Should I ask for a planned c section?

[Elephantgrey]

I have got an appointment to see the supervisor of midwives because I am not sure how I will cope with giving birth. I have hypermobility syndrome and I have had really bad pelvic pain and I get exhausted anyway.

I am consultant led and she wants me to try for a natural birth and said I could be discharged to midwife led birth centre. I feel really anxious about this as I am not sure that I can cope with an active birth as I would get really tired. I am also worried that I might be put into positions that would be harmful to me.

Part of having hypermobility is poor wound healing so I am worried about c-section recovery. I don't think there is any easy option for me but I want to choose what is the least worst.

I am 31 weeks pregnant at the moment and the baby is footling breech. I realise that he has time to turn but if he doesn't that would automatically mean I am having a caesarean anyway.

What would you do if you were me?

Hi OP,
I don't know about hypermobility but it looks to me that the obstetrician is not giving you an individualised set of risks and benefits of vaginal delivery (I think hypermobile mothers have a higher risk of severe perineal tear?) v ceasarean.
By looking at this response

www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/11/03/joint-hypermobility-disorder-challenges-obstetric-and-perioperative-settin

it also looks like you would really need to talk to an anesthetist so you understand what your options are (again) for both vaginal delivery (what happens if analgesia does not work?) and caesarean.

Hopefully other posters who know more will come along but it doesn't look like your particular needs are being addressed properly.

I am horribly hyper mobile and had awful pelvic pain with my first. I had a water birth.
Perhaps consider positions you can cope with and agree in your birthing plan what positions are to be avoided. FWIW my awful pelvic pain was a result of things stretching and I ended up with a pretty fast and straightforward birth.
I'm biased though. CS always worried me. I was concerned about risks connected to surgery and recovery time.
Do talk to your mw and good luck.

Hi op

I have EDS 3, which is essentially hyper mobility syndrome

I'm currently pregnant with number 4 but I was only diagnosed after baby number 2

I would contact your midwife and explain exactly why you're worried, write it down or show her your post here if it's easier. Do the same with your consultant, tell then you don't want to be discharged

I've had 3 sections (well, im due to have ny third section in a couple of weeks) and although I've been ok, I know I'm extremely lucky, my stomach is damaged due to the sections, my healing has gone well but I'm still numb and have nerve damage in my stomach.

You also have to take into account the spinal tap, it can cause issues with your back too. Please bare that in mind.

I've had a natural birth and recovery is so much easier and simpler.

Good luck for your baby!!

Thank you all so much.

Batterseapark I am going to print that article out and take it to my midwife and ask her what they can do about all the risks they mentioned.

I would really love to have a straightforward water birth but I am not very confident that it will happen especially as baby is breech. I know a lot of people whose joints got a lot worse after they had their babies and I don't want that to happen to me.

mousemummy and wolfiefan how were your joints after birth. Did you take a long time to recover?

I am going to try for a natural birth if I can but I do want to plan for what will happen if I have a section.

I was fine very shortly after birth. It was all to do with hormone levels.

My joints after my natural were sore for a few days but back to normal around a week later

I was up and about pretty much 3 days, after my sections, yes, my stomach and back hurt but my pelvis, knees and ankles didn't hurt too bad.

I have hypermobility syndrome, fibromyalgia and suffered badly with SPD from 15 weeks of pregnancy.

I wanted a c-section for similar reasons, worries about an active birth (I could barely walk) long term damage to pelvis, stamina/fatigue - and how fibro may react to it all.

I had to see a consultant to get a referral, who tried to put me off as much as possible. He tried to convince me you didn't have to push to give birth 😂 and that it would all be fine cos they could dose me up on morphine 😯 He gave me 2 weeks to think about it, but ultimately didn't argue and did referral as maternal request.

Can honestly say best decision for me. My healing was very quick and had barely any pain from the surgery - certainly wasn't hindered by HMS of fibro. My SPD disappeared immediately, and my pelvic/hip/back pain is no worse than was before pregnancy. I was up and about far quicker than a lot of my NCT friends natural births. I think having really good support from husband and mum afterwards really helped my recovery.

Good vitamin d status and iron levels might help with healing. And postnatal Pilates / physio.

I have hypermobility diagnosed Affer my first - I had an emcs which I didn't recover well from but later found out I was also a tad anaemic and thyroid meds weren't as good as they should have been.

I noticed healing generally has been better since I improved those levels.

I'm hoping to have a vbac but will book an elcs just after 40 weeks. Everyone I've spoken to found the elcs better to recover from.

Anaesthetic could be an issue; epidural didn't work for me!

I have eds type 3. I found the drs were totally clueless about it and one said "hmm, do you take Ritalin for that?" and then started saying that eds doesn't effect pregnancy.

I found that my waters broke before labour started with 4 of my pregnancies which is common apparently. Also some medication doesn't work for me, including whatever is in the induction drip and the contraceptive pill. Stirrups were also a total disaster for me. I used water in 3 of my births and that really helped.

@Elephantgrey Coincidentally the April issue of British Journal of Midwifery has hypermobility in pregnancy and birth on its cover. Might be worth mentioning it to your midwife.

Thank you. I am still not sure whether to try for a water birth and hope that it is ok or to ask for an elec. My consultant and midwife both think I should have a natural birth and that there aren't likely to be any complications. The consultant did mention using stirrups which would be my worst nightmare.

"@batterseapark" I will try and get a hold of the article. It looks really interesting but is behind a pay wall.