has anyone ever had a twin homebirth in New Zealand?

[jennyroper]

hello
I am desparate to find anyone who has had a homebirth for their twins in NZ. I'm English but live in NZ with my husband and 22 mth old son. Had a successful homebirth in London with my son and would really like another with these but I am seriously struggling to find a midwife to do one over there.
It's a slightly different system to at home whereby you find a midwife at the beginning of your pregnancy and they stay with you throughout the whole ante natal, birth and post natal. The same as employing an independant midwife in the UK but free! (the joys of having only 4 million people in the country). Any links or contacts very gratefully received

my mothers best friend did!this was in 1994 firsttwin was breech but she was still approved (3rd pregnancy) for hb.
Sorry out of contact now as she is volunteering in Lesotho teaching! But she was very forceful...

hi there, what part of nz are you in? i'm in dunedin and returned to nz from london to have my twins (as i was a little terrified by the royal londons approach to midwifery!!). i had one midwife who was happy to do a homebirth but when in the end i switched midwives the next one really recommended not having one as my twin pregnancy became a little more high risk. however, my original one may be able to recommend one in your area. her name is jenny crawshaw and you'll be able to find her on the nz/aotearoa homebirth association website or i'm sure find someone directly on there. let me know if there anything else you're wondering about...

www.homebirth.org.nz/menu.html

hi electronic i am in mount maunganui in the bay of plenty. my midwife would have been happy to deliver a single baby at home but not twins.
I couldn't find Jenny Crawshaw's name on the homebirth website but I'm keen to get in contact with her.
Were your twins identical? Would you mind saying how your pregnancy gor higher risk?
What do you think about having a twin homebirth now you've had your babies?
I know what you mean about some of the hospitals in London and their approach to midwifery. Pretty interesting. Not mention the state of some of the maternity wards.

hi - i've emailed the local dunedin home birth association trying to get jenny's phone number/email address as its not in the phonebook or on the website like you say so as soon as i hear back from them i'll post it up for you. was thinking, have you joined your local multiple birth club up there? they might know someone local who had been willing to do twin home births? small word of caution for jenny - do any google search on her just to check it out and so you can make your own well researched decision...

the reason why my pregnancy became more high risk was that my second twin was breech and i'd gone so full term that they were worried about how huge they were (they ended up being 8.12 and 7.11). plus i lived a long way from town and they felt that there were enough chances of it going wrong and that it was taking a big risk. also it was my first pregnancy and they were cautious about that. overall a lot of caution and i bought into it a bit i think really. i think that there is a lot of scaremongering and as time went on and i was sent for test after test and scan after scan and when everyone expected me to have them by 35 weeks and i still hadn't the caution seemed to build!

my twins are b/g diamniotic-dichorionic twins (separate sacs/separate placentas) so in that respect they were low risk but they were worried how the second one would turn and how that would stress the baby having gone through the labor of the first one already, energy wise for everyone (me and second twin). in the end i went over term, had to be induced (after much much hassling on the consultants part and i wish i hadn't been) and then a very involved medical intervention birth (luckily no caesar but forceps, ventouse), syntocin, scalp monitoring (it goes on...) and a 24 hr labour. i would have loved a home birth and to have avoided all that...hopefully next time. i'll post when i've heard back from the homebirth people but definitely try and make some contact with your local multiple birth club - they're great support and you get freebies too! playgroups/discounts etc, really cheap hire equipment.

wow that's all so helpful, thank you. What is the word of of caution for Jenny? Did you have a reason for switching midwives so late?
I have got a good midwife who is happy to deliver the babies even if second one is breech and have told them I won't be induced at any stage (my son was 17 days overdue and I managed to dodge being induced). She just won't do a homebirth unfortunately. Having a homebirth is very important to me as I get very upset and distressed in hospitals (a result of a horrific motorbike accident where my friend and another guy died and I was in hospital for some time). I feel my babies are more at risk in hosp with me getting stressed than at home where I have complete faith in a lack of medical intervention if it genuinely isn't needed.
I really feel for you and your first birth that sounds like exactly all the things you were probably trying to avoid by arranging to have a homebirth first of all.
Thank you for your advice I will try and contact Tauranga homebirth assoc and multiple birth assoc. I emailed the general homebirth website but heard nothing back.
Hopefully the Dunedin one can track down Jenny.
Thanks electronic you are so helpful

have just found the newspaper article relating to the manslaughter charge, I assume that's what you were referring to! Is that why you switched?

i agree that if hospitals for you are a source of anxiety then planning for home sounds right for you and babes. i haven't heard back from the home birth association either! i'll call my local hospital and my midwife tomorrow and ask her for the contact details. who would've thought it would be so hard to find her!! maybe she's not working any more but i wouldn't have thought so. mmm. will keep you posted on that one.

no particular word of caution for jenny other than the court case. i knew about it when i went with her as my midwife (my twins are only 8mths old) but in the end found another midwife who i felt i really related to. i'd just moved back from london and had taken on jenny while i was in london still. i came back when i was 15wks pregnant and then changed when i was about 18wks. i think by that stage i had been cautioned by EVERYONE about having them at home not being a good idea and started to take a more medical approach myself so by the time i swapped i was pretty much accepting that i was going to have them in the hospital. oh hindsight eh!! but really...while the birth wasn't what i had been after, it was a hell of a lot better than being pregnant!

sorry for each late reply, twins life is a buzz of busy-ness! i'll get onto it tomorrow

heya got the number from my midwife. jenny's number is 03 488 2454. let me know how you go

Is there a lovely place that is a birthing unit near you - so it's not a hospital with it's memories for you - but is not your home so the midwife will be okay with it?

I had ds in a BU (which was technically part of a hospital - but only for spinal injuries).

hey electronic I have been calling Jenny but she isn't back til Monday. Am so grateful to you for getting her number thanks. Will def let you know what happens.
I am really in 2 minds as to whether to pursue the homebirth. I just want what's best for babies and for me like everyone else does when they give birth. I worry that something will go wrong and obviouysly i will live forever with the guilt but equally have same misgivings about something going wrong in hospital and living forever with the thought i didn't follow my convictions. ho hum. same old quandry many people face about decisioms though.
Twentypence - i haven't heard of birthing units in my neck of the woods in nz. It really is a miles simpler set up over there than in uk.

hey electronic. Very exciting news - after loads of phone calls starting in Dunedin and working my way up I have found an experienced twin homebirth lady called Anne Sharplin who is happy to deliver the babies at home. The hilarious thing is she lives on the next street over from me. Approximately a 100 second walk for her!
Thank you so, so much for your help. I have been looking for ages and your help got got me this brill, no-nonsense midwie. She sounds quite strict and straight forward on the phone (always nice to be told what to do by someone you trust isn't it). Am really excted.
will keep you posted. All I have to do now is munch masses of protein and keep my legs crossed to keep those babies in for as long as poss.

oh i am so pleased! thats such good news. do keep me posted on how you go. isn't it funny that this all happened via an english website! know what you mean about eating loads for twins, i put on a third of my body weight while pregnant, went from 60kg to 90kg and it was ONLY tummy, almost door jamb to door jamb but lost it all (and some) within 6 weeks. saggy tummy skin...now thats another story! good luck and keep me posted