twin homebirth - crazy?

[MamaChris]

I had a homebirth with ds, and fully intended to have a homebirth this pregnancy, till I found out they were twins. Having read up on the risks (mainly to the second baby, after the birth of the first), I decided I would try and have a low intervention birth in hospital. I'm negotiating all this with the consultant midwife at the moment (I'm 27 weeks).

But I've heard a twin birth story from a friend who was negotiating a normal birth too, and it sounds traumatic. Everything went wrong after a staff changeover, and she says she doesn't think anyone in the room (there were many) had read her birth plan. After which she had to fight to be led out of the post natal ward 3 days later.

If nothing goes wrong, I want to give birth without a big audience and be home asap. On top of which my neighbour just had a lovely (singleton) homebirth which has reminded me of the kind of birth I really want. Would I be crazy to consider a twin homebirth or is it just too risky?

wilf- there would be (at least) 3 midwives present at a twin homebirth and they have forceps, which they could use in a situation like yours.

WandW that is an example of what scares me about a twin HB - if something goes very suddenly scary, in what case would the HB team be equal to the hospital team? I also do believe that standard hospital interventions can cause their own problems which may be avoided by staying home... I just don't feel I have the information to make any informed choice.

I agree, you sound scared to me, you are worrying about risks of twin homebirth - but what about risks of twin hospital birth? I agree neither situation is ideal and don't envy having to try and make a decision. In fact I'm really angry on your behalf that you are having to go through this at such a vulnerable time. It is not your job to find out this information, it is the medical professionals providing you with a service, and that service should be providing you with all the information you require in order to make a truly informed choice. e.g:

what is their rational for getting you out of the pool in 2nd stage? what study do they get their information from re. 4hr synto drip? how many midwives do they have confident in hands of natural twin birth? what is the likelihood of getting one on the day? what is the percentage of natural twin births there? what percentage need NICU? what do they base their need for constant monitoring on? why do they only give you 15mins for twin 2 to come out? what research is this based on?

I don't think it is helping you one bit reading all of the scary stories on here, especially reading them out of context without knowing all of the medical details, the background, why the scary events happened and so on.....the more you read "risk" information the likelier you are to need intervention as for birth to be as straightforward - and safe - as possible you need to be calm and confident and release stacks of oxytocin.

Yes having twins is riskier than a singleton in most cases (you can be a low risk twin mum and a high risk singleton mum!!)but it can - and is - be a perfectly straightforward, wonderful experience.

I think it might help you to get a dose of positivity/normality? how about paying for a one off consulatation with a local IM? (your doula knows one pretty well who is v.happy to do this), or paying for a telephone consult with Mary Cronk (v.respected, experienced IM), or emailing Michel Odent. Have you joined the Yahoo Homebirth & UK Midwifery chat groups? asking others with experience how they made their decision/getting midwives opinions.

What about calling the other unit and asking how they would treat you and booking a visit/appointment with their consultant midwife to compare the two units.

Have you seen this film?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E-wULAaD50

If you drop me an email to [email protected] I'll get in touch with my twin mum and ask if she wouldn't mind having a chat with you.

......and in the meantime I think a big hug & chat and frustrated cry with your fabby doula is in order. I know she has desperately been trying to find the information to answer all of your questions.

MamaChris,if you've already had one easy birth, I'm sure you will be able to have a relatively intervention free twin birth in hospital. As I mentioned previously, I had just one midwife in the room, for almost the entire duration of my labour, I only had a room full of people for the last 10 minutes or so. As far as I can remember they all waited discreetly outside and only came in when it was apparent that they were needed. To be honest by that time, I really wasn't bothered how many people were in the room.

Best of luck with your decision, I understand your dilemma. I would have also been a good candidate for a home birth second time round, but I simply felt that I couldn't take the risk with twins.

Foreverastudent - I had a ventuose delivery which I don't think midwives can perform at home. There was also a strong possibility that I would have needed an emergency c-section. Had this happened I was already in a room in hospital which could have been turned into a theatre very quickly, unlike my bedroom at home!

Hi I too really wanted a home birth for my twins,
My first had been born in hospital and my girls born at home, when I found out number four was twins, I knew I still wanted a home birth.
I read and spoke to alot of people and made the desision in the end to go for a low intervention hospital birth,

One thing that made a lot of difference on the day was, I had a meeting with the head of midwifery and had a birth plan signed by her and the consultant, so glad I did that it carried so much weight.

Also I had an extra birth partner, my friend who's sole job was to promote my birth plan and keep interference to a minimum.
I was very lucky and had a natural 2 and half hour labour and was home a few hours later

That is such a lovely story, GlassofRed.

So sorry for the sadder stories on this thread.

Have you looked on the Twinsclub website (www.twinsclub.co.uk)? You might be able to find some more information/inspiration on there, although I'm not sure I've read about anyone having a homebirth with twins.

My first twin was born normally but the second needed a crash section to save his life and he was very ill when born and straight to NICU. There was less than half an hour between the births. I lost 3/4 of my blood and recieved multiple transfusions and had to be rushed for another op for internal bleeding a short time after the section.

I was then on drips and tubes in High Dependency for the next 3 days unable to see DT2. It was awful but I am so glad i was in hospital. My aunty had twins too and her 2nd twin died during birth...I would say it is too risky but it is your choice.

Just to add forceps wouldn't have helped deliver my DT2, they tried suction at first but the cord had prolapsed and it was section or loose the baby...

At the hospital you have every medical help but not at home.

Could you give birth at hospital but go back home asap?

Also just read whole thread and very sad for you Loopy and friend, very sorry for your losses . I have had 2 stillborn daughters 20, 23 weeks. After going through that I realised that the birth really didn't matter that much so long as they were born safe and screaming. Even my awful traumatic births (I was lucky to survive) were nothing compared to loosing a baby later in pregnancy. I didn't want a section with DS3 but went with what was advised as the safest. Sorry, just throwing in another perspective!

I think the stories here have made me clearer that I don't want to be at home with those risks. I know statistically they are not the norm, but they are more common than with a singleton birth, and if something did go wrong, I would never forgive myself.

So I need to work harder on getting the birth I want at hospital. Good to hear a positive hospital story too, GlassofRed. children I will email you re the "northern hospital"

Thanks everyone who took time to write - all opinion and stories have helped.

MamaChris hope all goes well, twins are so much fun!
my two have just turned one and are so funny .

No not crazy at all. One of my past clients had a homebirth with twins. She did use an independent midwife! Email me and I'll give you contact details so you can talk about it if you like.

I wouldn't. There can be more complications with twin births.