short mums? worried about the birth

[ellielay15]

Im due my first child in august this year, however only being 4'11 im slightly worried about the labour, id rather not have a cesarean, just want to know if any other mums on the small side have any advice for labour?

[Cirsium]

I'm also 4'11", although not particularly petite in frame. My height caused no issues during labour with 7lb 6oz DD and they even found me a small birthing ball to bounce on. I'm sure your midwife would refer you to a consultant if she had any concerns. I did feel very big by the end as not much height to spread a bump over.

I did have a consultant appointment but only because my height is due to a hereditary form of rickets (that most HCP know very little about) and I had asked about testing for DD when she arrived (we recently had the all clear for her . It was a waste of an appointment and could have been dealt with by phone/email. I think the consultant was expecting me to hobble in on crutches, I explained I had no current issues and had never had hip/pelvic problems. She said she could see I was fine to have a vaginal delivery, asked if the student could do a fundal height, etc for practice and that was that.

Good luck for your pregnancy and birth.

[picklesauage]

I am on the small side myself, but my mother and two aunts are very small. My two aunts were 4"9 and my mum 5"0.

They suffered no problems at all during labour, except for my families ability to birth unexpectedly quickly!
They suffered lots of heartburn and stomach issues in pregnancy as their stomachs were so compressed though.

I would hope that your labour will be fine, one consultant theorised that small women laboured quicker as the downward pressure was increased due to lack of space!

[Sunshine87]

I'm 5,1 never had any problems even birth. Had first DC 7,2 second 8,5 awaiting to give birth in afew weeks y DH was 10,2 but his parents are very tall. I think you carry a baby to your frame.

[PickledLilly]

I'm 5ft and I managed to give birth to an 8lb baby. I did have problems with my back towards the end of pregnancy though as I have quite a big natural sway to my back and carrying so much weight on my front did put some pressure on my back but it went as soon as I had her. I don't think you'll necessarily have more problems just because you're short.

[Believeitornot]

Nature is pretty smart and makes your baby about right for your body.

If you have a caesarean i would doubt it would be because your baby was "too big".

[Inkymess]

Tiny petite women all over the words have babies just fine. I'm tiny and had two quite big babies with no issues

[Vikkijayne2507]

I'm 5 ft and a very easy pregnancy and labour, small babies that grow very quickly after birth

[RatherBeRiding]

I am very petite - had 2 easy trouble-free labours. My consultant told me at one point "petite women tend to have petite babies so it all balances out". He was right.

[Troika]

I'm 5'2. Had two relatively easy labours with 7lb babies. Now overdue with no3, experiencing a lot of heartburn and sickness due to the lack of space and baby is still right under my ribs despite having engaged but I'm not expecting the labour to be any more difficult because I'm short.

[f1fan2015]

I am 5' and had no problems giving birth to my DD. According to the midwife she was going to be a big baby and I got given a late scan which confirmed I was carrying a lot of fluid and my DD would be small, which she was.

I have always worried about how small my DD is but as one doctor said - with 2 short parents - what do I expect!

You should be fine

[5madthings]

I am 5 2 so not as short, but have size 4 feet and am small. Have birthed all my babies fine, easily infact and I have had big babies ie 9lb + and biggest so far was 10lb 13oz. Expecting Dc6 at easter and baby estimated to be 10lb at term.

I agree with squashed ribcage and not having much space etc. But have never had heartburn or indigestion etc, my pregnancies have all been easy tbh and this one is the same. I don't even get thst big yet gave big babies, just hide them well!

[Dixiechick17]

5ft 1.5 with size three feet and fairly petite, I popped my DD out with no problems. She was 7lbs 10oz, I found the pregnancy hard towards the end, but the birth itself went really well, and was just over five hours long.

[insan1tyscartching]

I'm just five foot and a very small frame. I had to have my pelvis x rayed before my first which was a trial of labour. But I have birthed 4 babies vaginally weighing between 7lb and 7lb 15oz.
Not sure whether this will reassure you but my 4ft 10inch nan had my 13lb Dad without much trouble

[elliejjtiny]

I'm 5ft 1in and gave birth to my 3 older boys, each weighing nearly 9lb with no problems. Had C-sections with my younger 2 due to bad positioning.

[latika]

I'm 5'1 size 3 feet and my son got stuck in the birth canal. Ended up with a c section after a very long labour, my situation couldn't have been predicted but it was so traumatic and I never had any more children. Have lots of similar sized friends who had no issues at all

[RedToothBrush]

Foot size has been dismissed by NICE as having no relationship to increased risk of CS.

Shoe size, maternal height and estimations of fetal size (ultrasound or clinical examination) do not accurately predict cephalopelvic disproportion and should not be used to predict ‘failure to progress’ during labour. NICE guidelines on CS 2011.

I believe that if you are under 5ft, the risk of a CS is slightly higher than a woman of average height but there are lots of other risk factors too and its not significant enough to make the NICE recommendations. In theory if you are fit / healthy / average age then statistically you could be lower risk than lots of other women who are taller than you.

You are also not short enough to be classed as either disabled or have other medical problems as a direct result of your height. You would be being advised if it was a potential problem / at greater risk.

Generally you do have a baby according to your size (otherwise small women would have died out).

Not to mention the position of the baby itself, whether you are able to move around during the birth etc etc can also be as important, if not more important anyway.