Pregnant with a VSD - Congenital Heart Defect

[LaurenH0893]

Hi,
I was just wondering is anyone else has a VSD or a heart defect that is pregnant or been pregnant ?
I am 33+2 and looking forward to my due date. 1st baby.
I have been told by my consultant I am to have an epidural as early as possible & can only push for max 1 hour - high change of forceps delivery.
I am worried they are going to leave me overdue & baby gets too big for me to push out !
Can I ask to be induced ?

Congratulations, hope everything goes to plan for you.

I have tricuspid Atersia and have had 9 early misscarriges and now been advised against pregnancy 😥

Thank you. We are very lucky.
Ooh no that is horrible news !
Best wishes to you both xx

Gosh can you not ask for a c section. If they are suggesting inducing, epidural and only allowed 1 hr pushing that’s probablt where you will head anyway so maybe cut out the middle bit?

Whatever you choose here’s wishing you a healthy and happy delivery

I did think about it but the recovery puts me off a c section & I also had a hernia when I was young so have a repair down there that could interfere with the c section location.
I'm not an easy patient

Is it a large vsd? I have a tiny one and was told I could labour as I wished - consultant was happy for me to have a home birth. (I didn’t want home delivery though).

Recovery isn’t that bad. I had one with my first and yeah it wasn’t fun but I was up and about pretty quickly to be honest.

I had induction with my first and apparently they do have a higher risk of emergency c section being needed anyway. Which the dr told me half way through induction 🙄

I am having another echo done on the 21st Feb to see how my heart is coping.
I have a very loud murmur but they find it hard to see the hole on the echo.
Loud because the hole is small and the blood flow is going through fast at high pressure.
I originally had 2 holes, may still be there but "I'm very hard to scan" on an echo.
Cardiologist has said IV antibiotics throughout labour & to be given after to reduce the infection risk.
Consultant made the decision over me basically and said epidural & pushing for an hour max.
Being my first there is so much unknown & I have no idea what is going on tbh !

I would push for some second opinions if it’s small. I’ve had 2 dc vaginally both times was told no abx needed these days and as long as I was ok I was to labour naturally.

I have a heart problem and was hooked up to ecg throughout labour so they could monitor me. I was also advised to have epidural which I had been completely against and only an hour of pushing.

I was glad of the epidural (although the first failed) as DD was back to back. That made the pushing stage harder as she didn't turn. After an hour I was examined and they decided to let me finish as my heart was coping ok and she was almost out. I did have an episiotomy to help things along.

I did find it difficult as I felt I didn't have a decision about how to have DD and some of the appointments were quite scary. I hadn't known about my heart issue until a routine check during the pregnancy.

Despite natural delivery being complex, they were reluctant to do a c-section unless necessary as they felt it would put more strain on my heart (birth and recovery) than a natural delivery.

@voxnihili
Your story sounds just like what is planned for me !
Was you induced or left until you went into labour naturally?

@LaurenH0893 - I was left to go into labour naturally as things were progressing well. I did have a couple of incidences if reduced movement and went straight to the assessment unit where they did scans to check blood flow to DD etc. If there had been any issue they would have induced.

Do you have an appointment with an anaesthetist? I found that one the scariest as they measured me up in case I needed to be placed on a ventilator (my condition carries a risk of cardiac arrest).

The birth itself was fine although it was quite nerve wracking as there were so many people in the room at times and some of the equipment to monitor me came from ICU which unsettled me a bit.

When DD was born she was a bit lethargic which was due to the drugs I'd had during pregnancy and labour.

I hope what I've said doesn't scare you further. It's not intended to. I found the whole process terrifying but everything turned out fine and I now have a very healthy 6 month old.

Yes I have already seen the anaesthetist. He just assessed my risks really & told me the pain options & highly recommended an epidural - which the consultant has said is the plan.
I have had my heat problem from birth so I have been monitored most of my life, I have to have all of the flu jabs etc. Antibiotics when I go to the dentist. Tonsils & appendix removed due to infections too. So they know my medical history really well.
Nooo not at all, I just want to be prepared.
I have a consultant appointment at 37 weeks so I think I'm going to discuss my concerns & see what she says.
Thank you !