The process of labour is more or less the same as for 1 baby, but your maternity team will usually advise you to have your babies electronically monitored because of the higher risk of complications. This means attaching belts with sensors (1 for each twin) to your bump.
Labor is generally the same whether you're having one baby or two. During delivery is when things differ significantly. When it's time to deliver your twins, you will go to an operating room even if you are delivering vaginally.
This is because the first twin has paved the way, so to speak. The average time between the birth of the first and second baby is generally about 17 minutes. 2 However, as long as the monitor shows the second baby is doing well there's no great need to speed things along.
When you're carrying twins or more, you'll typically have a greater number of Braxton Hicks, although some women don't have any symptoms. It's just your body's way of helping you get ready for the real thing. Actual labor contractions are similar for twins and singles (and yes, we're sorry to say, they hurt).
Signs and Symptoms of Premature Labor
Tightening or low, dull backache that may be constant or come and go, but changing positions and other comfort measures don't ease it. Menstrual-like cramps or lower abdominal cramping that may feel like gas pains, with or without diarrhea. Increased pressure in your pelvis or ...
Determining fetal presentation is fundamental in the decision of the mode of delivery. The presentation of twin pairs in a term twin pregnancy is 40% of the times cephalic/cephalic, 35–40% cephalic/non-cephalic and only 20% with the first twin non-cephalic [15].
No.
That's not all, Monga says. Women pregnant with twins complain of more back pain, sleeping difficulties, and heartburn than those who are carrying one child. Being pregnant with twins also carries a higher rate of maternal anemia and a higher rate of postpartum hemorrhage (bleeding) after delivery.
36 weeks pregnant with twins. This week you're 36 weeks pregnant with twins, and over half of twin pregnancies deliver before 37 weeks. Symptoms during this time in pregnancy include insomnia and fatigue, muscle cramps, the feeling of the babies “dropping,” and possibly losing your mucus plug.
Twin pregnancies are at an increased risk of a range of obstetric complications, including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [3,4], gestational diabetes [5], growth restriction [6,7], and intrauterine fetal demise [8]. These conditions are often indications for the delivery and induction of labor.
According to Guinness World Records, the longest confirmed interval between the birth of twins is 90 days.
Multiples are generally born only a few minutes apart. If delivered by cesarian section, the interval between births is usually only a minute, maybe two. The interval is generally longer for vaginal deliveries, ranging from a few minutes to more than an hour.
The median twin-to-twin time interval was 19 min (range 2–399) with 217 (41.2%) of the second twins being born within 15 min, 143 (27.1%) second twins were born within 16–30 min, 70 (13.3%) within 31–45 min, 37 (7%) within 46–60 min and 60 (11.4%) after 60 min.
The risks of induction are the same for twins as for single babies. If induced for twins, you are just as likely to have a c-section compared to induction for a single baby.
While the average single baby weighs 7 pounds at birth, the average twin weighs 5.5 pounds. Triplets typically weigh 4 pounds each, and quads weigh 3 pounds each. Babies born at under 5.5 pounds are considered to have a low birth weight.
Labor is often shorter with multiples. If you're delivering vaginally, that means you'll get to work on the pushing part faster. It could also be longer. With a baby duo growing within, sometimes the uterus can become stretched to a point where it might weaken mom's contractions.
In 462 twin pregnancies, 220 (48 %) had induction of labour and 242 (52 %) a spontaneous labour onset.
The cervix generally needs to be dilated to 10 centimeters before it's ready for the baby to pass through. Your cervix can be dilated to a couple of centimeters for a few weeks before delivery. This softening can cause the mucus plug to be dislodged and come out.
For lots of women we surveyed, yes. The most common analogy moms used to describe the sensation of the pressure they felt during labor (even before the pushing stage) – all decorum aside – was thinking about having to poop. "After the epidural, it just felt like so much pressure.
They feel the same for pregnancy with multiples
What does Braxton Hicks feel like with twins, triplets, or more babies? Experts claim they feel the same as singleton pregnancies—like a random tightening or hardening of the uterus that lasts less than two minutes.
The hardest thing about having twins is...
“Managing the movement of two babies. Carrying them both up and down the stairs, getting them into the car, etc.” —Simeon R. “Often having to make one baby wait!” —Catharine D. “Being outnumbered—the logistics of two on one is definitely the hardest.
As expected, first-born twins had greater birth weight than second-born twins. With respect to height, first-born twins were slightly taller than second-born twins in childhood.
You Can Only Control the Things Within Your Control. “Having twins is not twice as hard—it's exponentially more difficult,” says Natalie Diaz, author of What To Do When You're Having Two and CEO of Twiniversity, a global support network for parents of twins.
Caesarean section surgery usually takes 30-60 minutes, although the entire process takes a few hours. There'll be many people in the operating theatre with you. You can usually have a support person.
Babies born after 35 and up to the 37th week of pregnancy, with no additional complications other than prematurity may need to stay for 10 to 14 days. If your babies are born after 37 weeks of pregnancy and establish feeding well, your babies may be going home after one to five days.
Overall, it is considered that twin delivery should be around 37 weeks for dichorionic twins and 36 weeks for monochorionic twins. With singletons, the neurodevelopmental outcomes are best with delivery at 41 weeks, but the odds of death around the time of delivery are best at weeks 38-39.