If you are expecting more than one newborn, knowing your birth options will be more critical than with just one baby. This is because of several reasons.
Giving birth to twins makes it more likely that they will be born earlier and that they will need special care. That makes the birth method more significant than ever before.
If you are looking for a natural twin birth, you can find some information here that might help you. Keep reading to find out more about this kind of delivery.
What Are The Birth Choices With Twins?
Giving birth to twins narrows down your choices of birth. You will always be advised to do it in a hospital, where trained and experienced personnel can take care of any complications as they are more likely to happen when there are two newborns.
Birth options should be discussed early on in the pregnancy with your midwife or consultant. This should be done as there are more health professionals present for a twin birth. Usually, in the hospital room, you will find 2 midwives and 2 pediatricians, one for each baby if there are complications.
The birth process is, for the most part, the same as giving birth to one child. Your doctors are likely to recommend using a device that monitors each baby separately.
This is done to avoid and detect complications if they are to happen and is possible with the help of belts with sensors attached to your bump.
When the water has broken, a clip might be positioned on the head of the first baby to get their heartbeat as accurate as possible. You might also get a dripper to use it if you need to restart the contraction after the first baby was born.
Natural Birth With Twins
About 40% of the births with twins happen naturally. If you are preparing for a vaginal delivery, an epidural to relieve pain might be suggested. If a complication appears, having an epidural prepared will help the doctors deliver the babies faster and safer than not having one.
The position of your first twin might decide if you can have a natural birth or not. If the baby is in a position with their head down, the delivery is more likely to happen naturally.
After the first child is born, the position for the second one will be checked by feeling the tummy, with a vaginal examination, or with the help of an ultrasound scan.
If the position is correct, the second baby should be born shortly after the first as the cervix is dilated already. When contractions stop after the first baby, hormones might be dripped to restart the process.
Assisting the birth is a common thing done with vacuum delivery or forceps to help the baby come out. If a cesarean section was done previously on the mother, a vaginal birth would not be recommended.
After The Birth
Your doctor will check the placenta to determine if you have identical or fraternal twins. When the newborns have a placenta with 2 inner membranes and 1 outer membrane, it means that they are identical. Another way to find out if they are identical or fraternal is through DNA testing.
Other Things To Keep In Mind
Try to find a hospital that has all the things necessary in case of complications. Ask the hospital if there are beds that allow your babies to sleep together if there are no problems.
You might need to express milk if you want to breastfeed. If one of the babies cannot feed effectively, you will have to put the other one to feed on the breast so that you can encourage milk production for both of them.
For the follow-up appointments, try to schedule them not that early in the morning as it can be pretty hard to be ready on time with two babies.
Summary
Knowing that twins’ birth most of the time happens early and that they will probably need to spend a short amount of time in special care, it is better to prepare for the worst beforehand and hope for the best.
