Chapter 12: Pushing – Stage 2 of labor
Delivering twins
If you deliver twins at home, make sure there are at
least 2 skilled midwives at the birth.
1. Deliver the first baby as you would any
single baby.
2. Cut the first baby’s cord, and tightly clamp or tie
the end that is coming out of the mother.
Twin babies sometimes share a placenta, and
the second baby could bleed through the cord
of the first.
3. After the first baby is born, feel for the position
of the second baby. If he is lying sideways, see
below.
4. The second baby should be born within 15 to 20
minutes, but might take longer. Deliver him as
you would any other baby.
Possible problems when delivering twins
N o contractio ns within 2 ho urs o f the birth of the fi rst twin
Encourage the labor to start again by letting the first
baby breastfeed. If the baby will not breastfeed, massage
the mother’s nipples as if you were removing milk by
hand (see page 285). If the second baby is head or
bottom down, try breaking the waters. But do not break
the waters if the second baby is sideways.
If these methods do not start labor, seek
medical help as soon as you can.
Do not give medicines to get
NO!
labor started again.
If the second baby is not born in 2 hours, the placenta may start coming off
the womb, the cervix may start to close, or the second baby and the womb may
get an infection.
The second baby is sideways
If medical help is close, go there now. If it is too far away,
and you have experience turning babies, try the following:
1. Try to turn the baby’s head down (see page 369).
220
A Book for Midwives (2010)