any advice on a rather technical q about pelvic bones and birth?

[miranda2]

hi all.
Spoke to my mum last night and mentioned we were thinking of ttc in the next few months. She asked if I'd had any investigation into the last birth. I hadn't the foggiest what she was talking about, but it turned out she was worried there might be something wrong with my pelvis. Last time I pushed for three hours and ds didn't move at all (was posterior), they wanted to do a c-section but agreed to try forceps, which eventually worked. Mum was in theatre with me, and was quite traumatised by it - I couldn't see anythin as my feet were in stirrups and i was spaced out by the epidural! But she said they'd said something about his head being caught on a ridge of bone (I didn't hear that at all and noone said anything to me about there being problems for next time). She was worried that the bad car accident i had when i was 18, in which i broke my pelvis, might have meant it hadn't healed quite straight, so i might have probs again and maybe should have investigations before ttc so I'd know to have an elective c-section if so.
My gut reaction is that I might as well not bother since ds DID come out in the end, and anyway i want to start trying soon and can't believe I'll get xrays etc in the next couple of months the NHS being what it is (we have BUPA through dh's work but this would be a pre-existing condition so wouldn't be covered I'm sure).
But thought I'd better post on here and see what people thought?

My ds birth sounds similar, I pushed for 2 and half hours without getting any where and they eventually got him out with the ventouse. I think they said they only really had to twist him a bit as he was in a funny position and his head was stuck under my pelvic bone. He was quite big (but not huge), 9lb but head cirumcference on 98th I think. Dd was a completely different story and came out quite quickly, it really felt like I was doing something when pushing as opposed to ds where all I managed to do was burst all the blood vessels in my eyes.
I wouldn't go for an elective unless the doctors suggest it, like you said he came out eventually and was probably in a funny position. Presumably the doctors knew you had had a pelvic fracture and didn't suggest cs for ds? Hope you get the advice you need

miranda2 - X-rays are no longer carried out to predict how adequate the pelvis is. They used to be done years ago when women had breech presentations and after women had a C/S.
Babies that lie posterior have difficulty getting down through the birth canal at times and need moved with forceps. Epidurals can be great as far as pain relief goes with posterior positions but they can infact make a forceps delivery more likely because the baby often does not rotate because of the effect of the epidura - it is a catch 22. It is less common second time around to need forceps.
It is unlikely that you will need an elective C/S because of your accident since you did manage to deliver vaginally. I would just get on with conceiving

Thanks very much for the comments and advice! I shall go with mine and dh's gut feeling that its all a bit unnecessary since ds did come out in the end - but if my mum panicks I shall point her in this direction!
Thanks again,
M.

Apparently my aunt pushed for 4 hours with her first... went on to have 3 more children -- all vaginally, healthy, fairly quick with the later ones. I don't think forceps or similar in any of the births. She said that she was only "allowed" to push so long because of some policy thing with her health insurer (this is in USA)! But it made me wonder if the idea that the baby should be out after 2 hours is a bit of a myth/misunderstanding about childbirth and the real risks of pushing more than the quoted 2 hour limit.