Is it ever safe to give birth to quads at home?

[Genesis]

I know some moms birth triplets at home, but wasn't sure about quadruplets.

Also, I'm curious, as a midwife will you attend births of multiples, or does it depend on the particular situation?

Thanks!


Michele

[JunipersMom]

Ummm... I guess theoretically it could be done if they each had their own sac (so you wouldn't need to worry about tangling cords or T2T transfusions etc) and if they went to at least 36 weeks gestation. Personally I wouldn't attend the birth ~ nor would I suggest it.. in my opinion ~ this is one of those births that needs more monitoring than a homebirth can offer.

[Rockies5]

Yeeee! Wow I have actually never heard of a natural quad birth (that could be verified anyways). I personally wouldn't make this choice and any mama trying to find resourses for a support team willing to back her up would have my empathy.

From what I understand, most u/s are still *iffy* on determining who's in what sack, even with just twins.

[Jane]

Weren't the Dionne quints born at home? I thought they were.

The biggest issue with multiple births is prematurity. Most quads don't make it to 37 weeks completed gestational age, even without doctors suggesting they be evicted.

I'm a student midwife, but as a midwife, I won't attend twin births for the same reason I won't attend planned breech births - I haven't attended any and don't feel I have enough experience. That could change in the future.

[AzariaJordan]

LOL! Oh gosh, my clients and I push the envelope on a regular basis with what collectively considered "appropriate" for out of hospital birth, but quints, now that's a first.
I guess I'll just say "Never say never" although that would be a biggie.
I attend twins and breeches, and yes, it depends on the individual situation (but that applies to singleton head down babies too )
Quads...oh my...*walks off shaking her head*

[mwherbs]

so the studies on triplets for the most part are in favor of vaginal delivery resulting in better survival but there can be indications for c-section and the overall mortality is about 25% -- quads I think have a higher mortality rate and the average age at birth is 31 weeks for quads--- it would be very very hard to stablize a baby at home if born safely at 31 weeks-- lung maturity would be one of the issues--so I wouldn't say impossible but I think it would be something rare

[Charmie981]

I agree...I think getting to the point of homebirth even being a viable option (for me that's 36 weeks) would be pretty hard.

I wouldn't do it because I don't feel I'm in any way experienced enough and I don't consider quads a "normal birth," which is my range of practice (and yes, sometimes twins and breech would fall into that category), but I'm sure there's someone somewhere who might be comfortable with it.

[the_lissa]

Originally Posted by Apricot

Weren't the Dionne quints born at home? I thought they were.

The biggest issue with multiple births is prematurity. Most quads don't make it to 37 weeks completed gestational age, even without doctors suggesting they be evicted.

I'm a student midwife, but as a midwife, I won't attend twin births for the same reason I won't attend planned breech births - I haven't attended any and don't feel I have enough experience. That could change in the future.

Yes they were. Of course they didn't know it was quintuplets.

[Genesis]

Originally Posted by the_lissa

Yes they were. Of course they didn't know it was quintuplets.

They had to have known there was more than one in there though, right?

Were the babies alright?

[the_lissa]

Yes they were alright. Have you not heard of the Dionne quintplets?

I'm not sure what they know, but I doubt they thought there was more than one or maybe two.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_quintuplets

[trmpetplaya]

Originally Posted by Natural Mommy*J

They had to have known there was more than one in there though, right?

Were the babies alright?

They all survived. One girl died in her late teens, I believe (she was the first to pass on), and two or three may even still be living. According to everything I've read, they were not aware that there was more than one, though I'm not sure how that would be possible.

love and peace.

[DoomaYula]

A poster who is on TAO a lot called Kathryn had triplets at home. Looked like a zillion midwives were there, from the pics.

I had twins in a hospital, but they shared a placenta. I would have been risked out of a homebirth; they had TTTS. With DZ twins, I'd want to be home. Triplets? If they were all DZ and I could find a midwife or 8, and I could hold on for 35 or 36 weeks, maybe. Quads, I'd go to a hospital. (Just not this one here in Yuma.)

[Genesis]

Originally Posted by the_lissa

Have you not heard of the Dionne quintplets?

No, I had never heard of them.

[Genesis]

Originally Posted by YumaDoula

A poster who is on TAO a lot called Kathryn had triplets at home. Looked like a zillion midwives were there, from the pics.

Yes, I've seen Kathryn's video, I admire her very much.

[AzariaJordan]

What is TAO?

[Jane]

TAO = Talk Amongst Ourselves. I think you need a certain amount of posts or a certain amount of time, or both, to see or post there.

[AzariaJordan]

Looks like it's time to start fluffing my post count! I'm drooling to hear more about the triplets at home.

I don't suppose the Dionne quints birth records are public either, eh?!

[Maggi315]

I have and would attend twins. I would not attend triplets or quads. first of all, they rarely are born near term and secondly, there is just too much that could go wrong and with 3 or 4 babies, it would be a zoo. Usually the babies have some sort of special need whether it is oxygen, nursing difficulties, surfactant problems, etc. Plus the chances of all coming down vaginally with no getting stuck or caught up seems rare.

[sevenkids]

Originally Posted by Apricot

Weren't the Dionne quints born at home? I thought they were.

What made the Dionne quints so remarkable was the fact that they survived. High order multiples were born at home before and after the Dionne's, but twins, triplets and more had an extremely high mortality rate.

Personally, I may consider twins, but definately not triplets or more.