Big newborn

[Lola10]

My friend just had a baby (11lb 8oz -massive) they made her to have it naturally. After speaking to her the baby and her, they are in a massive after the whole experience.

My question is why can you make a formal complaint to the hospital about traumatic experience and why someone let that happened.

Thanks

I think you can ask for a review with the midwifes/consultants involved so that your friend can ask why certain decisions where made etc.

Then she could choose wheather something needs to be complained about.

a c section might not have been the easier option, so maybe keep an open mind for the review?

I have read on the net that babies above 9lb are concerned to have c- section. And now I am reading about the reviews about the hospital its horrible, may women had a very bad experience at st gorges hospital in tooting. I heard the same.

When I meet her I will talk if they are thinking about the complaint

I delivered my 10lb 7 baby naturally, they didnt know he would be so big even though I was massive. They said probably next time theyd induce me at 37 weeks. Luckily managed to not damage too bad.

Your friend can complains through the Patient Advisory and Liaison services (PALS) or through the local primary care trust. She will likely have to go through the informal procedures first prior to formal complaint procedures.

As for why someone let that happen - guessing birth weight prior to the birth is extremely difficult. Ultrasounds can be off by over 2 pounds either way, and worse in the last weeks of pregnancy and women are unlikely to be scanned at that stage unless there are other problems or a history. At what weight, if any, a hospital would consider advising induction or c-section is for that trust to decide. Many have decided, without any other factors, to continue with a vaginal birth for large babies unless an issue rises in labour as many women can and have given birth to large babies with no more issues for the mother than a small sized child, if they are supported and cared for properly (whether or not a particularly hospital can is always up to debate).

There are lots of reasons why she may be "damaged" after the natural birth. And most of them will not have anything to do with it being a big baby.
both my babies were large,9 lbs 7oz and 10 lbs 11oz. I was fine.
What type of pain relief she had,what position she was in,not pushing during crowning,the "lie" of the baby...these can all be contributing factors.
The important thing is that she gets a review and deals with any issues so she can be prepared the next time.

My sister had her baby at St georges in Tooting. He was 11lb 6oz. No stitches and only gas and air. They did use forceps in the end though.
She didnt complain, although they thought he was going to be big I dodnt think they realised he would be that large.

I was constantly told I would have a very large baby first time round. When she was born she was 7lb 3oz !!!

My understanding is that sizing scans are not reliable enough to justify elcs for predicted large babies the absence of any other risk factors. My baby was thought to be well over 10 lbs and I wasn't offered one. Had a vaginal birth - no stitches. Baby was 11lbs.

Just been to an NCT session, and the lady there was saying that its not really easier to birth a 7lb baby than it is to birth a 10lb baby because the difficult bit is the head and shoulders - which is generally the same sort of size whatever the babies weight, the rest is fat which can squish around a bit more- and shouldn't cause any more damage.

It is true that generally a bigger baby isn't harder to birth. Head circumference and position are what makes the difference. And actually gravity can help a larger baby. I couldn't birth a 7 pounder and had to have emergency surgery. She was in the wrong position.

The thing is, did they suspect an 11lb 8oz baby? SIL was threatened with induction/cs with all of hers as they were convinced she was having 'whoppers'. Her biggest was just over 6lbs at term. It's not an exact science.

But for your friend's peace of mind, she should seek a debrief and ask as many questions as she needs to.

Just wanted to add that my MW told me in a lot of cases birthing a baby with a bigger head is actually easier - once their head engages it stays there instead of messing about all over the place. I suffered a horrific third-degree internal tear birthing my 5lb DS - because he was prem (huge for his 33 weeks though!) he pretty much just shot out leaving a trail of devastation in his wake!

OP, the question is did they know she was having a big baby at any point before she had him/her? As someone else said (sorry, skimming thread), PALS at the hospital should be able to help. I hope your friend and her baby are both healthy and recovering well.

i dunno. m,y baby was nearly 10lb, and pushed him out OK. some shit biorths are with little 6lb tiddlers

No one could have know the baby was that big until after the birth. Growth scans etc are notoriously inaccurate IME. It also doesn't follow that big baby=difficult birth. I've had a 7lb baby and a 9lb 6oz baby......the 9lb-er was far easier to birth.

Your friend should contact Patient Liason at the hospital. She will be able to arrange to see a consultant to talk through what happened.

dd was 6lb 14oz - I had 37 stitches. In theory, babies shouldn't be bigger than the mum can handle and so many different factors are involved.