWs in the area call for twins and breeches. And, we're literally only a few minutes from two different hospitals in case of a problem, one of which (the closer once we move, and with previous births, the only) has a NICU.

For a few weeks, I was convinced my 3rd was twins, and I was really looking forward to being even further off the norm by birthing them at home. Of course, he was only one, and I doubt we'll ever have twins.

[honeybee]

I have one friend who had a beautiful twin homebirth. I have another friend who more recently did parallel care. She started out birthing at home, but ended up transfering care during labor. It was not an "emergency" transfer... there were indications, so they went in. There was still lots of time at the hospital. She did end up having a c-section, eventually.

If I were pregnant with twins, I might consider parallel care, but I'm pretty sure I would continue with homebirth plans. I could always change my mind and transfer to the hospital if positioning was bad or if there were ANY indications during labor that there might be a problem.

I think the current hospital protocols surrounding twin births (birthing in an operating room... anesthesiologist etc. are ridiculous and create an unsafe environment of fear and interventions.

[Calleiah]

A friend of mine just had a twin homebirth at 41wks 5days! Twin A was head down, twin B was breech. Everything went smoothly and her boys were born last week with a midwife in attendance. Good luck with whatever you choose and congrats on the twins!

[*MamaJen*]

I would consider it if I had a midwife (actually a team of two midwifes) experienced in twin birth, if baby A was in a good position, if there were no other complications, and if I was close to a hospital.

[Pat899]

A twin birth seems esp. dangerous in a hospital.

To me its less dangerous to stay home if the pregancy is progressing well and the first twin is not transverse.

[caned & able]

The Dionne Quintuplets were born at home, prematurely in 1934. They were delivered by a midwife and a doctor, the one who ultimately took the girls from their parents, attended.

The girls survived the birth. They were healthy and grew to adulthood.

I have known of twins and triplets born at home, so you would definitely not be the first.

[GoBecGo]

I think i would HB twins if:

I was 37+ weeks at labour
Twin 1 was not transverse
My midwives were experienced with twins
The pregnancy had been relatively normal
I felt ok about it during the pregnancy (if i felt overly anxious about it i'd transfer)

Twins are born fine and safely at home, and i have read natural twin birth stories from hospital settings too. I'd probably plan a HB to keep everything low-key but be ready to transfer if a need arose.

[hotmamacita]

Originally Posted by annettemarie

I'll be honest-- we had a homebirth before, and we're not having a homebirth with twins. My husband isn't comfortable with it, and after I researched it, I wasn't either. That isn't to say it can't be done. But I have limited choices around here with homebirth midwives. If something does, heaven forbid, go wrong, the nearest NICU is 45 minutes away. It's really hard to be planning a hospital birth, especially after having a homebirth, but in my mind, the babies' safety trumps what I want, and based on what I've read and people I've talked to, the hospital seems safer to me in this case. And yeah, it's the second baby issue.

Honestly, I think you need to do your own research and listen to your own heart on this one.

I agree. It was safer to have my twins, both breech, at home. Neither my husband nor I were comfortable with having the twins in the hospital and we were so thankful, in the end, that we trusted our instincts, did the research, and had an excellent midwife in attendance. Baby B had complications that would have gone all wrong, due to hospital protocol, had we been in the hospital. My midwife handled it with amazing care and experience.

Annettemarie congrats on your twin pregnancy.

Turnquia, congrats on your twin pregnancy!!!!

[Gena 22]

I agree with a lot of the PP'ers.

My twins were my first, and I had a HB BECAUSE we were safer at home.

1. Most nurses and docs freak out a little about twins. They push the interventions hard and early. I didn't want induction, preterm babes that would have needed the NICU and recovery from an unnecessary surgery.

2. I think birthing upright is really important. Not possible in the hospital.

3. If you have a thick skin, parallel care is the way to go. I did until 37 weeks. Even though I had a P-E-R-F-E-C-T pregnancy, I got a lot of useless grief from my docs.

4. My hospital had an 80% twin c/s rate. Not only does that mean I'd have to fight tooth and nail to be the exception, but it also means my docs were relatively inexperienced with vaginal twin birth. Many have never seen one. I was my MW's 43rd twin HB. Who would you rather have attending?

5. There are a number of circumstances in which I'd choose to birth twins in the hospital. So parallel care is worth it. But chances are things will go well and all three of you are better off at home.

6. It's been a while since I was deep in the research, but I think the worry about the second twin is not as great as it sounds sometimes. There just isn't a lot of good twin science. Too many studies lump together di-di with mono-di, and maybe even mono-mono. These are not all the same, and the risk varies. Read with a very analytical eye, and never believe one study on its own. Two studies, maybe they're on to something. But one study, who knows exactly what's going on. Like the study that shows twins should be born before 38 weeks. It lumps together all sorts of inappropriate cases.

In otherwise uncomplicated twin pregnancy, IMHO, twin home birth is a safe choice. You just need an experienced MW, parallel care, and a close transfer hospital.

[turnquia]

Ok I thought I should update. I'm now 11 weeks, and we've decided we will be doing the homebirth provided all goes well.

We are doing duel care due to a history of having some preterm contractions. My OB was fine with homebirth. For twins he's not as keen on the idea but he was supportive.

So I really feel homebirth is the right option for us, provided we make it to 36 weeks. I"m super excited over finally deciding and all I ca picture is what I will do in labor and how it will go. We will have two midwives, plus assitants and photographer who used to be an apprentice. So I think we'll be in good hands

Now I gotta get the hypnobabies tracts for keeping babies in

[MamaChicken]

Hypnobabies has a great track for twins too! It helped me stay calm and confident.