What about birth?
A vaginal delivery is possible if the mother and the babies are healthy, and if the babies are well positioned. It is often a longer birth process than for single deliveries. Some doctors prefer to do C-sections if the babies are not properly positioned, if it's they are born prematurely and their hearts need to be protected from too much work, or if there's any kind of emergency. A multiple delivery requires the intervention of a large medical team to make sure that everything goes well, which can unfortunately cause more stress to the mother!
It’s also possible for the first child to be born vaginally and the second one by C-section (if the expulsion of the first one changed his position, if he doesn’t seem to be ready to come out or if he’s in fetal distress, for example).
Testimonials
My twins were born through an emergency C-section at 37 weeks and 6 days. It had been a great pregnancy despite the nausea and reflux. They weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce and 6 pounds 6 ounces. I was induced for a natural labor but my uterus had somehow moved. Being pregnant with twins was the best experience of my life. They were conceived naturally without medication. They are now 1 year old and perfectly healthy!
Virginia
I am a twin myself and I had identical twin girls. I didn’t gain a lot of weight – about 40 pounds, just like for my two other single pregnancies. I had a natural delivery and everything went really well. I was induced at 37 weeks at 10 am; Eve was born at 11:56 a.m. and Sarah followed at 12:06 p.m. I had a stressful pregnancy. According to my doctors, having twins – especially identical ones – was not necessarily a great news. We had to monitor very closely the twin to twin transfusion symptoms. My doctor was trying to understand why Sarah was bigger than Eve. In the end, she just was! I was followed in Victoriaville and Sherbrooke and I especially enjoyed the care and kindness of the Sherbrooke team.
If I hadn’t been so worried about the twins health, my pregnancy would have been amazing. But because the doctors were expecting the worst, I was really anxious. Because I was told that I could go into labor at 28 weeks and that one of the twins could die, I was given injections to help their lungs develop faster. From 28 weeks, my bags were packed and I was ready!
Maryse
If you want to share your experience with other Motherforlife.com readers, email us and we will publish your story in this article.
Statistics
- Every year, more than 4,000 twin couples are born in Canada.
- Every year, more than 100 multiple births (triplets, quadruplets and quintuplets combined) occur in Canada.
- Almost half of twins are born preterm and /or have a lower birth weight.
- Babies from multiple births represent 2 % of Canadian births and 16 % of lower birth weight babies.
- Twins represent 1 out of 90 births (without fertility treatments)
- Triplets represent 1 out of 8,100 births (without fertility treatment)
Source: Multiple births Canada
Discounts!
Did you know that many stores offer discounts for parents of twins or triplets? Ask for it when you visit a store!
Interesting websites for parents of multiples
- Multiple Births Canada
- Lethbridge Twins and Triplets Club (Alberta)
- Twins, triplets and more (British Columbia)
- Toronto Parents of Multiple Births Association (Ontario)
- Manitoba Families of Multiples
- Multiple Births Families Association (Ontario and Quebec)
- Twinslist (International)
