Twins Born at Home: in Perfect Health. No Drugs.

No
Surgery.
Disclaimer: Dont try this by yourself at home! Vivienne and Andr are in peak health. They were
thoroughly prepared and trained for the home birth of their twins well in advance. They had two
very experienced midwives. A full backup service was arranged and no risks were taken at any
stage. Staying calm and being competent is of the utmost importance. A positive mind-set, patience
and full commitment is essential for a successful home birth.
Healthy and happy from start to finish
One fine Saturday, on the 12th April 2014 we received an SMS. Skye born perfectly healthy. Viv is
feeling fine. Now for Eden. With brother out of the way, Eden was probably enjoying the extra space
and had settled down for a nap. Mom must be exhausted. But there was nothing we could do but
stay home and obey Andres orders not to interfere. After all, we trust in God and you cant stop
trusting in Him. The midwives knew what they were doing and they said they would let us know if
there was a problem.
We waited for what seemed to be an eternity. Then: Beep beep.Eden born. Both mom and baby
doing fine. All went according to plan. So Happy!! Lotsa love from Viv, Eden, Skye and Andr. The
long-awaited SMS. It was all over and we wept with joy. Vivienne had bravely held on to the end and
pushed Eden out of her cosy little nest. Ironically, she weighed 600 g more than her brother who
tipped the scales at just over 2 kg. Skye had done most of his belly time with his head down, facing
the exit. Eden had enjoyed kicking her Mom in the ribs, but she headed down to the canal when the
time was right.

(The Midwife tells her story at the reference provided at the end of this article.)
The pleasure of home comforts. The family can all sleep together!
Twins; the so-called experts hissed should not be born at home. But Skye and his sister Eden were
born at home. Just like twins have been for thousands of years. (What about the star sign Gemini how about an astral epidural darling?) The twins are curled up together on the couch, just less than
a day old and weighing 5.5 kg in total. Quite a load off Moms hips and she has already lost over 15
kg. Life goes on and the lounge is now ready for the steady stream of friends and relatives who come

to see the twins. The portable birthing pool is packed away and ready for the midwifes next happy
event.
Nobody should have twins at home! Of course not, but Team Du Preez (Vivienne and her husband
Andr) did it their way and the results speak for themselves. Eden sighs and wiggles her toes. She is
so beautiful, like a little doll. Her brother Skye sucks his fingers. They huddle together in a ball just
like they did for all those months. Yesterday they were still inside Mons 5 star hotel with everything
hunky dory, until the door opened and out they went.What a wonderful day that was a happy
birthday!

Natural birth in 1976. This is how Vivienne, the Mother of the twins was born.
Today childbirth is perceived as a justification for medical intervention at every stage of the process.
But not all of us regard pregnancy as an illness. Back in 1976 (yawn) I was pregnant with Vivienne,
the mother of the twins who feature in this discussion. I too, insisted on having my children at home.
This also caused a commotion - especially because I had not even consulted a doctor, let alone a
gynaecologist. So who needs their permission? I went ahead with only the help of my husband Jim
and our midwife.
Sister Emily Matthews introduced us to a book by Doctor Grantly Dick-Read: Childbirth without
Fear. Our daughter Vivienne was the result, three hours after my first contraction. Her younger
brother Anton was also born at home. Same midwife, same process - just the way God designed it.
No gadgets, drugs or surgery were required. Vivienne is now next in line, being brought into the
world the natural way. Her self-fulfilled prophecy is based on positive, uplifting facts. They are
backed up by effective and rewarding actions. She does not dwell on everything that could go
wrong. After all, you bring about what you think about.
The Labour Revolution - my story goes public in Fair Lady Magazine
In 1976 Marina Petropulos included my story for her article: The Labour Revolution in Fair Lady, a
popular South African magazine. I used to do freelance cartooning and illustrating for them. When I
was heavily pregnant she interviewed me before and then after Vivienne was born. Four other
birthing experiences were shared with the readers. They included natural (vaginal) births, a
caesarean and the use of an epidural. The mothers all objected to a hospital environment because it
was cold and hostile. They said the doctors were aloof and abrupt. (What has changed?) Babies who
experience such a traumatic birth seem to cry a lot more.
Scare tactics are used to justify the need for invasive treatment, forceps, stirrups and scalpels. Back
then, two of these ladies gave birth to babies who had umbilical cords around their necks yet they
were born without a caesarean. We were more interested in Dr Frederick Leboyers soft, gentle
concepts and staying close to our husbands . A natural delivery is what women wanted most in a
peaceful, safe and happy environment. It is sad that elective Caesareans and epidurals are so
fashionable and convenient these days. Bring on the bright lights, syringes, drugs and the clash and
flash of steel. Happy Birthday? A leading gynaecologist who lectured at the University of Cape Town
had his say at the end of the article.
The doctor said Home deliveries (like mine) are the most retrograde step in childbirth in centuries!
Jim and I faced a lot of opposition back then, especially from our parents. We stuck to our belief in

God - the designer of the original and perfectly natural process. Fair Lady failed to mention that I
slept with my husband and daughter that night - how backward is that?
Vivs bump kept on growing and the waiting never seemed to end
As expectant grandparents we had a long wait, not really knowing the day or the hour that the
process had begun, let alone would end. Andr had been taking photos of Viviennes bump. She sent
us a picture of her monthly progress and the protrusion was becoming substantial, as it should be
when carrying twins. Vivienne and Andr have practised Iyengar yoga for many years and have lithe
and flexible strong bodies. They are familiar with a number of modalities including Reiki, Body stress
release, Bowen technique and EFT to name a few.
How Vivienne is viewed by mainstream medical professions - upside down
Andr is a South African champion skydiver and needs to stay in good nick in order to compete at an
international level. He also spends a lot of time in front of a computer, as an award-winning
programmer and applications designer. So he needs to be fuel-efficient to support both mind and
body. Vivienne supervises his diet and keeps him going with freshly made juice and nutritious
gluten-free vegetarian meals and snacks. Andr is no stranger to herbal medicine, homeopathy and
crystal healing. He plays his guitar to offer ambient music to the unborn babes as they cuddle up
inside their 5 star hotel. He massages Moms aching feet and shoulders with aromatherapy oils and
talks to her bump.
Team Du Preez - 2 professionals dedicated to excellence and in peak health. The ultimate award
Vivienne is a graphic designer by profession. Her baby son is called Skye because his daddy is a
skydiver, but Eden will have green fingers if she takes after her mother. She is a great belly dancer
and the twins took part in her last belly show. Vivienne loves to garden and tend to plants and
animals but she is more at home in the water.
As a scuba diving instructor, the choice of having a water birth for her twins was an obvious one.
She hunted out the best midwives in Cape Town and found out all she could about having a natural
birth. Midwives are birth specialists and unlike many doctors, these are women who have had
personal experience of what they call vaginal delivery.
Great expectations. Thorough preparation
Viv and Andr are now on a gluten-free regimen that has cleared up most of their health problems.
They found that their chronic ailments like sore joints, rashes, insulin resistance (weight gain) and
post-nasal drip were caused by food intolerance and malnutrition. Their diet now includes juicing,
organic fruit and vegetables and fresh produce - especially fish from the ocean. They supplement
with Spirulina, shiitake mushrooms, calcium and magnesium and fish oil. Probiotics are added to the
juices. They know it is vitally important to have a healthy and diverse population of gut flora,
especially during pregnancy. No more gluten, GMO or contaminated over-processed lifeless food.
This is all so good for the mother and is obviously excellent for the newbies! Their mono diet of milk
will be teeming with prana.
The hardest battle Vivienne and Andr had to fight was against mainstream medicine, from start to
finish. It was difficult for Vivienne to try to explain to doctors what it meant to eat for your blood
type, to take Chasteberry tincture or to use supplements. Many years ago she had managed to
control her symptoms of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) by doing all of the above. She blew her

fuse when a gynaecologist wanted to remove her cervix. That was a funny way to treat what turned
out to be a vitamin D3 deficiency! She was not going to buy into the big lie that drugs and surgery
were the only way to solve all problems.
At 93, my fabulous mother is now the great-grandmother of Skye and Eden. As she carefully counted
their fingers and toes, she reminded me that I was born in hospital and she had a miserable time.
The male doctor was rough and she needed stitches after I was born. She had felt lonely and
frightened. Two of her babies were born at home and she agreed - the midwives were wonderful. No
stitches were required and she was a lot more comfortable.
Vivienne was perfectly healthy throughout her pregnancy but needed to register with a nearby
hospital as a formality. The professor at Mowbray Hospital had objected vehemently to the home
birth of her twins. Vivienne had to sign an indemnity form and take on full responsibility. Then the
doctor wanted a scan to see what the twins were up to. They were facing downwards and everything
was OK.
Have we forgotten how easy it is to have a baby?
Nobody really knows for sure when a baby is ripe and ready pop out. Vivienne and Andr attended
regular Hypno birthing sessions. They listened to the audio sessions and were chilled out and
relaxed. But still, none of us were able to determine the beginning or the end of the gestation. Life
went on as usual and Vivienne carried her increasing load without a whimper. Most of our friends
and family were becoming anxious, especially about twins that seemed to be overdue and the home
birth. I told them to put their trust in God. After all, He designed the process.
Progress is when simple natural things get far too complicated
The worst part of the whole event as a grandmother to be, was putting up with the advice and
nagging and the gory personal stories that everybody told me about all that could go wrong. This is
how the mind is filled with scary possibilities whereby what you fear becomes manifest. This is the
basis of a negative self fulfilled prophecy, with only fear and mistrust as options. Doctors insist that
things will go wrong and that only they can save you.
Impacted shoulders. A setup for a home birth disaster - it could have been mine!
During the home birth of my son, we experienced a case of impacted shoulders. Our midwife and a
close relative coped extremely well. There was no fear, separation or panic. So I get the creeps just
reading the doctors advice from that Fair Lady article again after all these years: Labour is just too
unpredictable to be handled in a place where there are not the facilities to deal with a crisis in what
appears to be a straightforward delivery. For example, impacted shoulders, which occur often, leave
you only five or six minutes to deliver before the baby dies. At best it is not an easy
procedure to handle a midwife alone would have little chance of coping. Deep transverse arrest
occurs fairly frequently. A caesarean is then usually necessary and this could not be handled at
home. If the baby should need resuscitation and many do it must be done immediately to prevent
brain damage. And for the mother, theres always the danger of postpartum haemorrhage. (To all the
midwives who read this - have your say!)
Oops! That outburst of negativity was written before my second child was born. (I should have read
it back then.) So Anton had survived the dreaded impacted shoulders scenario without any of the
abovementioned (autosuggested) drama. I had faced this kind of claptrap before, when I brought

Vivienne into a world that was equally infested with negative and hostile opinions. Here is a picture
of Vivienne and her brother Anton who was born two years later and weighed 4.5 kg. Impacted
shoulders and all, there was no tearing or need for stitches!
Faith in God our Creator includes faith in what we call the miracle of life.
It is priceless and cannot be controlled by man
The faith to push out the baby and not to cut it out.
The faith to endure the pain because there is a reason for it.
The faith not to take drugs and fiddle with instruments.
The faith to wait a full term so the baby is ready to be born.
The faith to nourish the new baby exclusively on breast milk.
The faith to just be normal, natural and have babies without any fuss.
The second miracle of life is the first breath a baby takes. But the first miracle of life is when two
tiny cells meet and merge to build a new home for an old soul.
She hugs the new babies to her bosom. It is the end of a long journey through a short canal.
Together they danced for joy and shared a secret life in a dark place. How does it feel now?
We prayed together and trusted in God. Then we waited and waited for the SMS: Skye and Eden
have arrived!
Then we gave thanks to God
Then we hugged the babies
and counted their fingers and toes
I hope they think our world is OK
Here is reference by the Midwife for all the technical details:
http://www.spiritualbirth.net/the-homebirth-of-twins-skye-and-eden#more-3674
Look Ma, no hands - brilliant!A great product - if you are good at technical stuff!