Positive big baby births

[faithinagape]

I have always planned to have a home birth, and have been told my baby is scanning large. Please share your wonderful stories on giving birth to large babies.

I gave birth to a 10lb1 baby (98th percentile) 8 weeks ago and it was fine. 5 hour labour and delivery completely unmedicated which was unplanned but I'm glad about in hindsight because I was discharged hours later.

I'm sorry but I just wouldn't risk it. The most important thing is to have your baby delivered safely, and for you and baby to both be okay medically. Sometimes we have to let go of idealised birth plans and actually think about what might happen if something was to go wrong.

I had wanted a home birth but my partner was uncomfortable with how far away from the hospital we live (25 mins). Thank goodness he expressed his concerns, because our baby was unexpectedly large and we both needed a lot of medical intervention. It could have been a completely different outcome had we been at home.

I had two home births with just under 10 lb babies. My first baby was 11 lb 3 and I did go into hospital as was failing to progress but delivered him vaginally. If you’re not too far from hospital you can see how labour goes at home.

10lb9, was measuring normally so unexpected. Head was off the chart in terms of size. Epidural failed, so delivered without pain relief (awful at the time but short lived). Pushing stage was about 15 minutes.
ETA I was induced due to suspected PROM. I’m not convinced but given his size it may have been a blessing. My pushing stage was short for both my babies, I think that’s just how I labour. Everyone is different.

I really wanted a home birth. Baby was measuring big and I went considerably overdue, so went into hospital. Baby was born fine but I had a pph and a subsequent crash call because no one noticed.

It’s a bigger risk with larger babies, and I was very grateful to have been in hospital. The actual birth was easy though! Water birth which I loved.

I had 2 over 10lb and at 98% length, actual delivery was absolutely fine just gas and air and home within a few hours. But I had to be induced as they would not budge. There's always risks with any labour so best person to ask is your midwife

Thank you so much for sharing your stories!!

This is so very encouraging and I really appreciate you taking the time to share.

Something that has been on my mind is that they feel baby may be too big for my body... I'm 5ft 2 and 80kg pregnancy weight (65 pre pregnancy)

If your comfortable please can you share your heights etc x

I'm 5ft 9 and my baby still got stuck with shoulder dystocia and needed to be resuscitated. I haemorrhaged.

@NoHeavenNoMore with all due respect I asked for POSITIVE big baby births. I am deeply sorry to hear this was your experience however I would appreciate if you would stop sharing your story as it is opposing to what I requested on this forum. There are many woman that could benefit from what the other ladies have said. Not to discredit you but this is not the space for your story.

God bless you
Faith in Agape

Birth isn't always straightforward, that's all I'm trying to share with you. Remember, I too had wanted a home birth.
And while I was pregnant all I heard was positive stories, which meant I never expected anything to go wrong. The thought never even crossed my mind. And yet it still went terribly wrong.
As I said in my first post the very most important thing is that you and the baby are safe. The positive birth experience of someone else doesn't mean that you will have one yourself. Nor does my experience mean yours will be bad. I simply shared my experience to help you ensure that you are well informed and confident that you DO have the right care if you decide to be at home, and with the best will in the world, bad things can still happen.
Good luck with your baby.

My second was 9lb 8oz and born at home. It was lovely, I didn’t need stitches and was as perfect as a birth could be. I did only live 5 mins from the hospital so had there been any issues I’d have been in in no time.

I'm 5' and was 40 kg pre pregnancy with teeny tiny hips.

DD1 was 7lb 6oz
DD2 10lb 6oz the subsequent ones a little smaller.

Honestly we were both fine, induced at 42 weeks no other intervention. They told me that I WASN'T having a big baby despite looking humongous.

I was told I was having a 10lb +++ baby. She was 7lb...

My grandma said that bigger babies were easier to birth and she had 13 of them!

1st baby I was told I was measuring on the 90th centile so I was expecting 9lb baby at 40w. Went in to be induced due to my waters going. I had no midwifes for the who of my first stage of labour as they told me I wasn’t in labour so no checks were done on me or baby at all. After screaming at the midwife I was pushing they finally belived I was in labour as they could feel the head. Ended up with forceps in theatre. Ended up with an apology from the hospital for their substandard care. Took years to heal from the birth. Baby was 6lbs 7oz.

2nd pregnancy. . Baby measuring 50% centile. Had a home birth. 2 midwives present throughout. Checks completed on me and babies heart rate throughout. Baby born at 9lbs 1/2oz and was very long with a big head. Felt completely back to normal the next day.

I was 5 foot 2 and 60kg pre-pregnancy.

DC was nearly 13lb, born at home, with hypnobirthing as my only pain coping mechanism. She was born healthy, I had a slight tear, which healed naturally (no stitches or issues).

Educate yourself on your choices including choosing natural tearing which afaik is better to heal than episiotomy, breathing techniques etc. Having options and knowledge will help

Nearly 12lb*

Wow thank you so much ladies! Your testimonies are amazing!!!!!

Is it your first birth?

My second was big and I’d planned for a home birth almost right up until the end of the pregnancy (had the pool delivered and oxygen tanks already there). Knew baby was measuring big and decided in the end to go into the midwife led unit which was about 20 min closer to the hospital than where I live (1hr drive away). It was a lovely birth and I was glad I’d gone in. I laboured at home in a very relaxed atmosphere on my own and then got DH up to get me in to the unit, where I delivered 20 mins after arriving.

I agree with @NoHeavenNoMore, I think it's really important to know what can go wrong otherwise how can you make an informed decision?