Plus Size Labour

[MommaW169]

Hi.
Is there anyone out there that has been near to 23 stone when giving birth?
I feel like I’m the fattest mom to ever birth a child and the advice I’m getting from the midwife is to automatically have an epidural because I won’t be able to handle the labour?

Can anyone who is plus plus size and I mean over 20
Stone ish tell me any positive birth stories?

I wasnt 20 stone when I first voted pregnant but I am now. I was about 17 when I fell pregnant and honestly dont listen to anything they say. They made it out to me like I was the fattest person in the entire world. I did have a meeting with the anesthetics before hand because of my weight and he just said the epidural may not be successful because of the extra fat we carry between outer skin and spine. But I had no problems. In fact I had an epidural and had my baby minutes later. Had the midwife listened to me when I told her I wanted to push I wouldnt have needed one.

Had inducing drip at 1445
Epidural at 1845
Baby born 1910

The midwife was gob smacked he came so soon

Please dont be ashamed or upset about your weight, just think of what your body has made. I found pregnancy hard work being over weight.

I'm not going to lie, labour for me was awful, I believe it's worse if you are induced. I have only one 9 week old so nothing to compare to but if you go in with an open mind and reasonable birth plan you will absolutely smash it.

Hope that's helped a bit and if you need anymore info let me know. When are you due by the way x

Hey,

I was 20 stone. Midwives have seen all shapes and sizes give birth.

I had an epidural early as requested after my waters were broken, it slowed everything down so much my baby got stuck and had to have an emergency caesarean.

You have to do what works for you and don't get pressured into having it early. You'll probably go for a check pre birth so a doctor can check your back and they can do epidural. If the doctor there sees no issues then what would be the need for one early?

Good luck.

Thank you both so much . This has eased my mind a lot!!
My initial plan was to wait it out at home for as long as possible and not be in hospital for too long. Obviously I know things don't normally go that smooth but I don't want to be injected just for the sake of it!
I like to think my mind is strong so I'm hoping I can get myself into a good mindset and push through!

I'm due on June 2nd so counting down the weeks!

I just wanted to hear from some other moms that were plus size!! x

I was also told by a doctor I couldnt have a water birth incase anything happened and they had to pull me out. I'd be a heavy dead weight. The midwife said it was a load of nonsense and would just get another midwife

As I was induced I couldnt have one.

Honestly they make you out like you are the size of a block of terraces x

I'm an over weight girl and this thread has just given me hope that I will be able to get pregnant 🤰🏻 I'm only on my first month TTC but I've been so worried that it might not happen for me because of my weight!!

@Ilovethekittehs an early epidural is recommended for ladies with a high BMI because 1) it is easier to get in when women are not in the throes of advanced labour - particularly relevant if insertion might be more difficult than usual due to her size and 2) because if she needs to go to theatre, having a good working epidural reduces the chance of needing a GA in a hurry which is considerably higher risk in people with high BMI. Of course nobody can force you to have any intervention you're not keen on, but there is a reason for the recommendation.

Epidurals are a lot harder to perform in larger women (from experience) and so the earlier the better, if you were in advanced labour and needed assistance or a c section it might be a general anaesthetic as we wouldn’t have time for the epidural