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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask about your experience of giving birth to a big baby?

101 replies

bgmama · 01/09/2020 14:23

Hello, I am in the 37th week of pregnancy and my doctor is telling me that I am carrying a very big baby. This has been confirmed by ultrasounds, although I know they are not an exact science. I already have a child, which was born a few years ago without any complications and I was hoping it would be the same with this one. Can I ask how was your labour if your baby was big? Did you have any complications and did you have to be induced or have an EMCS due to the size of the baby? So far my doctor has a ‘wait and see‘ approach, which I am happy with, but I am also worried, as I would really like to avoid a c-section. I should add I don't live in the UK, so the care I receive is a bit different here. Also, did your baby turn out to be as big as expected when it was born, because I have heard that the scan can very often get it wrong.

OP posts:
Anothermother3 · 01/09/2020 17:02

Oh also meant to say no intervention needed but their heads were fairly average given their sizes which helped.

pinkpetal2 · 01/09/2020 17:06

I was told my first baby would be huge but she was 7lb4 and my second was 7lb 1 third was told he'd be extremely small but he was 6lb7 I think or 6lb 3

NameChange84 · 01/09/2020 17:10

My friend was scared shitless by Doctors and Midwives warning her that her baby was “very big” and “massive” and that it was doubtful she’d go to due date as she was 39 and it would be unsafe to vaginally deliver such a large baby at her age. She was having panic attacks and all sorts. She was terrified her waters would break and she’d have no choice but to deliver vaginally. Even at 8 and a half months she wasn’t big, only looked 6 months gone. They kept warning her that she was in for a baby over 10lbs even if born 3 weeks early.

In the end they booked her in for an C Section 2 weeks before her due date. Baby was 7lbs3oz Hmm.

ConfusedPanda · 01/09/2020 17:15

@namechange84 how did your friend feel about that? I'd have been furious to be honest!

edgeware · 01/09/2020 17:17

My midwife said DS would probably be 8 pounds - he was 10.5! I had no pain relief, and birth was fine up until very end because his shoulder got stuck (shoulder dystocia), which was sorted very quickly by midwives changing my position. No other interventions like epistiotimy or forceps, I had a second degree tear that healed quickly and well. No pelvic floor issues. Now pregnant with DS2 and I’m having extra scans. I’m measuring top percentile but not off the charts or anything. I am yet to find out what they will recommend but have been told I don’t have to have a c section (I’d rather not).
My DS1 is still huge for his age, tall with broad shoulders, so it does make sense he was a big baby. My husband and I both have broad shoulders and are tall.

catdogcatdogfish · 01/09/2020 17:19

My first was 11lb 9oz. My midwife had dismissed my worries that the baby was too big and I went into labour naturally at 41 weeks. I won't lie, the labour was horrendous and I was far too far gone before they realised she was so big. I ended up having an episiotomy to deliver her. I just remember a doctor rushing into the room having a look and saying this baby is very big you're going to need help. But you're not in that position, they're planning for a big baby so you're in such good hands. Good luck!

Bingobongo1 · 01/09/2020 17:29

My 9lb 4 baby saved my life if dc had been smaller they think I'd have not made it. So big babies are useful sometimes.
I'd say position is probably a bigger issue. I know a couple of back to back pregnancies who've ended up with fractures.
Sizing never seems right. 9lb4oz was expected to be 8lb. My dt had an expected combined weight of 14lb2oz. They're actual combined weight was 12lb12.

jewel1968 · 01/09/2020 17:32

10lb 3 Oz. Natural birth with no pain relief. It was fine. Gravity is your friend.

ZigZagIntoTheBlue · 01/09/2020 17:34

11lbs 10ozs for DS1, I had a 3rd degree tear but no other issues. I know it sounds daft but he was really bloody heavy so carrying him in the car seat was a gym workout by itself, if I'd known he'd be so heavy I would've looked for a lighter model!
DS2 was 8lbs 10ozs so didn't get heavier as I feared.
Pelvic floor exercises are key to avoid continence issues afterwards too.

AnImperfectParent · 01/09/2020 17:35

My 10lb baby was way easier to deliver than my 7lb one.

As PPs have illustrated, scans are shit at accurately judging size. I have a very cross friend who was 'forced' into a section for her 'giant' baby who was nearer 6lbs.

Pleatherandlace · 01/09/2020 17:36

My youngest was estimated to be 8lb, had monthly growth scans due to a condition of mine. Baby was 9.5lb. Labour lasted 45 minutes start to end, baby flew out like a cork from a bottle!

TheGoogleMum · 01/09/2020 17:37

They don't always get size right as others have said. I have heard its easier to give birth to a big baby than a small one (i think the extra weight helps!), so maybe a quicker labour but tears might be more likely

Porcupineinwaiting · 01/09/2020 17:37

My midwife told me ds2 would be big - and she was right. He was 10lb 8oz.

It helped that he was the second. It helped that I was kept mobile during labour and that my waters didnt go until late on because he was OP and I'd never have got him out unless he turned (which he did). Forceps were involved, I sustained some tearing but it wasnt nearly as painful or long as with ds1 (8lbs 10oz, also OP). He was v nearly a c-section, I was prepped and on the table!

Polnm · 01/09/2020 17:38

Have an elective caesarean,

My DS was 11+lbs and I ended up with prolapse and needed hysterectomy after failed surgery

I wish someone had said this to me.

Polnm · 01/09/2020 17:39

I can’t remember his exact weight. Over 11lbs and largest birth for a year at the hospital

spanieleyes · 01/09/2020 17:39

First one was 9lb11oz and the second 9lb 13. Both emergency c sections. In neither case was I warned they might be large. Given I'm only 5'1" they were something of a surprise!

Polnm · 01/09/2020 17:41

To add. Through the my pregnancy they said the baby was small. Last note on file from consultants talked about an underweight baby. My friend said it was copied and put on the staffroom wall with his birthweight as they all hated her.

grey12 · 01/09/2020 17:44

I was told DD2 was big but she turned out to be bang on the 50th percentile for weight and 3 grams lighther than her sister. Yes 3!!! Less than a little pack of sugar.

I have heard that labour for big babies is a little harder but can be done naturally. A lot of women have episiotomy, even with small babies, so not a big difference there.

Personally I had a really bad experience with induction. I didn't labour at all! My body just wasn't responding and all that "pushing" was no pushing at all!! So I think I would prefer to go for a natural birth and if I needed csection then fine.

peachgreen · 01/09/2020 17:45

10lb 13oz. Went in at 41+2 to be induced but after examining me they suggested an ELCS and I agreed. Thank God I did. Her head was 99th centile and she was stuck in my pelvis. Took 6 of them to hold me down while they hauled her out. I had to have hours of extra surgery and haemmoraged almost 2l of blood so was in and out of consciousness. So it went pretty badly - but recovery was absolutely fine! Would happily do it again.

puffylovett · 01/09/2020 17:46

First baby 43 weeks 8lb 6pz but all head, no issues.
Second baby measures via ultrasound at 40 weeks as 6lb, they wanted to induce, I went for expectant management. Delivered at 43 weeks 10lb! Small head very very long.
Scans are rubbish imo.

Babyroobs · 01/09/2020 17:47

It depends what you consider big. My ds3 was nine pounds 4 oz. It was a quick labour over a couple of hours and I had to have an episiotomy but only because the cord was wrapped round his neck and he was distressed. No idea if I still would have needed one without this complication. Took a long time to recover. My ds1 was a c-section and that was a lot less painful !

Thubten · 01/09/2020 17:50

I'm a slim 5ft 2", my son was 10lbs 2oz. No stretch marks, no stitches, normal delivery. Try not to worry, you can do it

Babyroobs · 01/09/2020 17:50

@Babyroobs

It depends what you consider big. My ds3 was nine pounds 4 oz. It was a quick labour over a couple of hours and I had to have an episiotomy but only because the cord was wrapped round his neck and he was distressed. No idea if I still would have needed one without this complication. Took a long time to recover. My ds1 was a c-section and that was a lot less painful !
I should also add he is 17 now and the skinniest teenager ever !
grey12 · 01/09/2020 17:51

@puffylovett PLEASE let me know where you gave birth and how you managed to wait for the 43 weeks!!!! Shock

BatleyTownswomensGuild · 01/09/2020 17:52

DS himself was normal size but his head was on the 99th centile. He got stuck and I ended up with last minute spinal and they got him out with forceps. Having the spinal was fine and the pain relief it gave was awesome. Didn't feel a thing once it was done. Had a moderate tear and a few stitches which didn't bother me after the second day tbh. But my pelvic floor was shot and needed physio to sort that out. Do your pelvic exercises after the birth!

It wasn't fun but he is my only child so I don't have any other childbirth experience to compare it to. Childbirth seems to be one of those random things that is hard to predict. I have friends with large babies who flew out like champagne corks and others with small babies who needed intervention because they wouldn't come out.