SPD - Epidural or C Section?

[Aak98]

Hello everyone, just joined mum's net because I'm looking for some advice.

My wife is at the 33 week mark and she has been experiencing pretty severe SPD pains for about 3 months now. Along with this, she has a history of a very low pain tolerance and has fainted due to menstrual cycle pain twice in the past.

Due to the low pain tolerance, we doubt she will be able to labour without any pain medications however, due to the spd, she can't labour on her back because this would increase the likelihood of further SPD pains and damage to the pelvis.

Just looking for some guidance on what can be done. Should we consider elective c section?

Thanks in advance!

I had pretty bad SPD with my pregnancies and think I will with this one. I managed to lay on my back but was given strong pain relief and found it more comfortable. If you explain to your midwife they can write it in your notes that you would like either an epidural or CS or refer you to see someone at the hospital?. If the pain gets too bad your wife can be induced early x

Hi - never had a C Section but from what I've heard from others experiences they can be extremely painful afterwards (it is major surgery after all) and not to be taken lightly.

I had an epidural before though and can completely recommend it! No pain at all. I also suffered from SPD but didn't find it a problem and it soon disappeared after birth (although back with a vengeance now currently pregnant with DC2!)

What does her MW/physio recommend?

I had severe SPD and was on crutches. Couldnt sit, stand or walk without severe pain for months.

I managed perfectly fine lying on my back throughout my whole labour. Started with gas and air, then had morphine while I waited for the epidural to be administered.

I only had mild SPD in my following pregnancy and no SPD issues after the births.

Hi - short answer - no it’s not really a reason for a CS, but worth a good discussion to make sure you’re happy with plans.

Have a chat with your midwife and if need be she could refer you to an obstetrician for discussion. Your wife won’t need to be flat on her back with an epidural, usually propped up and can often be on one side or other. The midwife will need to take care with positioning if your wife can’t feel her legs - particularly hip position. Usually that’s pretty straightforward. If her hip movements are very very restricted then it would be worth some physio input now and an assessment with a consultant - but it would be very rare for SPD to prevent vaginal delivery.
You have the option of requesting an early epidural if particularly worried about pain tolerance as well.
Good luck :)

I’ve had SPD in all four pregnancies getting worse each time. Had straight forward vaginal deliveries with each. I laboured one a sort of foetal position on my side and only turned into my back to actually deliver. I was actually too fast to have an epidural or anything stronger than gas and air, two of them were homebirths. One was induced due to the SPD and other reasons. I have heard of inductions being granted at 38 weeks due to SPD but often interventions don’t always work if a baby isn’t ready to come out and can lead to a csection anyway.

Huge sympathy to your wife though SPD is horrid.