SPD - Do you have an easier labour?

[shinyshilling]

Do you have an easier labour if you have experienced SPD? My legs now feel like they belong to two different people, who are wrestling to gain back the other one. I currently feel like the whole street could trundle in and out and hide their christmas shopping in my pelvis!
The one up side of this is that a MW told me this week that if you have SPD, your pelvis has already considerably widened and this may result in an easier birth. Please can someone tell me that this is true? I have requested this on my Christmas list ten times over...There must be some positive side to all this aching!Sorry for the three questions in a row!

had it severely, and apart from dont let them raise your legs to push or put them in stirrups both my labours were fine. almost immeadiate relief from the pain afterwards aswell.

cx

I've had bad sacro-iliac pain in both pregnancies. SI pain similar to SPD but at the tailbone/hips and back of pelvis as opposed to front. I can totally sympathise with you feeling your pelvis belongs to someone else it's bloody agony too.

My labour was 4h 20 mins, dilating to 10cms only took a few hours (not that anyone realised at the time) and DD shot out at the end. Hoping no 2 is about a 10 min labour

Would echo Carly in that once babe was delivered pain just went. Even though I was sore from having the baby it was great being able to turn over in bed pain free again!

Good luck

I seemed to manage an easier labour with SPD than the one without, don't know if it had anything to do with the SPD though. DON'T let them put you in stirrups the woman next to me at the physio yesterday still had a bad back because of this 30 years later.

Someone I know had a great labour in water with SPD. Water helped support her and take the weight off and allowed her to move quite easily.

that's what I thought - surely there's an upside? - but in the event ds got stuck and couldn't descend at all so after 52 hrs labour I had a cs.

This site suggests that spd may mean your pelvis has become misaligned, which can make it more likely that the baby will get stuck (especially if it's big and therefore doesn't have much room to maneouvre) - search for "symphysis" on that page as it's a bit long.

The only woman in my antenatal class with SPD also had the worst labour (48 hours then an emergency C-section). I'm not sure if the two were related but having SPD obviously doesn't always give you an easier labour. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

I had SPD with second pregnancy but not first. My labour when I had SPD was very quick (less than 2 hrs) but, then again, my first labour wasn't that long either( 4 hrs).
Just make sure you don't let them move you around too much or put you in stirrups. My physio advised me to measure how far apart I could comfortably open my legs (measure between knees) and put this on my birth plan. Get birth partner to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't get carried away in the heat of it all!!
I was fine as soon as DS was born and ditched the crutches immediately -the relief was wonderful

i suffered from SPD with my second pregnancy, absolute agony, my pelvis used to crack when i turned in bed at night. my midwife suggested a water birth, but i ended up in bed on a monitor, labour was very quick though, only two and a half hours. dont know if SPD was reason or second baby!

I had SPD in first pg and had emergency C-section. Have been told that it may come back but worse this time and so will prob have c-section again. A friend of mine had SPD so bad second time that they would not risk her having avaginal delivery and booked her for a c-section as she may have ended up in wheelchair!

Hiya,
I had severe SPD was on crutches, and at the end of the pregnancy, couldnt walk at all. I was carried in to the labour ward by my dh i was in that much pain with it!
However, when the contractions kicked in strongly, i kind of "forgot" about the spd pain.
My dh knew exactly what my legs could and couldnt do (which was not alot!), and i told my midwifes constantly about the SPD. I ended up having a tramatic birth but not to do with the Spd.
Within an hour of giving birth, i was WALKING accross the corridor to have a shower, without my crutches! The day after giving birth, i was able to walk around asdsa, and the stitches i had was more painful then the SPD!!
Now, 5and a half weeks after the birth, i do still suffer with the pain, but painkillers do control it, and im not taking them as a "course" anymore!!
If you do not want a section, let you midwifes know and also make sure your birthing partner is aware of the problem.
I did not want to give birth viganally, but after talking on here about my fears, decided that it could be worth it. I also talking in depth to my consultant who calmed all my nerves down.
If you want more infomation, CAT me.

I have SPD, worse this time round than last, but still creaked and cracked and ached last time.

I had DS in the water and it was amazing - I think you're planning that, so I hope that you find the same. It's what I want this time round too - makes it so easy to change position and get "comfy"!

Heh, nope. DD was posterior and took 38 hours to emerge, the first 27 of which were spent desperately trying for a home birth but stuck at 4 cms until, knackered, I decided to go to hospital to speed labour up with a synto drip.

That said, the second stage went pretty well and I escaped with only a small second degree tear that didn't even need stiches.

shinyshilling, i was just gonna post this question myself! im pg with no 4 and although only mild compared to some women, i am suffering a little with spd symptoms and im really concerned about the birth. i read somewhere that you musnt give birth on your back but either on all fours{charming}or in kneeling positon, or on your left side.any ladies out there know anything about this?

As I am on crutches and can hardly walk, or move, or think about moving....I just met with the consultant about planning for labour this morning. I've got the sacro-iliac version like sweet kitty (sometimes called PPD for posterior blah blah).

I was advised that the best way forward was to have an epidural put in fairly early on in. Any one else get this advice?

(sweetkitty, what did you do for pain relief?)

I kind of wanted to labour in water, but the consultant seemed to think that the back pain would be too horrendous for me to push effectively.

It is so confusing!

this morning getting into the shower, my pelvis popped so loud it sounded like someone was opening up a bottle of champagne
that can't be good!

i had mild SPD this time and my labour was VERY quick and suprisingly easy.... although it hurt like hell, i managed it - which is more than i did with Jessica's birth.

Ok, so i asked for the epidural but it didnt work, so did REbecca's birth on gas and air, but it was quick.

Possibly a coinsidence?!

Some of you may remember Pie - she use to be on Mumsnet - she had very severe SPD, was in a wheelchair from 20 weeks onwards or so, I was her doula and she had a very easy waterbirth.
I have "specialised" in supporting women with SPD and now strongly believe that water births are ideal with SPD.
I would suggest a water birth and recommend osteopathy in pregnancy.
Motherinferior has also written about SPD.

BTW - I had SPD twice and was bed bound for my 2nd child from 36 weeks onwards and I too had an easy peezy water birth!

Sorry should say - epdiural is very bad advice as you won't be able to feel if you damage your pubis.

Sorry to add again!!! I do not know anyone who found the SPD pain (however bad it was!) to be a significant problem at all in labour if they were put in water !

see, that's one reason I was confused...

I too had heard that epidurals can put you in a situation where you can seriously damage ligaments. It seemed like a water birth would make moving around easier (right now, it really hurts to turn over in bed ect. ect.)

Also- isn't there a chance that an epidural can slow down labor, thus leading to intervention like ventouse or forcepts- thus leading to needing to be put in stirrups ect. ect.???

But I'm assuming that the consultant knows about this all or wouldn't have recommended it as the first course of action???

but maybe since most of my trouble is in the posterior sacro-illiac region, the advice would differ from regular SPD?

OBs are generaly fairly ignorant of SPD I have to say!
Yes an epidural does affect your labour as it numbs your muscles... is it your first?

I had spd with both mine. 1st time round i had a long slow labour and ended up having epidural and syntocin and then ventouse delivery. Neither consultant or any of the mws were paricularly interested in my SPD or the fact i needed crutches to get around. Labour was 14 hours and i was pushing for 3 of those. (my Dd was 9lb 13oz though )

With my DS 2nd time round had spd but labour was easier, quicker (6 hours) and completely without any intervention and just gas and air.

I dont think SPD helps or hinders as such.

I was on crutches with spd. birth was fine. only 2.5hours start to finish. was put in stirrups twice; for surgery on bad tear. as long as midwife is there to remind any one dealing with you to be careful, you will hopefully be fine. could get out of bed, and turn in bed about two weeks later. spd was worse than the birth - least you get decent pain relief (well, you do if there's time - mine was too quick, so just gas and air, but it worked! wish i'd had that through out my last trimester). good luck. try not to worry too much - what will be will be. x