Anyone else feel lost by lack of info?

[bumblingalong]

Hi, i'm 28 wks pregnant with twins & still have not had any info from midwife or consultant as to what to expect from the birth. I know they can't see into the future but it seems like i've been left to figure it out for myself because i've already had 1 pregnancy although that was only 1 baby.
I was showered with info & leaflets etc & was expecting the same if not more this time but have been given no info as to when c/section decision will be made or what to expect if its a natural birth etc...

Is it just me or anyone else as lost as I am?

[1stMrsF]

It's very common from what I can gather (search this topic and you'll find discussions about it from earlier this year). When I was pg I didn't discuss a birth plan with the consultant until 35 weeks (and then it promptly went out of the window at 36 weeks when the scan revealed they had both turned breech again) and a friend who had hers at 35 weeks had not yet had that appointment! They don't like to discuss it too early because there are so many factors with twins that can influence what happens. I would suggest that you bring it up with someone and say you understand that you will need to be flexible (you will) but you'd like to discuss some options. Ask what the hospital's policy is on multiples. There are also other places to find out things - I did the hospital tour (useful even if you've already had one baby) and got loads of information from the nurse that showed us round. Finally, apart from the consultant (and only then if they specialise in multiples) be prepared that when you are talking to any healthcare professional, it might be that you know more about multiples than they do. Although they are becoming more common, many esp. midwives have very little or no personal experience to share.

Mostly, don't worry. Once you've been looking after two babies for a few hours, their method of delivery is incredibly insignificant!

[bumblingalong]

Thanks - feel like i've been chucked in the deep end with this! Don't have any preference as to delivery as i kind of figured i don't get much say & its whats best for the babies but when i mentioned to the consultant about c/sections & whats the policy on how long they leave it to make the call eg 35 wks etc, she just looked at me & said oh you're having twins?
I know i'm a bit slapdash at organising things but i did sort of expect the experts to be a bit more organised about it than they seem to be!

[1stMrsF]

Hmmm. Best if you lower your expectations of the NHS in my experience!

Read lots - on here is where I did most of my research!

[curiositykilledscarybin]

You do have choices in the method of delivery. There's normally a lot of hospital policy surrounding twin birth but there's not too much actual research about it so it's mostly based on a better safe than sorry approach.

I'm 39 +3 with my boy/girl twins today. My nearest hospital is a small unit and I have had a bad relationship with them in my last two pregnancies so we moved to the bigger hospital who have a specialist twin clinic and a consultant midwife for normalcy.

We've had absolutely excellent care from then on. I am planning a Midwifery unit delivery as the unit is down the corridor from the consultant unit and have been under the joint care of the consultant obstetrician who does the twin clinic and the consultant midwife for normalcy.

My twins are fraternal and twin1 is head down, twin2 has mostly been head down but is occasionally breech but the hospital is willing to support vaginal breech delivery of the second twin if that's how she ends up after delivery of twin1.

If you want a copy of the plan of care my hospital have made with me I'll be happy to e-mail it to you. My e-mail is c u r i o s i t y . k i l l e d @ h o t m a i l . c o m

I am very geared towards keepng things natural, I don't want a section or induction, I don't want CTG monitoring or a scalp monitor for twin1. Basically I'd like to only be given interventions as and when they become necessary.

I think our hospital's standard practice is similar to most others. Their ideal is to deliver twins around 38 weeks so they will offer induction at this time if you haven't laboured or run into other problems by then. Most hospitals like to monitor both babies with CTG monitors throughout labour and delivery of both. Some hospitals prefer to break your waters and attach a scalp electrode to twin1's head so they can be sure they are measuring both twins with the CTG. Most hospitals prefer to offer epidural anaesthetic or site the line for epidural in case you need a section or in case they need to turn twin 2. Most hospitals would prefer a section for a breech presenting baby but can be comfortable delivering twin2 breech after a vertex birth of twin1. They will offer section for transverse babies. You can normally choose to opt for induction or section if you feel more comfortable with that. If you have vaginal deliveries most hospitals will have a time limit for the amount of time between deliveries of each twin, this can vary between hospitals. Some hospitals like to break the waters of the second twin after twin1 is born to speed up delivery time and some hospitals like to aid delivery of the second twin by putting a hand up inside and puling the baby out (forgotten what this is called and it's normally done if the baby is in a funny position).

You'd be surprised how much choice you can have in how you deliver your babies. I've done a lot of research on the reasons behind the various policies hospitals have. I'm happy to talk to you about it - if I don't imminently deliver mine! lol The one thing I'd warn is that if you have no strong feelings about how you want the birth to be and you are happy to let the doctors be in control then do that because looking at all of these things and making decisions about what you want on each issue can be quite tiring! You can always stipulate that you just want to be informed before decisions are made about your care and leave it up to people to explain things as and when they become necessary.

[curiositykilledscarybin]

You should recieve good care from an NHS hospital, if they seem unconcerned with talking to you it is probably just that they talk about it every day with people and they've forgotten you haven't done it before.

Perhaps you could call the consultant midwife at your hospital and go in for a chat and a tour? We did this. If you can't find out who the consultant midwife is talk to your community midwife and get her to arrange something like this with the hospital for you.

Where abouts are you in the country?

Also, I know I bang on about it a lot on here, but doulas are a fantastic resource. Mine has been amazing - we would never normally have considered one but felt quite similar to you, that support for mothers having a twin pregnancy was lacking in the NHS.

Pop on the latest d'y ever thread too and speak to marslady - she's a doula.

[kathryn2804]

There is definitely choice in delivery, especially if they have separate placentas. Next consultant appointment I would demand to talk about it!!