Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Broke my coccyx (tailbone) and about to go through labour - experience anyone?

39 replies

liquidclocks · 05/09/2006 22:21

Hi all - having another panicky moment. I've just realised I've not told my midwife that I broke my tailbone (coccyx) falling down the stairs when DS1 was 8 weeks old while holding him so it took the full force of the fall which was from the top (so that's just over a year and a half ago). It still hurts when I'm sat for long periods and recently has been aching even more which I assume is due to my being 37 wks pg and rather heavy!

Has anyone gone through labour after an injury like this - did it affect it at all?

OP posts:
edam · 05/09/2006 22:23

No experience but bags of sympathy. That must have hurt. Ouch.

Original poster
liquidclocks · 05/09/2006 22:25

yep. DS was fine though so I suppose that's what counts!

OP posts:
Kidstrack · 05/09/2006 22:30

i'm sure there was someone on here who has had their tailbone re set about 3 times after each birth as it never went back into place, i am bothered with mine after lying for five hours on it during labour, have now been referred to an orthapedic surgeon, hope your labour goes well

Original poster
liquidclocks · 05/09/2006 22:32

Kidstrack - was that due to injury caused in labour then? I got offered surgery but my GP said it probably wouldn't make any difference because once it's broke it's broke IYSWIM?

OP posts:
SparklyGothKat · 05/09/2006 22:35

I broke my tailbone when I was about 9. Every time I was pregnant it hurt. And if I sit on the floor it aches. I have given birth twice naturally, and it wasn't a problem.

Original poster
liquidclocks · 05/09/2006 22:39

They're the sort of times mine hurts too so that's reassuring - thanks. Sometimes I wish I could just have a section... (not really! - couldn't be without my car for 6 weeks)

OP posts:
mrsnoah · 05/09/2006 23:08

I broke mine when I was about 9 too like sparklygothcat (love that name). Still hurts to sit on hard floor. Had 3 kids.

Try a birthing stool. I found it the easiest way of all. NO pressure on your bum!

CHOCOLATEPEANUT · 05/09/2006 23:18

My experience of an injury in preganancy was when I waa pregnant with dd1 she got her foot lodged in my ribs and split the intercostal muscles in my rib cage.I could not move and hardly could take a breath so as a result I had to have a c section.

I never would have belived that this could happen,it was the oddest thing

When she was born she had a twisted foot that had to be massaged to be put right

SparklyGothKat · 05/09/2006 23:49

mrsnoah how did you break yours?? (sorry nosy, I am) I fell off my bike.

LeChat · 06/09/2006 00:50

Mine broke when giving birth to my first and I had physio on it afterwards - ultrasound (i'm sure they just stick that on you when they don't really know what to do!) any way the physio didn't help, but time did. I felt it go when giving birth to my second, but that was a water birth so I had very little pressure on my back ( I was completely prone for my first - more like an extraction!)so i hardly felt it all afterwards, and now have no prons at all.
Do you have the option of a water birth? If not my advice would be to stay as mobile as possible during labour, and may be give birth on all fours or on a stool.

Original poster
liquidclocks · 06/09/2006 09:09

Thanks LeChat, had considered waterbirth but I'm group strep B +ve and will have to get out so often it rather looses it's appeal! Hadn't considered birthing stool option though, will talk to midwife about that. I had a full epi last time after I was induced so was completely immobile. I'd wanted to be 'brave' this time and go forit naturally but there's a teeny part of me that's just wimpy! It's hard to tell yourself it's worth it when you've had such a successful epidural, though I know not everyone is so lucky.

Thanks for all your responses though ladies, feeling somewhat reassured!

OP posts:
cadbury · 06/09/2006 09:26

I broke mine over 10 years ago and have given birth twice since - it was uncomfortable but only as bad as driving up an unmade road ordoing speed bumps at speed or sitting on a hard floor (or chair). It is more uncomfortable when I'm heavily pg and I'm wondering if having a retroverted uterus makes that worse. Who know. Will ask my midwife tomorrow.

Original poster
liquidclocks · 06/09/2006 09:38

So when compared to the actual labour pains it was quite insignificant? I think like you I've been feeling it a lot recently which has made me worry more wheras normally I don't think about it. Pain woke me up last night - thank goodness for codeine!

OP posts:
Marls001 · 06/09/2006 14:44

Wow, Liquid - sorry!! I think sticking to positions where the weight is off of your back should help (standing supported squat, all fours, kneeling). Is the baby's head turned the right way, I hope?

hulababy · 06/09/2006 14:55

I broke my coccyx when I was about 13. It wa snever set or anything as GP said there was no point. It hurt in later pregnancy. Still hurts when sitting on a hard surface for any length of time. I never managed labour so can't say if it would be a problem. I'd mentioned it to your MW though, just in case.

Original poster
liquidclocks · 06/09/2006 17:23

Marls - I hope baby's round the right way (please don't put any more thoughts like that in my head!). Hulababy, thanks, as I said below sometimes I think a section would be easier all round!

I asked the midwife today and she said ring the physio - will do that tomorrow and post with what she says just in case anyone else wants to know in future!

OP posts:
hulababy · 06/09/2006 17:26

My CS wasn't due to my coccyx - not sure it that was clear in my other post. That was due to failed induction and 50 hours of nothing happening!

For me, my CS was a very positive experience, but I would not have chosen to have it prior to the time it occured. The recovery time after a csis generally much longer. So there are pros and cons.

beckybrastraps · 06/09/2006 17:36

Broke my coccyx aged 14. Still painful at times, but it's been so long, it's just there now really. Two babies. Didn't realise there might be a problem!

yeahinaminute · 06/09/2006 18:16

I had major back surgery less than a year before DD was born ( surgery Feb, pregnant April, DD Jan - so the surgery worked quite well IYSWIM )
Agree with mrsnoah - try a birthing stool and keep as active as poss - Good luck !!

Original poster
liquidclocks · 06/09/2006 21:22

yeahinaminute - that's amazing! It must have been really successful! May not get the chance to ask - very strong period pains and backache at mo...... NOT ready for this baby though so I'm off to pop some codeine and then bed!

OP posts:
mrsnoah · 06/09/2006 22:23

sparklygothcat, some kid pulled my chair out before I sat down in school assembly and I landed on my arse on the wood floor. It hurt for years!
Liuidclocks I had 2 epidurals and had every intention of a third. When I got to hosp I was surprisingly 8cm already and midwife suggested strongly I try it on birth stool (looks like a waste papaer basket!)
When I finally stopped wandering around (i had refused to lie down like the last 2) and sat on it- gravity did the rest!! Fanbloodytastic I reckon!

mears · 06/09/2006 22:30

liquidclocks - best to adopt positions that are off your tailbone such as hands/knees or on your side. Upright and mobile is best for labour. Waterbirth would be ideal as your body is supported by water therefore no extra pressure on your tailbone. There is no reason why you cannot be in the pool relatively undisturbed. IV antibiotics are given 4 hourly and you should get out the pool to pee etc anyway. You might find that one dose of antibiotics is all you need. That's what happens in our unit anyway.

Original poster
liquidclocks · 06/09/2006 23:31

Thanks mears & mrsnoah - sounds like should be going for water as much as possible and if not a stool, very glad it hasn't stopped anyone though - seems like a far more common injury than I'd thought, not that I'm pleased about that - bloomin' painful and wouldn't wish it on anyone! Contractions faded thank goodness! I swear there'ssome dodgy herb pretending to be a weed in our garden, happens every time I go out there to 'tidy up'!

btw, mears, thanks for all medication advice, I'm now well on the way to successful BF - just need the baby!

OP posts:
FloatingOnTheMed · 06/09/2006 23:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mumtobe20211 · 10/12/2020 19:12

Hi! I hope somehow I can still get a reply on this! Your comment on here really helped and was wondering if you could answer a few more questions. I also broke my tailbone ( fell off a chair onto a toy pyramid and was in severe pain for 2/3 months) like u mentioned, if I sit down on a bed surface or anything for a longer period of time it hurts so much cal I guess it never healed.

I’m now die to give birth in 4 months and I’m very scared about the effect it may have on labour. You really didn’t have a problem with it for yours.

Did it still hurt after you gave birth ?
Xx