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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Too tiny to give birth naturally?

25 replies

sharond101 · 25/03/2012 22:24

DH suggested tonight I am too tiny to give birth naturally and that he thinks we should be pushing for an elective C-section. I am not in agreement and feel if this is an issue the professionals will bring it to the forefront. I am small built, tiny in fact, and my bump is all baby making many folks gasp at the size of my middle but my midwife has never mentioned there being a problem. We are to get growth scans next week then four weeks after (am 31 weeks now) so I guess they would be able to tell if they thought anything was going to be a problem from them? Any experience?

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PrincessPrecious · 25/03/2012 22:31

I am not a large person and my DH used to wonder how the baby would get out when I was pregnant. It was all fine in the end. It is a common fear with prospective fathers. Go for a normal vaginal delivery - the medical people are there to advise you and know more than your DH. There are risks to having C sections. It is major surgery and has a longer recovery time than a natural birth. If you need a C section then that is fine - but doctors should decide, not your DH!!

insanityscratching · 25/03/2012 22:43

I am just five foot with a size 3/4 shoe so with my first baby the consultant was concerned as I am very small boned. I had a pelvic xray so they could measure my pelvis and then a trial of labour. I subsequently had four vaginal deliveries of babies weighing between 7 and 8lbs including a back to back and a ELCS for . A friend of mine who is five inches taller had three ELCS as her pelvis is smaller than mine.

insanityscratching · 25/03/2012 22:44

should be ELCS for breech

SkipTheLightFanjango · 25/03/2012 22:46

My mum is under 5 foot and managed twice..once breech (before scans so they did not realise). A friend of mine is over 6 foot and large built but had all her 3 dc's by cs as she has too small a pelvis, external size is not always an indicator of internal size!

ShowOfHands · 25/03/2012 22:47

I'm 5ft 3" with size 5 feet, so just average I suppose. 2 emcs due to babies not fitting through my pelvis.

Friend is 4ft 11", tiny size 2 feet, had 4 babies (7-8.5lbs) with ease.

Finallygotaroundtoit · 25/03/2012 22:48

Tiny ladies from various ethnic groups usually manage just fine

RandomMess · 25/03/2012 22:50

5' size 6-8 hips 2nd baby was 10lb 6oz not a problem.

Pancakeflipper · 25/03/2012 22:52

My close friend is a size 6, very very nearly 5ft tall. Size 3-4 shoes. She's a tiny wee thing. Her body doesn't know the meaning of hips never mind child-bearing ones. She gave birth to a 7lb baby last year with no drugs.

Original poster

sharond101 · 25/03/2012 23:06

Thank you I shall show DH this!

OP posts:

Happenstance · 26/03/2012 07:38

My Aunt is very small built at about 5ft2 size 6-8, first baby was 10lb8, put her off a bit though i think

dippyducky · 26/03/2012 09:38

I'm 5ft with size 2/3 feet so I'm quite concerned about this myself so it's reassuring to read about others experiences. My nan was 4ft 10" with tiny hips and she had 5 babies so hoping should be fine.

My midwife was mildly concerned as the baby isn't engaging (due tomorrow) so sent me to a consultant who said they can't know until I'm in labour as my pelvis will expand during labour so best to go for a vaginal delivery, he didn't seem to think it would be an issue.
Good luck x

Missgiraffe1 · 26/03/2012 10:05

Hi, I am 5' 1/2" and very small-framed (pre-preg weight 7st 10lb, dropped to 7st 4lb by end of 1st trimsester due to MS. Now 9st 4lb at 34 weeks). I had my DD almost 16 years ago, vaginally, with only gas and air. She was 2 weeks early, weighing 6lb 12oz. My pre-preg weight was only 6st 12lb that time.
Didn't help that during labour, the trainee midwife mentioned that a woman's ability to give birth naturally used to be judged by her shoe size - under size 3 meaning she was likely to have problems. Made me slightly nervous, being a size 2-3!! But, as I said, all was fine.
My MIL is 4'11" (I love standing next to her ) and had 3 normal delivieries.

insanityscratching · 26/03/2012 16:11

Should reassure you to know my Gran who was 4ft 10 gave birth to my Dad naturally and he weighed 13lb born.

RetroMum1 · 26/03/2012 21:33

I am 4ft10 with size 2 1/2 feet, my MW all the way through my first pregnancy were concerned as was one consultant but the hospital had recently changed its policy that all first timers apart from breach should try for a vaginal delivery.

I had a growth scan at 34 weeks and as DD was quite large it was decided I had to be induced on my due date to stop any further risk. After 28 hours of labour it ended in an emergency section where they found DD to be completely stuck in my pelvis and had to use forceps to pull her out of my wedged pelvis. The consultant said it was the worst cone head he had ever seen. I then tore internally and had to have 8 units of blood and plasma. It was a complete nightmare, I had to have tubes down my nose to suction out fluid in my stomach where my bowel had gone into stress and stopped working and was in intensive care for a week.

I am sure this is very rare and worse case scenario but if any MW or consultant raises concerns about natural delivery I would urge them to push for a elective section.

The consultant told me at my 8 week check that I must never try for natural delivery again as my pelvis was too small and my DS was born very calmly with an elective as will the DC I'm now expecting.

thefurryone · 27/03/2012 11:31

My Mum 4'10 with size 2 1/2 feet and has had two natural deliveries without issue, although this only proves that you can't really tell until the time comes to actually deliver the baby.

queenrollo · 27/03/2012 11:45

I'm a size six, very narrow hips and this was one of my fears but DS was vaginal delivery and only gas and air. I had to have a small episiotomy right at the end but that's because DS was becoming distressed and they wanted him out though i'm still convinced if they let get me get on all fours like I wanted rather than flat on my back I would have avoided the epi

droves · 27/03/2012 11:45

im 5`2 ish , have size 2 &1/2 feet (35)

Have had 5 births , one back to back baby when i chipped my coxix

AnaisB · 27/03/2012 11:58

Going on a friend's experience (she's tiny and her DP is very tall) ask your consultant or midwife specifically about this. Possibly push for a scan to check.

RetroMum1 · 27/03/2012 12:23

This really shows that you really won't know until you try! Not very helpful I know, if you are concerned ask your MW.

Droves I don't think fitness and stamina have anything to do with it as pelvis is bone, if it is too small there is nothing you can do as I found out.

I carried on going to the gym 5 times a week with both my pregnancies as I will with this one. I think every women's body is just very different and they don't really know what will happen until your in labour.

There are lots of other little women on this thread who managed natural delivery so hopefully that will put your mind at rest sharond101 :)

kalidasa · 27/03/2012 17:12

I really remember my best friend doing the bit on pelvis size/shape at medical school because we were all surrepstitiously fingering our hips while looking at her diagrams and trying to work out which category we might be! As I remember the gist of it was that the external appearance/width of the hips is no guide at all to the actual aperture of the pelvis. So you can be small all over with no obvious hips and have a perfectly generous space for birth and conversely you can be Amazon-tall with wide, obvious hips and actually have a small space that causes problems. Any medical professionals please correct me if I'm totally wrong!

Maybe this is your DH's way of hinting that he's anxious about the birth in general?

Original poster

sharond101 · 27/03/2012 22:54

kalidasa he is terrified!

thanks for all your replies. I am not concerned only he is. we have our first growth scan next week.

OP posts:

Popoozle · 27/03/2012 22:59

Just to confirm what others have said really, a good friend of mine is 4ft 11in & wears a size 6 or children's clothes. She has delivered two 7lb babies as easily as anyone I know. However, my 5ft 7in, size 16 friend has had three CS's.

You just can't tell what will happen until it happens!

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 27/03/2012 23:07

Another shortarse here, 5 feet tall, size 2.5/3 feet, two vaginal deliveries of babies weighing 7lb 12 and 8lb 3. For ds1 I needed episiotomy and forceps, ds2 was "normal". My sister, however, who is slightly taller, underwent trial by labour and had an emergency section, so she went for electives for her other two.

1944girl · 27/03/2012 23:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SeymoreButts · 28/03/2012 07:18

I am tiny, 5'2" and a size 6/8. I talked to the obstetrician about cephalo-pelvic distortion because my mum had it and was unable to deliver vaginally. I am smaller than she is. The answer was that I would need to have a trial of labour and would be given an EMCS if my labour failed to progress. I delivered both my babies vaginally, one 6lb and the other over 8lb.

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