Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Childbirth

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

Flip

Original poster

What is shoulder dystocia

17 replies

Twounder1 · 04/04/2018 20:32

I had it with my dd and just remember loads of other people helping me deliver her and telling me they wanted to c section me if I didn't push her out within a few minutes.

I gave birth to ds two days ago and also had it with him. I had no pain relief this time and I remember the pain being excruciating and so many more people helping me deliver. He got properly stuck, he has marks all over him, burst blood vessels.. I can't really make sense of it online in simple terms. I'm just wondering what the risks are? They were really concerned he had nerve damage etc. He seems okay but it's really worried me

OP posts:

IAmWonkoTheSane · 04/04/2018 20:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Twounder1 · 04/04/2018 20:37

He can move them and all his checks were fine aside from swollen eyes. But he was 9 pound 9oz so I think how big he was is partly due to that

OP posts:

scaredofthecity · 04/04/2018 20:38

It means that the baby's shoulder gets wedged in behind your pubic bone during labour. It is an emergency which is why so many people came in to help.
The risks vary and depend on a lot of things, it wouldn't be fair of me to speculate. You need to talk to your community midwife as she should have access to your notes and be able to advise you and answer any questions.

Original poster

Twounder1 · 04/04/2018 20:40

I did see online that it can cause death etc it really frightened me reading it.
My dd had it as she does a weird movement with her arm still (the one which was stuck) and I think that's down to it :/

OP posts:

scaredofthecity · 04/04/2018 20:40

for you. It must have been hard. Hope your recovering well

IAmWonkoTheSane · 04/04/2018 20:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Twounder1 · 04/04/2018 20:42

Thank you 😊 the midwife didn't give me much information, neither did the doctor who checked him after, but they were so busy. I really feel like he struggled though 😩
To read its common if you've had it with a pervious pregnancy has definitely made me not want any more though. It's terrifying. With dd I wasn't really conscious during the birth

OP posts:

WineGummyBear · 04/04/2018 20:43

Poor you OP. And congrats on your little one.

I had it with DS1 (with no consequence). My (lay person) understanding is that it's an obstetric emergency where the head delivers but the shoulder gets stuck behind the pelvis and manoeuvre (s) are used to free the baby.

You are understandably worried, are you still in hospital? Suggest you ask the doctor/midwife to take you through it (and possible consequences/ what to look out for).

I think SD is not uncommon and so all the staff are trained in what to do, they should be able to talk you through this.

All the best and get some rest. X

Original poster

Twounder1 · 04/04/2018 20:45

Back home now thankfully. I don't think it was too much of an emergency for them, it took 5 hours after delivery (at 1am) for a doctor to check him over. Even then it was a quick look so I had to stay in. I came out yesterday morning with him thankfully. No one really gave me any information aside from lots of people were in the room and his head was stuck for around 5 mins and they we're desperately trying to get him out :(

OP posts:

Babdoc · 04/04/2018 20:45

It is difficult to predict, as not all big babies will have it, and some quite modest sized ones will. It happens in about 1 in 200 births.
Basically, the baby's leading shoulder gets stuck under your pubic bone, and although the head has delivered, the body gets stuck. There are potentially serious complications of this, including nerve damage to the baby's brachial plexus, (the nerves supplying the arm), hypoxia and brain damage, and for the mother, tears to the perineum possibly involving the rectum or urethra.
This is why the "loads of people" rushed in to help!
If they can't free the shoulders by various manoeuvres, including pushing your legs up on to your tum to widen your outlet, putting you on all fours, or doing a generous episiotomy, it is in rare circumstances necessary to do a Caesarian, which is difficult as the baby is impacted in the vagina.
I'm sorry you had this scary experience twice, but your babies will have been carefully checked post delivery to look for any damage, and the paediatricians will follow up any problems detected. It sounds like yours were okay, if nothing has been discussed about further appointments.

PerfectlySymmetricalButtocks · 04/04/2018 20:49

They thought this had happened with DS2, but 2 midwives managed to ease him out, he just has ridiculously broad shoulders.

damekindness · 04/04/2018 20:54

Had this with DS3 - who weighed in at 11lb 5oz had a fab midwife with thankfully small hands and decades of experience.....

Having a purple faced enormobaby who looked like an elderly sumo wrestler for the first few days challenged people to come up with a suitable new baby compliment

Original poster

Twounder1 · 04/04/2018 20:54

I think they're okay. My dd has some dodgy arm movement which may have nothing to do at all with it but ds seems okay just a bit of bruising and swelling. Both my babies were small in size but really compact. Not really broad. My dd weighed 7 pound 10oz and ds was a whopper at 9 pound 9oz. I'm not overweight and had no GD in either pregnancy. I was told its how my pelvis is shaped though? Thank you for explaining it :)

OP posts:

mzcracker · 04/04/2018 21:09

My youngest daughter was born this way. It was a pretty horrendous birth. She wasn't really huge either but I have been told that the risk of it happening again if I had another baby is quite high.
I remember them being very concerned about her arms and neck. I also had a specialist come out and talk to me the following day. I'd honestly never heard of it before it happened to me.
The memory of it is very blurred I was in so much pain from the way they had to hold my legs during the delivery.

Violetroselily · 06/04/2018 18:07

Given that it happened in your first birth, I’m surprised it wasn’t discussed with you during your second pregnancy. Was your midwife aware that you had experienced it before?

Congratulations on your new baby

AJPTaylor · 06/04/2018 18:13

I had it with DD3 who at 9lb 12 was 2lb heavier than her older sisters. It was horrible and i ended up in HDU. Thankfully baby was fine and so was i eventually. My consultant told me in no uncertain terms that any subsequent births would be caesarean

TriJo · 07/04/2018 21:47

I had it with DS2 - he was 7lb 2.5oz and 2 weeks early so by no means a big baby! They think it was caused by him trying to turn out of a back to back position during an extremely fast second stage - my second stage was down as 4 minutes in my notes and I delivered in McRoberts position with someone pushing on my pubic bone. DS2 had a 1 minute Apgar of 4 and had to be resuscitated, he had 8 hours in the NICU before being stepped down to the postnatal ward. I had a minor PPH as well.

Flip