How do they work out if you're big enough to give birth?

[laweaselmys]

That sounds really irrational - and it probably is!

I'm a petite person and it suddenly occurred to me that there is a tiny percentage of the population who physically don't have a big enough vagina for birth. Can they work out if this is the case in advance? Any guesstimates they can use??

I have heard shoe size is analogous and I have tiny feet which is why I am now
worried!!

I don't know how they work it out but I am 5 foot 1 and have had two fast easy labours no tears or stiches etc. I think most women even small ones are capable of having babies unless there are major complications.

The best thing to do is just ask your midwife as I'm sure she will have seen women of all shapes and sizes give birth

Sophie

5 ft 2 and size 4 feet

Two babies, both 6lb 2oz and no problems. Fast labours - first under 4 hours and second under 3 hours, with no tearing. Midwife said to me 'some people are just made to have babies!'

How petite are you?

Or I just have a bucket instead of a fanjo

I would be more worried about the size of your pelvis. The (high) majority of women wouldn't create a child that is too big for them to bith.
Foot size has nothing to do with it.

LOL at becauseI'mworthit

I was worried as I am the also 5'1 and size four feet and DH is 6'2 with a fifty inch chest (2nd row rugby player) and a ginormous head. However MW says babies generally grow to the size a mum can cope with. And fanjos are extremely elastic.

My feet are a size 3 and I've had two perfectly fine births ...

If there is a problem it will be to do with babies head size - i have one (averagely sized) friend who was had a C section as her los head was over the 99%. That showed up in scans though, so she knew in advance. HTH

Pelvis size and shape are important. These can change through your pregnancy and during labour itself, with hormones being released to loosen everthing up.

It's unusual for your body to make a baby that's too big for you to birth.

I ahve never hard of anyne ot having a big enough vagina?? Pelvis yes (my 4 ft 9 size 1 shoes friends was monitored jic for that but was fine).

Huzzah!! Okay. I have an appointment next week with midwife and will seek reassurance.

I'm 5'4"ish but very small frame + skinny with size 3 feet. But if that's all irrelevant I will be happy. My hips are biggest bit of me so that's probably a good sign for pelvis size if that's the relevant part. Excellent, thanks guys.

It's the size of your pelvis that is (or could potentially be) an issue, not the size of your vagina. There isn't really any way of telling in advance unless you have an obvious pelvic deformity -- IIRC there have been various studies looking at scanning technologies, but none of them has shown much correlation with actual outcomes. Even the scans and algorithms they use to estimate the size of the baby aren't very accurate.

The position of the baby has lot to do with it -- even a small baby can get "stuck" if it's in an awkward position, and even a large one can (often) be birthed easily if it's well positioned.

fanjos are quite stretchy you know...

am 5 ft, size 4 feet, and not wide of hip and pushed out an 8 1b baby

am sure you'll be fine!

And I on the other hand with my size 5's and tending towards the 'traditional' build couldn't even squeeze out my 5lb-er....

5ft size 3 feet, my DD was born by EMCS she was 9lb 1oz (I was only 8 stone pre-pregnancy very small frame), and had a 98% head. As she was pulled out I told I could never have given birth naturally as shoulders too large. After 24hours of labour she had not even entered the pelvic brim

Now 17 weeks pregnant with no.2 and meeting consultant at 20 weeks to discuss whether pelvic disproportionality .

I voiced loads of concerns when pregnant with DD about the size of pelvis/feet and was not taken seriously at all by the midwives. The first thing they asked me when I went to be induced was what size my feet were!

Demand growth scans if you get concerned is my advice.

I'm 5ft 1, thought there was no way a baby was coming out of me, but had an easy, quickish birth.