Did your "childbearing hips" have any bearing on your ease of labour?

[Thandeka]

Just wondering as I have been "blessed" with such hips since I was 14. Am expecting my first in 9 weeks and was hoping I would finally get a reward for such wide hips- but it probably doesn't work like that does it?

my mum, my sister and I all had easy labours and we're v different sizes and shapes, so I assume there must be some pelvic size similarity which isn't so obvious! Baby sizes v different as well, mum and sister had 6-7 pounders, mine were 7 - nearly 9.

I'm a size 8-10 so fairly narrow hipped,dd1 was 7lb 14 and I was in labour 4.5 hours,dd2 6lb 13 and labour was 1.5 hours and just one push.

I was told I had child-bearing hips basically becasue they are big and stick out alot

After carrying my 2 round on my hips after they were born I have come to the conclusion that the phrase actually refers to how easy it is to sit a clingy small person on your hip while you get on with everything else you need to do.

I did have an easy labour but it had nothing to do with hip size.

Also a size 8 and no hips. dd2 was 8lbs and was came out with 3 contractions, no pushes and less than 2 hrs labour.

dd1 was an induction from hell so a totally different story.

the abdo muscle tone thing is very important in horseriders (not casual, once a month/year types but regular daily) - a friend of mine had a similar experience to zazen, except she had been warned prenatally to let them know she was a horserider. She did and the MW said "So?" (being ignorant). However, luckily for my friend there was a shift change during her labour and while she was still struggling, her friend phoned to say she had dealt with the horses and not to worry - the new MW, on hearing that friend was a horserider, said "Well of course you're not going to push this baby out by yourself!" (being not ignorant) and fetched the consultant.

Apparently it is fairly well known that horseriders are likely to have problems.

We've all got big hips (tot eh extent that back home, big hips are known as hips).

yes laburs were OK push wise- actually i've had 4 kids but never consciously pushed in my life, it just happened.Sisters similar, even though some inductions in the mix. nan ahd 16 kids, other 4, not a c section in the family at all from what I can see.

But that isn't necessarily becuase of our hip size, and what we make in easy labours we've many of us suffered in actual pregnancy.

no doubt there are some genetics, but luck has to do with a lot.

Weak abdo thing makes sense- we many of us have clinically weak muscles in wrists etc, so may well be a link

i think the thing with horseriding is not the abdominal muscles but the pelvic floor muscles are teh concern.

you are right foxytocin - tis the perineum that doesn't want to give.
This is an interesting thread to read from a MW archive forum on the matter.

I am very small famed. I've had 6, the largest being over 9lbs and no problems.

I had tiny hips then had big babies and now have big hips (the bones are further apart)

I have wide-set hip bones, size 8 feet and am 5'8" tall. All of these things 'should' apparently have meant giving birth was like shelling peas for me but despite dilating at a rate of knots(ready to push in 7 hours!), DD's head stuck at the top and started to swell. I needed forceps in the end (but they have me a spinal block so it was fine)

But I'm hoping the next one will come shooting out now it's all been 'reconfigured' down there!

I am quite small but with a good pair of hips, much like my mother who popped out two large twins and was making dinner a few hours later, lots of childbearing comments, shelling peas etc, i assumed labour would be a piece of piss. 2 day labour - emcs. Bitter moi...

I've got great hips too - 30 hours of contractions (very slow to dilate) but then only 2 very easy nice pushes & she came flying out. So I guess the hips were very good in the end = not their fault I was so slow to dilate. good luck

Hips are for wiggling!

I put my 8 hour first labour on gas and air only, with a back to back 7.5lb baby, down to the hip wiggling belly dance I did throughout. Active birth and gravity worked for me.

I have average hips for my height I would say. ( Average is obviously bigger in the real world)

So my advice is make the most of you're hips, and they will definately come in useful for baby balancing/washing basket juggling in the months/years to come.

Good luck!

I have big hips and had a 9 hour labour. ds certainly didn't 'pop out', I had a third degree tear.

Dunno about that dimple theory, I have them and don't think it helped!

Medium-ish frame me, childbirth not too bad and very quick.

Cadmum just wanted to say that your have cleared up some confusion regarding my MIL's tale of child just 'falling' out, no pain no problem (so whats your problem Pepa?!)

She (and my DH) have the two dimples in their lower back so I guess she really must have had an easier time (I just thought she was being a PITA)

Pepa I am glad that it was helpful! (Only one of my dd's is similarly blessed so I guess we might be able to test the theory if they both have children.)

I thought this would help me - our family have large hips and fast labours. My mum had 6 hours with my sister and 2 hours with me and then my sister had 3 hours with her first, 8 minutes with her second and 1.5 hours with her third. I thought I might follow the family tradition, but unfortunately I didn't and my labour was longer than all of those put together! Hopefully number two will be fast, but I'm not holding my breath! Sorry, fingers crossed it will work for you!