Anyone here had bicornuate uterus and had a water birth?

[mummabubs]

Hi everyone 😊

I had my 12 week scan today and whilst bubbabean is absolutely fine they discovered I have a bicornuate uterus. Obviously my priority was the baby, but equally if I'm being very honest I felt completely gutted as when they took my weight at the beginning of the appointment I was categorised low risk and midwife led, and within 30 minutes I became high risk consultant led. My only real issue with this is that I have always felt strongly about wanting to give birth on a midwifery unit and have a water birth. I know that if i stay consultant led this won't be an option. (I'm genuinely ok if I need a C section, my fear is if I don't but have to give birth on the medical labour ward, which in my local hospital is very clinical/medical as you'd expect and a million miles from the relaxing environment the midwife unit provides).

Husband is trying to understand why I felt so upset afterwards and I was trying to explain that for me labour is scary (normal I know!) and for me choosing where/how I experience labour is one way in which I feel I can have some control in a situation that feels very out of control. It just feels like this choice has been unexpectedly taken from me and I can't even picture where I'll have my baby (or how given that I'm now more likely to have premature labour).

So basically, I am really hoping that there might be some ladies out there who have carried to full term and managed to have a midwife led/ water birth labour. ..... Or even just stories that having a heart-shaped uterus hasn't been one big horror story!

Thank you 😊 x

OK. It depends how bicornate a uterus you have.
Some women have difficulty conceiving or recurrent early miscarriage, I'm assuming that's not been a problem?
So, with a seriously heart shaped uterus the baby tends to end up stuck on one side, this can (but often doesn't) restrict growth and may sometimes lead to preterm delivery as one side of the uterus is overstretched.
Assuming this doesn't happen then at term there is slightly more risk of breech presentation because the baby can run out of room to turn round sooner. An ECV generally wouldn't be recommended where I work with a bicornate uterus.
But if the baby grows normally and ends up head down it shouldn't effect your choices.
After delivery there is slightly more chance of the placenta becoming stuck, but again most often it doesn't. I knew someone once who after a normal birth discovered she had a bicornate uterus when the obstetrician commented she had a 'funny shaped' uterus after having a manual removal of placenta. A manual removal sounds nasty but it's generally more of a nuisance. The mum I'm thinking of breastfed through the process.
I also knew of a woman whose uterus was completely divided in two right up to the point of having two cervixes and she had a no problems (other than a bewildered midwife).
So I wouldn't worry too much. The odds are the consultant will recommend a couple of extra scans to monitor growth and that will be it. If there is a problem then better it's caught than not.

I have one. I didnt no until i was on my last pregnancy (twins. Baby 4&5) and no one every mentioned it being a problem at all. Kust a oh you habe a very distinctive heart shape uterus and had i had lroblems conceiving etc.

I never had any problems concieving neither had i had a miscarriage. I had normal deliveries not extra monitoring all babies were fine/on time and healthy x

I had a very straightforward water birth first time around, and then have just discovered with number 2 that I have a bicornuate uterus, which has led to multiple early scans after bleeding. I now just have to wait & see what happens at 12w scan and they'll tell me then how it might be managed, perhaps with extra positioning scans. I'm hopeful it will go the same way as last time when I and everyone else was oblivious!

Thank you so much all. We actually conceived the first month of trying so not a problem there and I did have a small bleed and needed an EPU scan at 7 weeks but this was after sex (sorry if tmi) so I attributed the bleed to that. It was at the end of my scan the sonographer said she wanted to get a second opinion on something and then another lady came in and confirmed a "heart shaped uterus" and they documented I had a bicornuate uterus. I tried to resist googling but the few bits I did see made it sound horrendous.
Dusky sorry to be silly, but what's an EVC? Xx

An EVC is me not being able to type . .
An ECV is External Cephalic Version where an obstetrician attempts to turn a breech baby head down by pushing them round. They are uncomfortable for mum and involve heavy monitoring for baby during and for an hour after in case of distress requiring immediate c section (my unit does a couple most weeks and though they are often unsuccessful I have never seen an emergency c section as a result).

These sorts of "risks" are so annoying. Yes, there might be a slightly higher chance of a retained placenta or a malpositioned baby, but you'll more than likely be fine and I do hope your consultant sees this for what it is and doesn't make you properly "high risk".

Is your local midwifery unit stand-alone or attached to a labour ward? These kind of units can offer the best of both worlds, and the MLU may be happy to accept you on the basis that if things took a complicated turn, you're a one minute journey through double doors to a more medically equipped unit.

Haha thanks @Duskybluebell ,I still would have needed the explanation even with the right letter order! And yes @DoctorMonty, our MLU is a separate unit but is on the same corridor as the CLU so I'm still hoping to persuade them to let me try a water birth. I've got my consultant appointment on 19th May (I'm also hoping that as they've left it that long to book in they can't think I'm that high risk surely?!) Fingers crossed they'll support me to continue with some aspects of my original birth plan at least! X