Kanab, UT, December 11, 2024, 2:00 pm EST -
This study follows 100 sets of twins attended at home by an obstetrician, the first publication looking exclusively at twin home birth. Overall, 91.3% of women gave birth vaginally, compared a national average of 25.2% for twin pregnancies. Most women with twin pregnancies in a hospital setting have few options but cesarean section, even though the evidence shows no benefit to surgery for the majority of cases. This study demonstrates that a home setting that supports physiological birth can yield excellent outcomes and a high vaginal birth rate.
The authors comment:
"Properly selected, motivated twin mothers can successfully birth in a home setting, if they have a supportive environment, a skilled practitioner, and a competent team of birth workers. Vaginal birth of twins, regardless of presentation (breech or cephalic) or birth location, is a reasonable option with excellent success rates in skilled hands and should be offered. Residency training programs should reinstitute the teaching of these skills to ensure that women desiring hospital births are not pushed outside the system. Professional medical organizations and state legislatures should recognize the value and dedication of midwifery care in the community and stop limiting choices, under the guise of safety, that rightfully belong to the pregnant woman. The goal should be to create a nurturing environment, where each woman is treated with dignity, compassion, and respect by a skilled twin practitioner and where her choices are not just tolerated but enthusiastically supported."
To read the study: bit.ly/twinhomebirth
If you would like more information about this publication, please call 805-455-8618 or email [email protected]. For more information about the authors and their organizations, please visit Birthing Instincts (http://www.birthinginstincts.com) and Breech Without Borders (http://www.breechwithoutborders.org).
You are invited to read and then comment on the paper.
