When You're Expecting Twins
Today, in one of my mom groups, a lady posted that she found out that she was having twins. She also noted that her OBGYN told her that they should go ahead and book her c-section.
Wait....WHAT?!?!?
This OBGYN did not tell her that she has the option of NOT having a c-section. She is 8 weeks along...why in the world would the OBGYN just assume that she needs a c-section? Where in the world is the informed consent?? Shouldn't she have been given factual information regarding giving birth vaginally to twins?
I spoke up.
I gave birth vaginally to my twins. My OBGYN tried telling me the same thing when I found out I was expecting my twins. I told him that I was not going to consent to a c-section at this time. I wanted to wait and see what position my babies would be laying at the time of delivery.
Lucky for me, they were both head down. The risk of giving birth to twins that are both head down are about the same for singletons. If Twin A is vertex, but Twin B is not, you can still consider having a safe vaginal birth. After Twin A is born, your OBGYN will either turn Twin B to the head down position or deliver her breach. The vaginal plus c-section scenario only happens in about 4% of twin births! In fact, both Ireland and France (who both have better infant mortality statistics than the US) came out with studies that indicate that a vaginal birth can be safe and that a c-section is not necessary a must have for twins that are older than 34 weeks.
In the USA, there were 133,155 infants born in twin deliveries in 2015. Cesarean delivery rates for twin births increased dramatically from 1995 to 2008. Cesarean delivery rates were stable at 53.4–53.9% from 1995 to 1997, then increased steadily up to 75.0% in 2008. For those in the head down (vertex) presentation, over the 14 year period it grew from 45.1% to 68.2%. In the UK, more than half of twins and almost all triplets are delivered by caesarean.
I was young...27. I'm glad that I spoke up, but why wasn't my doctor giving me that voice too? According to RN Jeanne Faulkner, "Far too many doctors flat out refuse to do vaginal deliveries for twins because they don't want to take any chances or they haven't been properly trained. A lot of doctors only learn in medical school how to deliver twins by c-section." Isn't this a shame on our medical community! Our doctors need to be trained and need to understand that a c-section isn't always the best for a momma and her babies.
So for all the moms out there expecting twins...do your research. Having twins does NOT mean an automatic c-section. You have options and you need to use your voice. Do your research.
