You had your game plan in place for having your baby — until you found out you’re having babies — as in, twins! Now you’re not sure where to start with your twin birth plan; including details for two babies will be more complicated than for just one, you might think. Actually, it really won’t be. Read on for everything you need to know about making a twin birth plan.
What is a birth plan?
Examples of twin birth plans
Below are some more details on vaginal delivery versus Cesarean plans and certain requests to think about.
Vaginal delivery requests
If you’re having a vaginal delivery, your birth plan labor requests won’t really differ from those you would make if you were having just one baby. Labor requests in birth plans often center on location: Do you want to labor in bed, the birthing pool, or while strolling the halls?
Pain medication
This is another typical mention in birth plans: Do you want the option, or do you want anyone who mentions the word epidural banned from your room?
Fetal monitoring
How much, how long, when, and where? Your doctor might be less likely to leave the fetal monitors off if you’re having twins, since twins are at higher risk of getting tangled up in each other’s cords and going into fetal distress. If he insists on an intravenous infusion, ask if a saline lock, which gives immediate access to a vein, would do.
Feeding
Even if you’re having two babies, there’s no reason you can’t ask to hold or nurse both right after birth, as long as they’re not too premature or having any respiratory or other complications at delivery.
Episiotomy
Because both babies don’t come out at the same time in a vaginal delivery, there’s also no reason why you can’t request that your practitioner not do an episiotomy.
Pushing
Pushing in an upright position, or squatting or pushing in the birthing pool, should be no more problematic when you’re having twins than when you’re having just one, except for the difficulty of monitoring baby number two when you’re giving birth to number one.
Cesarean requests
The only difference in making a birth plan for two if you’re having a Cesarean delivery is to ask to have two arms free during the surgery, one for each baby.
You might also want to think about what you want done if one baby has to go to the neonatal intensive care and the other doesn’t, or what you would like done if both babies need observation. If they’re in stable condition but just need extra warmth and monitoring, you might want them both in the same isolette or warmer. If they need intensive care, this might not be possible, since keeping two sets of tubes and wires in place could result in errors or accidents.
Suzanne Robin is a registered nurse with more than 25 years of experience in oncology, labor/delivery, neonatal intensive care, infertility, and ophthalmology. She also has extensive experience working in home health with developmentally delayed or medically fragile children. Robin received her RN degree from Western Oklahoma State College. She has coauthored and edited numerous books for the Wiley “Dummies” series.
