Subsequent births after shoulder dystocia?

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I have 2 gorgeous DS. DS2 was shoulder dystocia.
We always thought we'd (try to) have 3 children.
I'm currently unsure for all sorts of reasons about whether to try for a 3rd DC, but wonder if one of the reasons is that I'm not sure what would happen next time round. Would I be allowed to try for a vaginal birth? Is it likely that I will have another shoulder dystocia baby?

I would say that everything about DS2's birth was wonderful (despite being induced) right up until the moment I realised that the room was full of people, and I was being urged onto the bed so they could help him out (no instruments, just pushing down on me, I guess). And when he came out blue, that was also fairly traumatic.

So I have 'good' memories of the experience. I don't think I'm 'traumatised'. But I am a bit worried about what would happen next time.

DS2 was big (9lb9, whereas DS1 only 7lb+).
My BMI was higher with DS2 than DS1 (small gap between babies: BMI was probably approaching 30)

Dunno what I'm asking really. Just if anyone else has had a baby following a SD, and what happened, maybe?...

Hi. My first was SD (10lb4oz) and he was left with erbs palsy as a result.

I've posted about it before, if you advanced search 'erbs palsy' on here most of the posts are me if you wanted to read the story I'm not going to bore you with here

I found myself pregnant again 6 months after his birth - pill failure.

It was not a happy time, I was terrified.

But they took a lot of precautions, had a theatre on standby, had the consultant herself deliver him, and he was born - 10lb5oz - with no sd.

They were very well prepared. After an sd birth they really do plan and prepare so well with that risk in mind.

Dd was mild/slight SD, and 10lb 11oz. Cons recommended we didn't go to MLU so we went back to CLU. DS, against all expectations, came flying out, and was a dainty 9lb 2oz.

Thanks Hecate :)
I think I've read your story before, as I posted about this (under a namechange) soon after he was born, and I was feeling a bit freaked out by it all.
Everybody was wonderful, and really helped me work my thoughts through at the time. I'll go back and search.

I guess when I posted about this before, I wasn't thinking about the next one!! ;)
That's really good to hear about your subsequent birth. Thanks. I assumed they'd have to take extra precautions if there's a next time round. I just didn't know what they might be.

I know there's nothing 'wrong' with a CS. I'd just like to avoid surgery if possible. But am kind of terrified about SD happening again and it not being so 'simple' to solve next time...

Thanks habbibu. And... wow!! :)
So it just sounds like it might be more 'managed' next time (to be honest, they've been fairly closely monitored both times anyway, as my BP was high).
This is all really helpful. Thanks :)

My DD was a shoulder dystocia too. She was left with left erbs palsy and had to have physio for the first couple of years. Luckily she has since been discharged and you would never know that she had a completely paralyzed arm at birth.

She was only 8lbs, and even though I am thin I am also tall so I thought that she was about the right weight for my size, but the Drs kept saying that may be she was just too big for my pelvis.

I was never told not to try for more children, and I just assumed that if we were lucky enough to conceive again then I would probably have a c-section to rule out the same thing happening a second time. I was told that if you have one baby who suffers from shoulder dystocia, then you are more likely to have it happen a second time.

As it turned out, I saw 3 consultants when pg with DS. 2 told me that I would have to have a c-section, but the last one I saw suggested that I have a scan me at 36 weeks, see how big the baby was in comparison to DD and then look at other options. At the scan DS was shown to be smaller than DD at that stage and so I was induced at 38 weeks to make sure that he would remain smaller than 8lbs as they knew that I could not successfully birth a baby of that size. It was also put in my notes that the most senior Obstetrician available at that time should be present at the birth, just in case and all scenarios were talked though so that I knew what would happen should things start to go wrong again. Luckily, DS was born 5 hours after the pessary was given and he shot out, weighing in at 6lbs 10! No problems at all!

You may have already been in contact with them, but there is a group called The Erbs Palsy Group who might be able to give you more advice on shoulder dystocia and birth choices.

Hope that all makes sense! May be talking to your MW about your DS2's birth might help. I never did this and I really should have done as it would have made my decisions about how to birth DS much easier!

Thanks Toffeefee.
All really helpful.
It's interesting that they gave you a 'reason' for the SD happening.
Funnily enough, we did have quite a late scan for DS2, for other reasons, and that predicted that he'd be fairly huge!
In some ways that reassures me. Although no one 'predicted' he'd be SD (and I personally had never heard of it before it happened to DS2), there were definitely signs (with hindsight) that the risk was there.
So I guess that gives us something to look for next time.

I guess I'm thinking it shouldn't stop me trying for another, if that's the decision we make, but I think I'd underestimated how much of a factor this will be for me. And I do need to talk it all through and plan carefully. Sound like you had a lot of help there. That gives me hope :)

I had shoulder dystocia with DS1, he was tricky to release and was also born blue, so I have an idea of what you went through - huge sympathy, it's a scary thing to deal with.

With DS2 I had consultant care, and was offfered a c-section or induction at term. I was too nervous to wait for natural labour as we knew he'd be big, and I felt that induction would be best for us, after a lot of research and weighing up.

I was induced at term, DS2 born easily with no intervention (I did have an epidural though as I struggled to cope with induced contractions). He was 10lb 6oz, a whole pound heavier than DS1!

My second birth really helped to put my feeling to rest about my first birth.

I don't think that they can predict it happening, but might be more aware that it could happen in certain conditions IYSWIM. I still don't think that DD was a big baby, especially as I have friends who are much smaller than I am and have given birth to much larger babies without any problems! But I suppose, seeing as they couldn't really check the internal shape of my pelvis, the weight of the baby was all they had to go on!

They would definitely be more cautious and check you more often during pregnancy and in labour if you were to have another baby. I found all of this really reassuring and that was why I decided that I would give the induction a go, rather than go straight for the c-section. Of course if they said that a natural birth was too risky, I would have gone for the c-section, but the way that I was looked after made me more confident to try a vaginal birth.

Good luck if you do decide to try for another baby! I sometimes think that I would love another one, but I can hardly keep up with the 2 I already have!

Hi, after my experience of SD with first baby, was strongly advised to give birth on delivery suite rather than homebirth or MLU, and at the pushing stage they had at least 5 extra staff in the room just in case of problems, but happily they weren't required.
I was told that a previous occurrence of SD does increase odds of it happening again, but it's still quite a low percentage, sorry they didn't quote figures.

Oh yes, and DS2 was exactly same size as DS1, both 9 and half pounders, so size didn't seem to have anything to do with it.

My DS was SD, and afterwards I was told the chances of SD is about 1 in 200 (if this is any help to you). He is my first (5 months old) so I dont have any experience of future/subsequent births.

Thanks for getting back to me. This is all really helpful.
I guess I'd just want to talk to someone about how high the risks are of complications, even within a well-managed, very monitored, consultant-led (etc etc) labour.
I feel reassured. And it's lovely to hear of all these wonderful babies (congratulations!! :) :) )

I guess I just have a nagging 'what-if' that I want to talk through. 'What-if' it happened again? Even with all those people around, are there still significant risks?
I think maybe I should've stayed away from the episode of OBEM (a couple of months ago) where she had a SD!! The look of worry on the faces of all the staff there really freaked me out (again!!).
I am going to contact the Erbs Palsy group. So thanks for the pointer. And I guess, if it comes to it, I need to have a very frank conversation with someone (midwife? consultant?) where I ask all the things I don't really want to ask (but am obviously thinking about).

Apologies for over-thinking this (possibly!!) when I know the important thing is that the babies are born and alive and well... however they get there... and I do feel so so lucky.
I guess I just want to talk it all through a bit, and this seems to be where I'm doing it!! :)