How to Handle Picture and Video During Twin Delivery

As a proud father, you’ll want to preserve the arrival of your twins for future posterity.

To do so, you need to be prepared with a plan for getting the pictures and video you want.

You need to keep in mind how your twins will arrive, where they will arrive, and what you will be doing during delivery.

How the Twins Arrive

Your twins will arrive in one of two ways: naturally down the path God created or a more direct route courtesy of a Cesarean section procedure.

Either way they arrive, they will come one at a time.

Where the Twins will Arrive

Where you are when the twins are delivered often depends on how they are being delivered. You may be in a birthing room for natural delivery or in an operating room for the c-section.

The “where” may restrict what you can take pictures or video of. Be sure to ask your OB when discussing delivery options early in the pregnancy if you can take pictures and video of the delivery.

Some doctors will be video shy. After all, you could sue them for something they did wrong. Ugh. Fear of lawsuits shouldn’t prevent you from getting your kids’ arrival on video, though. If you have a good rapport with your doctor, take some time to discuss their concerns, your desires, and find out exactly what the hospital policy is. If it’s important enough to you and your doc is adamantly against video and pictures, then you may need to find a new care provider.

Right Equipment

For the birth of our twins, I used a digital camera that also takes video. To the outside observer, it looks like a camera, which your medical staff shouldn’t have trouble with.

The tricky part is that I could switch to video mode and capture my girls’ first moments while the medical staff thought I was taking pictures.

If you walk into the operating room, for example, with a big camcorder, they may not let you use it.

Timing

Time starts to speed up once the first baby is emerging from mommy. You need to be Johnny-on-the-spot and have that camera ready. If you have a digital camera that takes video, you can switch modes and keep rolling. If you have two separate electronics, you may want to duct tape them together as someone suggested to me.

Once your first twin is born, you’ll likely follow her over to where the nurses suck out her nose and mouth, get her cleaned up, and swaddle her in some blankets.

You’ll be so excited that you may forget there is another one coming. Keep an eye and ear on what is happening with the second delivery so you can quickly move back to your wife and have the camera ready for your next child.

I struggled with wanting to see my first newborn, comfort my wife, and watch the second birth all at the same time. Nevertheless, I managed to get video of both births and of their first few moments of life.

Awesome Experience

Watching your twins be delivered is an amazing experience that you will never forget. Plan to be there and be prepared to capture the moment for the future. After all, you wife won’t be taking pictures during delivery, so it is up to you.

Picture by bhenak