Hoping for vaginal birth with twins
I am nine weeks pregnant with twins. I was hoping to use a birthing center, but because I'm carrying twins no one will accept me. I am currently under my fertility specialist's care, but I have to transfer to a high risk specialist in a few weeks. Since a birthing center is not an option in my area, do you have any recommendations of how I can find an OB/GYN that is not "knife-happy"? I would really like to have a vaginal birth, preferably without an episiotomy.
Question:Peg Plumbo CNM
Peg Plumbo has been a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) since 1976. She has assisted at over 1,000 births and currently teaches in the... Read more
Twins are not automatically indicative of a high risk pregnancy, although there are risks inherent that are not necessarily shared by singleton pregnancies.
Nurse midwives do co-manage multiple gestation pregnancies. They might see the client with the obstetrician or take turns with the visits. CNMs may deliver the babies if all is going well with the obstetrician in attendance.
If both babies are vertex and the labor is progressing smoothly, there would be no need for a cesarean. Most obstetricians would agree with this. The difficulty of course comes when there are signs of preterm labor, premature rupture of the membranes, growth discrepancies or abnormal presentation of one or both babies. In these circumstances, your risk of a cesarean is much higher.
You may enjoy reading the book, Having Twins: A Parent's Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, and Early Childhood by Elizabeth Noble.
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