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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to wonder why bigger ladies in pregnancy need stockings?

71 replies

cbeebiesinducedcoma · 18/09/2012 21:03

I am a bigger BMI , but I was last time and had a very straightforward pregnancy and birth and did have a big baby (9'3) but I was 9lbs myself so not too far out.

I had a consultant meeting and said lots had changed since I had first and mentioned having a special anesthetist appointment, stockings? and an injection after birth.

I have very painful SPD which affects my mobility but other than that I'm okay really had very severe MS but tapered off.
Consultant was nice saying 'we don't want to change you its just to help' which is fair enough.
AIBU to think this is a bit OTT? if their are no other issues.

OP posts:

Thumbwitch · 19/09/2012 01:31

As has been said, it's to help prevent DVTs. As 1 in 20 people in the UK are estimated to have the gene alteration that causes Factor V Leiden, the most common cause of thrombophilia, and there are several other clotting disorders that can also cause thrombophilia (raised tendency to make clots), then putting compression stockings on everyone who is potentially high risk is a good idea and almost certainly cheaper than testing everyone for thrombophilia risk factors.

I have Factor V Leiden so have been having Clexane jabs my entire pregnancy (this time around) and will be given compression stockings and stay on some form of anti-coag (I want to switch to warfarin, I've had enough of jabbing myself) for 6-12w after delivery. Most women's risk of making a DVT goes up around 4x in pregnancy - my risk is more like 40x higher, apparently.

Tempernillo · 19/09/2012 06:58

I have been I to hospital 3 x recently, twice when I was pregnant and once when I was not. And I am not overweight (well not when I booked in anyway - maybe by the end if pregnancy!). And in one of those ocassions I was a day case, but I did have a ga and an op. all three times I had to wear compression stockings. I have quotes collection now in my sock drawer! I have never had an injection to my recollection, but I think policies vary as at the hospital I work (different one) everyone gets a heparin injection when they are admitted.

Tempernillo · 19/09/2012 06:58

I meant quite a collection...

mumtomoley · 19/09/2012 09:35

Is it weird that this thread is making me really really want another baby?

StateofConfusion · 19/09/2012 09:51

Don't 'just say no'

The reason things change are because of new research and developments. Its just stockings for goodness sake! My eldest is 5 and I had them for after him, dd and will after this baby. As did all the other women on the ward, really it won't cause any harm at all so surely wearing them to reduce what could potentially be a massive risk to you makes sense?

And you'll have an apt with an anaesthetist as if they've met you, checked your back in case of spinals etc it makes there job easier, and again you safer.

ChunkyPickle · 19/09/2012 09:58

I think it must depend. I didn't have any of this in Canada (and they were perfectly happy for me to have a home birth - had other issues not occured)

I know that being overweight increases all sorts of risks, but I have a suspicion that they overrate those risks. Try finding actual stats so you can make informed choices though - it's all but impossible!

CaptainHetty · 19/09/2012 09:58

I thought it was pretty standard now for anyone admitted to hospital who might have problems with mobility, not just pregnant women - I had an emergency appendectomy last year and I had them on, most people on the ward were wearing them as well, I don't think it was anything to do with weight.

It's perfectly understandable to be confused and want to ask questions if things have changed a lot since last time :)

ChunkyPickle · 19/09/2012 09:58

Oh, and I'd wear the stockings - I think everyone should get those whether fat or thin.

MammaTJisWearingGold · 19/09/2012 09:59

I did say no. Being a larger lady, they do not have stockings actually big enough. I know they are meant to be tight, but they are not meant to cut off circulation, surely.

I was fairly mobile though, even after c-section. I just told the staff they could inject me, which they did, and that I would walk around regularly. I did that and I was fine.

If they actually had had stockings that fit, I would have worn them.

TittyWhistles · 19/09/2012 10:02

I had an ELCS and was measured for stockings. My BMi is 19.

I thought it was standard after an operation because of dvt.

TittyWhistles · 19/09/2012 10:04

Yes, measured. and wore them I mean!

You have to wear them for aaaahes after.

HaveALittleFaith · 19/09/2012 10:05

There's a big drive towards anti-embolism in the UK at the moment. There's a drive in my hospital (I'm a nurse) to assess and treat everyone in hospital because so people died from DVTs in the sat few years when it's something that's preventable with simple methods including stockings and treatment (injections like clexane). Women who are heavier are higher risk of DVT hence the recommendation of stockings.

MamaTJ you're right, if they're that tight, they're doing no good at all!

eurochick · 19/09/2012 10:20

Everyone I know who has been an inpatient for anything has been given the stockings, regardless of size.

Blending · 19/09/2012 11:04

As someone who had a Pullmonary Embolisim following a C-Section and nearly died, I would urge everyone to wear these if advised.

I almost left my DD motherless, and it is preventable.

SleepyLittleSunshineGirl · 19/09/2012 11:47

I wore teds for 6 weeks during a heatwave - day and night. It was horrible in those high temps, buthaving lost a relative to DVT after an op, it was a no-brainer, even if I did hate them!

ProfYaffle · 19/09/2012 11:53

My dh had to had the stockings/injection combo following an op as he had about 10 days in hospital. He was neither pregnant nor overweight! I think it's fairly standard now.

Original poster

cbeebiesinducedcoma · 19/09/2012 13:51

StateofConfusion , I think you're confused

I said I'm not going to say no, why would I? I just wondered why its so overboard now.

OP posts:

HaveALittleFaith · 19/09/2012 13:56

Ah but it's not overboard. Everyone should be assessed these days for something that is preventable with simple interventions. It's just that there's been a huge campaign to raise prevalence and awareness in the last couple of years.

Thumbwitch · 19/09/2012 14:06

I don't think that preventing entirely preventable deaths counts as "being overboard" and am quite surprised that anyone would think that.

It's cheaper than testing everyone for thrombophilia. It works. It has the potential to save lives. What's the issue?

3littlefrogs · 19/09/2012 14:14

Those of us who work in this field have spent years and years doing audits and studies and lobbying parliament to introduce measures to address the 30 - 50 thousand preventable deaths per year from thrombosis.

We now have much better standards in place and at last, pulmonary embolism is no longer the leading cause of maternal death in England. (Previously around 30 deaths a year).

Hearing people say it is a bit OTT makes me want to bang my head on my desk.

Trickle · 19/09/2012 14:17

I'm currently two weeks into the final 6 weeks of injections and stockings after birth - I had a vaginal birth and a prepregnancy BMI of 24 but I'm a wheelchair user and more immobile than they'd like, so I've been doing this since week 28 and apparently should have been doing it sooner.

I've also got asthma, a compressed disc in my lower spine and resistance to local anaesthetic so had to have a meeting with the anaesthatist. He was fab, had researched my condition had a few questions for me and a few answers too, found it very reassuring myself.

I've always been given two pairs of stockings - you can go and get made to measure class one anti odema stockings from your practice nurse which I've been told are the same thing and wore after my pair from hospital disintegrated.

There was a woman who died two weeks after childbirth due to DVT within the last six months I think, as well as being a terrible tradgedy that should have been avoided it'll make our maternal mortality figures rise and I imagine the politics of that have a great deal to do with it (cynical moi?). TBH I don't need anymore disability and I don't want to die, I'm pretty relieved they are taking good care of me and it's been a minor inconvinience.

Original poster

cbeebiesinducedcoma · 19/09/2012 14:23

I'm talking about the way bigger women are treat in pregnancy now now stockings in general, I've never seen them before so I'm bound to be a bit

OP posts:

3littlefrogs · 19/09/2012 14:27

If you are pregnant and have a high BMI you are at greater risk of DVT and embolism than someone who is pregnant and has a lower BMI.

RubberBullets · 19/09/2012 14:34

DD is 16 weeks and I had a BMI of 36 when I became pregnant with her and at no point were stockings or injections mentioned. I didn't have an appointment with an anaesthetist either. During labour I had an epidural and there was no mention of any different aftercare because of this.

Trickle · 19/09/2012 14:34

oops x-posted, sorry frogs hadn't realised it was such an issue, if that's the mortality rate hate to think how many have been disabled by it year on year

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