
Connor Kennedy, a first-time mum in Melbourne, changed her birth plan mere days before her due date. Her obstetrician Dr Peter Jurcevic suggested a maternal assisted caesarean to deliver her own twins.
For Victoria, the delivery of twins via a maternally assisted caesarean would be a first. It was a prospect Connor admits she was slightly nervous about, but nevertheless excited.
“The big difference between this and a regular caesarean is that as parents, you're more involved and you get to see their first breath, rather than being stuck behind a screen,” Connor shares with Mamamia.
Connor and her husband, Damian, say the biggest challenge of the birth was the mental preparation for the unknown. But when it came to the day, adrenalin took over.
At 8:10am on September 1, Connor and her husband Damian entered the theatre at Frances Perry House in Melbourne for the birth of their twin boys.
By 8:26am, it was all over. Yes, a sixteen minute birth.
You can watch Connor’s maternal assisted caesarean birth here. Post continues below.
“Everything is pretty much the same as a normal c-section,” she explains, “except that your hands are free and there's no barrier between you and the baby, which is really important so you can actually witness them come out and grab them and pull them up.”
Of the moment she pulled out her sons, Connor says “it was just complete euphoria”.
“It's just really, really magical.”
Connor’s biggest concern was that she would faint from the sight of blood and be a distraction for the doctors. When it came to it, though, she says this simply wasn’t an issue.
In fact, she describes it as a stress-free birth.
Connor explains that being able to see the faces of the medical staff throughout the surgery put her at ease - an "unexpected" benefit of the maternal assisted caesarean.