Natural twin birth concerns - I am 29 weeks pregnant

Hi everyone,

I am 29 weeks pregnant and am at that stage where I am preparing for the birth etc.

I would like to have natural birth if possible, all being well with twin 1 being head down but am a little nervous about the whole procedure, I. E problems that can occur with twin 2.

Consultants seem to recommend epidural which I am not to keen on. They like you to be dosed up so that if the need for intervention is required then I am all ready to go.

However I would like to try just gas and air. But am I making the wrong decision because if there is a problem with twin 2 then they will then have to prepare me for a general which could add precious time onto what could be a serious situation

What are u thoughts

Can epidurals cause long term problems

 

I'm not really up on the pros and cons of epidurals. Has your doctor gone over them with you? If not I would ask. And also say that this is your birth plan unless some serious medical complication comes up with you or the babies. I would also ask the doctor to be perfectly clear to explain to you the pros and cons of epidurals. Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy!

 

Thank u

 

I haven't ever heard of long term effects of the epidural, except some women complain they still have back pain where they were poked.
If this is your first birth, I don't recommend natural. I'm not sure why some people want to endure that pain if they don't have too!
A lot of women want to do natural and realize the excruciating pain and back out when its too late and regret not getting pain medicine.
Good luck!

 

I would recommend talking to your doctor more about what's involved with the epidural to find out what your comfortable with. There were definitely somethings I didn't know. U control the level of epidural and when I delivered my daughter I reduced it close to the end and by the push time it was basically gone. I had a long labour and started with morphine and gas, I would say if I could go back I would just do the epidural because it just numbs you and doesn't give you a druggy feeling so you can still be very present in the moment. Also if u have the epidural and have to have an emergency c section you can be awake to meet your babies instead of being fully under with general (get skin to skin right away and a chance to try breastfeeding unless the babies need medical help/nicu right away)

I did have a couple bad headaches the week after that I sum up to the epidural but I consider that pretty minor all considered.

One last thing to consider, I was chatting with the nurse because I would hear other women screaming in their room, I asked if the screaming women had epidurals and she mentioned no the women who scream didnt get epidurals that the rooms with epidurals are much calmer and the experience is much more pleasant. This was also confirmed to me from my gf who's a pediatrician and at tons of births. She says you can immediately tell if the mom had an epidural and the rooms are much calmer in the epidural rooms.

Food for thought. Best of luck with your choice & congrats!

 

Hi. I'd like to say that as great as modern medicine is for helping those in need, I think the more mothers left alone to birth naturally is the way to go.
Intervention leads to more intervention which doctors quite often don't tell you.
Childbirth is the most painful thing I've ever done and I shouted and swore my way through it, but I'm proud of myself for going through that strange, internal place of pain four times, and it's amazing how once you learn to relax and breathe and let your body do the workout, it doesn't feel so bad.
I had one epidural with my first and I was very grateful when the pain disappeared BUT, was left with a feeling of wanting to know how it felt to birth naturally. I went on to experience the natural childbirth pain three times and thankfully, gave birth to my twin girls without the need of any intervention. It was not easy to fight off the doctors who wanted to intervene every step of the way. I had to keep believing in myself and my body and not let their fear take over.

Good luck xxx