C-Section V's Natural Birth in 1st time pregnancy with twins

[VictoriaSecrets]

Hi everyone,
It's very early days for me as I'm only just 12 weeks, but I'm looking at options for the birth. I have twins which look to be Fraternal, 2 sacs, 2 placenta's etc.

Assuming that both birth options are available (I'm aware that the decision may be taken out of my hands if they are in the wrong position or if there are complications)I'm trying to work out which route to go for.

From what i've discovered so far i've got some secific areas of concern...

With C-section i'm particulary concerned about the length of time for full recovery and the impact on the babies respiratory systems of not passing through the birth canal...

With VB i'm concerned about labour taking so long that one or more of the babies get into difficulties then having and emergency C-section (particulalry as this will be my first labour). I'm also worried about the long term effects of things like incontinence, tearing, feeling 'looser' (sorry for TMI) etc.

Does anyone have any real life info around either option - hopefully from a 1st time labour with twins perspective so that I can feel a bit more informed? Please be as honest/graphic as possible as I'm struggling to find real accounts that aren't either embellished for effect or played down to promote one option over another!!!

Thanks so much for your help

Victoria

x

P.S. - I've copied this over from a thread I set up under Ante-Natal Clubs on the recommendation of someone there :)

Hi there,

ParmaGray - thanks very much for your post.. congrats on the twins, they sound fab, and i'm sorry to hear about your other baby- i'm not surrised that you were keen for as much support as possible with the twins!!

I do need to find out what the hospital's policy is and get some more information from the consultant etc. I somehow feel myself wishing away the months which is never a good thing!

I read somewhere that 5% of births are VB then C-section afterwards, which i suppose isn't that high and just have to hope not in that %!

Jenzopos - are you getting enough support from your medical team? They obv need to tell you what they think is lowest risk for you and the babies, but not at the expense of things being as close to how you want them as possible. Your midwife should know that the risk of things like PND (apparenty more likely with twins) is higher if you feel out of control with the birth etc. Can your OH discuss on your behalf as you must be retty knackered and emotional by now?!

They say its the safest but dont outline the risks of alternatives..and my oh wants me to have a cs :( apprently they can give me happy drugs to calm me and stop me panicking...

Hi Jenz,

I share your :( this evening, but for different reasons!

My OH is an anaesthetist and he also thinks C-sections are the way to go, but I think only because the cases he is involved in are usually emergency etc. On a plus point, I've heard the aftercare if you have a C-section in terms of pain relief, support with the babies, breastfeeding if you want it etc is supposed to be better - prob because it's in the 'operation' category.

One of my worries about the birth option thing is that if I nag for something that goes against what my OH and medical people want, I don't want to be frowned upon if something doesn't go well, or is more difficult etc. I know my OH would support me, but wonder if he'd have something in the back of his mind during the labour of however many hours at 3 in the morning

If it does end up that C-section is the safest way forward, it sounds like there are lots of positives... planned date for the delivery, comparatively short timeframe for the labour/operation, babies still come out healthy and potentially without initial cone heads :). Most people recover from the operation in a relatively short period of time in the scheme of things...

Lot's of ladies on this thread have had C-sections and they seem to be less scary in reality

quite a nice honest account

bit of info

other people discussion

TBH, you could spend all day reading the internet and find positive and negative experiences of both C-section and natural birth, but it sounds like in the vast majority of cases things go smoothly whichever route you go down, and things on the internet always tend to highlight people with tragic/difficult circumstances - guess it makes it more dramatic (if a baby arriving isn't dramtic enough!). You could do the same if you google a mild symptom of an everyday cold and end up with a series of accounts where it's turned out to be some strange parasite from a foreign land :)

Try and keep calm and relaxed and as another lady said, if it's v likely you'll have a c-section have a read up about which elements of it you can control, like pain relief, aftercare, things with the babies etc. :) :)

Bet I read a post from you in a week or so and you're over the moon :)

I had a VB with my first delivery and a CS with my second (twins). The reason for a CS was twin 1 (the twin exciting first) was breach. The CS was only booked at 34 weeks. so there is lots of time to make a decision yet.

For me the CS was better than the VB. This is cause I had an unusually difficult VB. But it's different for everyone. A lot of people had a easier VB than CS.

As for as I know less than 5% had twin one VB and twin 2 CS. The consultants obviously really try to avoid that.

Good luck with it all and try not to stress over it too much. As you way often these decisions are taken out of your hands anyway. As long as they arrive healthy, who cares how they got here

I'm a twin - one of identicals - and was a VB, as was my sister, although I was breech with the cord around my neck, but way back then midwives had a lot more experience with breech births I suppose.
Recently a good friend had her two lovely fraternal girls by VB too. No tears, no epidural needed and both were in a head down position, once twin one was born apparently the midwife pounced and held twin 2 in position so she didn't turn and all was well. Unfortunately my friend had to have her gallbladder out a few weeks later (a weird complication of pregnancy?) so she ended up with abdominal surgery after all, and really struggled dealing with the girls aftr it all. I had an em c section and I would have been totally unable to care for any more than one baby. I had a big bleed and it was utterly debilitating. That said a planned section is different. In terms of your hubby seeing things from a clinical setting that persuade him to encourage you to have a c section, that's all very well but generally anaesthetists don't see the woman struggling to cope with being unable to cough, sneeze, laugh, get out of bed, lift her pushchair over kerbs for weeks after the event. They only see a nice tidy operation at the time, not the aftermath.

Hi :)

Thanks very much for the info - I think it really helps getting people's actual experiences because things you read in books are always the text book versions of how it might work out. I have quite a lot of appointments with the consultant that have come through the post, but not starting until Jan, although i'll be seeing the midwife before then. I've recently joined TAMBA, and they've sent me an info pack and offered a 1 day course that discusses options for labour etc. It's quite expensive (well £140 which prob isn't too bad in the scheme of things) but does anyone know whether it's worth it, and at what stage you would normally get involved in these classes?

Thanks

Victoria
x

Hi VS.

VB of twins is more normal than you think. You can find out lots of positive stories to balance the negative ones that you've heard. My ladies often say I'm one of the few people they know with anything positive to say about twin birth.

I'm a twin mum myself, but my Wee Weapons decided to both be a transverse (sideways) lie so a VB was impossible. Shame really as my consultant was pro VB of twins.

I'm finding that more and more consultants/hospitals are pro VB and recognise the benefit to both mum and babies. Obviously it all depends on the lie of the twins at the time and how you are doing.

There's plenty of information here on MN. You can get lots more stories on the multiple births threads. There's a current AN expecting twins thread I think.

I think it's a good idea to get your hospitals multiple birth policy to give you some idea of how your hospital look at it.

Jenzo.. you have probably had your babies by now and I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier or I would have given you my "How to make a c-birth more personal" tips.

Congratulations to you both. I think it's VERY exciting!

Hiya, my twins are my first, and i had a vaginal birth.

I don't have much time right now, so I've taken the lazy option of linking to a [[http://213.161.73.140/Talk/childbirth/923750-Positive-stories-of-normal-twin-births-please past thread. Please don't take it as some kind of subtle judgement on you, though.

Will try to be back later.

oh, for an edit function.

Victoria...please try and focus on the end result hon..it really doesn't matter how the twins are born as long as they are safe!
I had the "natural labour" I always wanted with my second daughter but she died during labour 6 weeks ago now. It was quick and straightforward, no drugs and not tears or anything...just as I had planned apart from the fact that I came home empty handed.
Tallula was 11 days overdue and a perfectly healthy baby. I was well, had a low risk pregnancy with no complications.
You never ever hear about the bad stories with terrible endings and never for once second did I think something so tragic would happen...but it did and people need to understand that c sections are there to save lives! My very good friend who is a midwife lost a mother 2 weeks ago at work after she tried to deliver her twins naturally...the twins are fine but the mother lost too much blood and died. Please don't focus too much on how they enter the world...just make sure you get the right kind of care and that they give you enough scans and trust your instincts...
All the best hon...sorry if I have scared you but I wish someone had warned me of the things that could go wrong and that I had got the c section I begged for when I went overdue...my baby would be alive today if she had been born just a little earlier...