Another SPD thread

[Charleesunnysunsun]

The last 2 days i have been hit with what the hospital are calling SPD. It's a severe pain between my legs from the bottom of my bum down through my bit's up into my bum!

I can't walk, stand up, sit down roll over with out crying in agony. Im 37 weeks today with my second baby and i can't belive how quickly it has come on, i can only describe the pain as the same as when you come down on the cross bar of a boys bike or get kicked in the crotch,it feels very bruised and as if it should be swollen but it's not.

Baby's head is very low down and my bump's dropped right down so i don;t know if that's making it worse.

Anyway what im worried about is how im going to give birth i can't open my legs far at all without the pain getting to bad, the only relief i have is sitting on my birthing ball but getting down on it and back off it is a nightmare.
Paracetamol isn't touching it i have a wheat pack i may try using for bed in a while.

Does anyone know if the hospital will help me give birth in maybe a different position though i assume any position i will need my legs open? It's to late to see the hospitals osteopath as it takes a onth to get an appointment and hopefully LO will arrive by then!

I know there is alot of SPD threads about but none seem to actually say how i will beable to give birth and what's best to put in my birth plan ect. Any advice much welcome.

Im going to try and get some sleep now so i will reply to any posts in the morning thanks

good advice re SPD and labour

on all fours & left lateral position seem to be advised......

HTH!

I went to physio the other day and they measured how far my legs will open when laying down and sitting up. According to them, I can open far enough to give birth. They I got crutches and a belt to help me walk as it might get worse. (28 wks). Not much help really but good luck.

I am 27 weeks pregnant and have SPD, I am also looking at options for birth, you may find this article usefull........ pelvic-partnership.org.uk

Love,
K

Thanks for your replys. I have been in agony today i walked to my midwife appointment and my usual 10 minute journey took me an hour i arrived in hysterics pushing ds through the door, i think the receptionists were quite alarmed. My midwife however said there is naff all that can be done and i will have to put up with it, the watched me struggle in tears trying to life ds into his pushchair which i can't do without moaning in pain then i hobbled out the surgery in tears feeling very sorry for myself.

The mean cow didn't even say she hoped i felt better or any words of sympathy.

It'sgot to the point now where if i thought they could help i would get my ass to hospital as im in so much pain and thats saying something for me i hate bloomin hospitals! But i know they cant so im feeling sorry for myself.

have you tried tying a wide piece of material tightly around your hips, under the bump, to sort of hold the pelvis a bit more together??

Could anyone out there give me some classic symptoms of SPD? I think I may have it but am not sure? I am 26 weeks pregnant and constantly have a feeling of pressure in my pubic area. I have to get dressed sat down as am unable to balance and turning over in bed is painful. Is this SPD??

Hi Charleesunnysunsun - the pain sounds awful (and so does your midwife). I had SPD and was referred to the physio department at the hospital by my midwife. I got an appointment really quickly. I was given a brace to wear around my stomach, she also showed me exercises to do (as I was 18 weeks when I went to see her). She also advised on the correct birthing position for me (Give birth on left hand side - so legs are not apart) and wrote it in my notes for the birth. She advised there was nothing else she could do, so you only get one appointment.. but if it got worse to contact the department and they could give me crutches or if really bad a wheel chair. I know of someone in their last couple of months that needed a wheelchair, as they were in agony and just could not walk. Also in a small % of cases the SPD does not go just on birth, it can take a while afterwards to get better. Therefore if I was you, I would insist in seeing someone at the hospital for some advise, just in case you are doing anything that is making it worse, another thing they mentioned that if SPD is VERY bad, they would consider a C section...so defo think you should get second opinion. Hope you get some help and pain gets better... x

Hi!

Nat - It sounds as if you may have SPD, mine was a really bad pain from the bottom of my bump through between my legs up into my back ,i couldn;t walk or anything.
Luckily i gave birth to harry who is now 3 weeks old, and as soon as he was born the pain was gone. I have a very easy quick labour.
Good luck

I'm a wheelchair user because of SPD, and the ladies on here who are suffering with it have my every sympathy.

I don't think a c-section is neccessarily the best option, because you'll have to deal with the recovery from the operation and likely still have the pelvic pain for a little while, too. There is some suggestion that giving birth vaginally can help realign you if that's making things worse, too.

I have SPD very severely, I had it with my third and it was the first clue I was expecting this time round, because it suddenly got much worse. I'm planning on trying to give birth as upright as possible, leaning on a propped up bed if I can.

Anyway, I would definitely go for a second opinion. The pain is telling you something important, it's your pelvis going "Don't make me do this!" - whatever you do, try not to push through the pain and carry on. A support belt may help. I know the frustration of no pain relief. Try and keep your knees together as much as humanly possible. You might find Co-codamol helps you - do go and speak to a doctor about this and contact the Pelvic Partnership.

I only found out about SPD after giving birth. While I was pg could not get into bed so slept on recliner for 6 weeks b4 birth. Talked to GP and she just told me it's normal during pg.

Gave birth naturally with no pain relief as I was too far into labour and the pain was worse. Did not get any sympathy from midwives who just told be to take strong pain killers. Saw a specialist privately and got it sorted out after 3 months.

From looking at these threads I think that mothers to be should be made aware of this problem. I'm surprised at the number of ladies who have had to suffer such pain as I thought I was one of a few. Gps and midwives don't seem to know about this and how to deal with it which I find frustrating. A pg woman is at her most emotional time which can lead to more seriousness of pre/post natal depression.

At least you can get more information from people that have been there from MN. I wish you all the luck and take care.

Sally ... poor poor you ...
And everyone else on here.
I was a sufferer too, with both my pregnancies and like Mrs Fanjo (the one with Frau in her name ) I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy ...
It is one of the things that puts me off having a 3rd baby tbh ... well, THE thing - I don't DO pregnancy very well
I ended up with C/Ss both times due to failure to progress and I wonder whether it had something to do with it?
I wore tubey grip thing around my tummy (like the things you wear if you have a sprained ankle but bigger obviously) which helped ... and I spent the last month of my pregnancy with DD wearing one maternity skirt - actually, it was a stretchy tube that stretched over my humungous bump but kept my legs together ... the skirt didn't allow me to spread my legs too far when walking ... it was a godsend.
With DS pain was gone within 24 hours of having him, with DD it was about 2 weeks (but every day easier). Slight twinges now and again (if I am playing soccer with DS or doing the Can Can )

I think it would put me off a 3rd baby....am 29 weeks now and it's suddenly getting worse - really hope it doesn't keep getting worse but I'm not hopeful! ONly got it right at the end last time. Am trying my best to keep active and moving but I feel my days are numbered

sympathies to everyone else, it's grim. I find it's also quite difficult to explain to those not in the know. I hope that for this birth I'll be able to be upright and move about - last time I was monitored and then DD pushed my cocyx (how do you spell that?!) out of line and all I could do was lie on my left side and scream...not ideal!

I had SPD quite badly with dd2... it started quite early on and getting up and down was difficult. as time went on just turning over in bed was hard. I was referred to physio too who gave me some scaffolding that they called a maternity belt!

I delivered naturally with the help of a bit of gas and air...lying on the bed which I hated.
tbh I was concentrating on the contractions so much I can't remember if the SPD pain was there during labour.... but it didn't last long after delivery

lol - yer the belt is funny - there is three bits to it that strap all over your tummy... scaffolding is a good way of explaining it.

I've posted about spd before as I was about to get acupuncture for mine, after literally crawling in tears to my midwife. I was in agony too so I fully sympathise with all of you, but we really shouldn't have to endure this! SPD is not just your usual, bearable aches and pains type irritation that most pregnant women get, it's a nightmare.

Anyway, I have to recommend acupuncture- I had 2 sessions and I am now, for the most part, pain-free. Seriously, something has worked and I really don't suffer any more. I still get a bit of a twinge and occasionally do take paracetomol for it but it has genuinely worked. If you can get referred by your gp or midwife, go for it. I was just willing to try anything and wasn't really expecting it to work, but I feel like a new person, and can cope with the rest of my pregnancy now (I'm 29 weeks).

However, I do live in Germany and they love acupuncture here - I'm not sure if you can actually get it while pg in the uk. Worth looking into though..