728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Multiples › Educated Risk

Educated Risk

Childbirth Classes for Twin Deliveries

By Heather Johnson Durocher

Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Like most expectant moms, Monica Nicknair signed up for a childbirth class to prepare for her labor and delivery. But as the only one expecting twins in the class, Nicknair learned she had specific concerns and questions about a multiples birth that weren't being addressed.

"The instructor of the birthing class was no help to me with my questions regarding what to expect or knowing I probably would have a C-section," says Nicknair, who resides in Bangor, Maine, with her identical twin 16-month-old daughters, Emilia and Armanda. "She could only talk about singletons. I wish there would have been a class with other moms who were expecting multiples, because it would have given me more insight into what I was experiencing."

Wishing for More
Nicknair, however, is grateful she ended up finding support and information from a local parents-of-multiples group. Still, she wishes the hospital where she gave birth could have assisted more. "I wish I could have talked to someone about the babies pressing on my lungs so much I could hardly breathe, and one baby weighing more than the other, and not knowing if the smaller one of the two would actually make it, and one being breech, while the other one wasn't," she says.

As the expectant mother of twins, Nicknair likely isn't alone in her childbirth class experience. But there is good news: More and more communities are providing childbirth classes specifically geared toward parents expecting twins or more. Hospitals and birth centers seem to be more aware of the need to provide this service, experts say, which is critical for moms and dads who will be adjusting to life with not one, but two or more new babies.


Pages:  1  2  3  4  

Want to see more?

Comments

There are no comments for this article yet.Be the first to add a comment.

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.