OBEM - 9lb 6oz baby

[herethereandeverywhere]

(Have searched if this has already been mentioned in a thread but couldn't find anything - apologies if it has).

Was anyone else FURIOUS that they induced/allowed that poor young woman to labour for 4 days when from the outset they knew she was going to have a baby that was very large for her size and she'd probably need a c-section. The midwives discussing it on their coffee break said exactly that (CS) and how worried they were about the baby's size.

Why oh why with that knowledge did they put her through all that? It is nothing short of cruel and arguably disingenuous to not share those (medically informed) opinions with her.

I just don't believe that everyone can give birth naturally and when those with the requisite knowledge are saying as much the health and wellbeing of the mother should go a little higher up the agenda.

is it?

Just watched this and have to say I pretty much agree with thisisyesterday. Routine induction for going overdue, bsby could be positioned anywhere ARM can mess with positioning, especially if she wasn't engaged. I wonder what would have happened if they had gone to expectant monitoring instead and let baby find her own way down?

Guessing the size of babies from scans is very imprecise, they could be a couple of pounds out anyway, there is no way to tell either way whether she could deliver naturally.

AS for scanning for position during labour, there's no guarantee that would help either. I had an ultrasound in early labour and was told my baby was in a good position, it turned out he really wasn't and he ended up stuck despite being only 7lb. You can't just send every mum to section just in case.

Interesting points - I agree that the cost of scans for all would be prohibitive but perhaps a worthwhile investment before inducing? It would be interesting to know whether , in a majority of cases, malpositioning occurs following inducing labour, or was the reason labour wasn't spontaneous. If offered induction this time I plan to insist on a scan first or go with expectant management.

I am very small (7 and a half stone and a small size 6/8) and gave birth to a 9lb 5oz baby. Second child, two and a half hour labour, just gas and air. Definitely not easy, but I'm glad that I had a natural delivery as I had dd1 at home to look after as well. My family are all small and we all give birth to big babies - I don't think that small mother and big baby should automatically mean that a c-section is on the cards, unless the mother's condition or medical circumstances mean that it is the best course of action.

A mother's overall size, ie whether size 8, 20 stone etc, has no bearing on ability to birth. It is all down to pelvis size and shape (and the baby's position).

Agree that size has nothing to do with it. I'm petite and gave birth naturally to DS (9lb8) and DD (9lb14)

DD was harder as she had her arm up besied her head and also her fontanelle is much smaller than ds's was, so her head was less flexible.

also a babies position changes during labour, so scanning beforehand wouldn't tell them much really

if i'd been scanned before having ds2 it would have shown he was back to back.
didn't mean i couldn't deliver him though,.

many (in fact, most?) OP babies DO turn in labour

Of course maternal size has nothing to do with it - look at the mother who was the other end of the spectrum from Oakley. It's pelvic size and stretch that counts from the mother's point of view.

She wasn't in labout for 4 days as someone else has pointed out. And OP babies can indeed be born vaginally. I got ds out that way and although it was hell, within a couple of days I felt pretty normal again as opposed to still being in hospital following a CS.

If you go down the route of scanning all mothers prior to an induction you will have an explosion of mothers asking for (and possibly being granted) CS for an OP baby. Inherently less safe and more expensive.

I knew DS1 would have a big head (MIL's genes are strong...) and insisted on an elec CS. He was oblique as well which didn't help.

Obstetrician said there was no way he would have come out vaginally; I'm v glad I stuck to my guns