Does it hurt more to birth a larger baby?

[nellnell]

Weird question I know, but I get hassled whenever I get asked about my births. Apparently I had it 'easy' and 'of course I wouldn't have needed drugs'.

DD - 6pd, 9oz (HC was 33) Active labour total 4.5hours (45mins 2nd stage)
DS - 5pd 14oz (HC was 31) Active labour total 5.5 hours (10 mins 2nd stage)

Bit of background - I chose to have drug free labours and both were induced (ARM and Synto). I did sustain 2nd degree tears with both, even though I birthed on all fours.

Saying that though, I know that most babies are the perfect size for your body (I'm quite tall, but not overly small - approx size 10)

So what I really want to know is, IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, does it hurt more to birth a larger baby?

[Tinks]

I have never birthed a big baby but I wouldn't imagine it would be any different. Of all my friends, the ones who had bigger babies (i'm talking 9-11lb here) didn't have stitches. All of us who had babies under 7lb had stitches.

[~clover~]

Mine were 7lb 5oz - 8lb 9oz. I don't think it hurt more at all.

[Bathsheba]

In my experience; no. I've vaginally given birth to 3 babies: 7 pounds, 8 pounds, 9 pounds (in that order). All felt pretty much the same pain wise. I didn't tear with any. Had minimal pain relief, minimum dose pethidine mainly. All were considered long births but that's only according to the very time constricted hospital system. My 3rd baby came out with his arm up over his head... but like I said, all felt the same. Labour was hard for me... 2 were induced. The best pain relief is having caring people around you... stressed/annoyed hospital staff are the worst thing for making pain worse.... worse than a bigger baby IMO (in my opinion).

[meow]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I used to think it would hurt less to have a smaller baby. I had an almost 10 pound baby drug free and sure it hurt. I tore but I think that was because of positions (I was on birthing stool and he was on an angle).

But what is the pain from? Contractions- you're going to get those regardless of the size of your baby and Crowning- pushing a lemon out would hurt so a 20cm, 30cm, whatever head is really not going to feel all that different. So all birth can feel the same regardless of the size of the baby. I would agree that bigger variants to pain would be the mother's mental state, position of the baby, position of the mother etc.

[Emma1979]

for me, i judge how hard/painful a labour is by the duration of it..... i can get my head around being in incredible pain for several hours, what i wasn't prepared for was being in incredible mind blowing pain for in excess of 24 hours....

i feel like i can get a grip on the pain if it isn't never ending... if i could have my second baby in say 10 hours or under, then i know i will think of it as the 'less painful' of the two labours, no matter what happens this time around... does that make any sense at all?

my first was 8 pounds 7.... i'm hoping for a healthy baby this time, but smaller would put my mind more at ease, but you don't find out the size until they are out so i guess its all irelevant!...

[Butterfly Child]

my dd was 10lb, it was a pretty tough labour but only because it was induced imo... i didnt have any tears or stitches, the labour was 10hrs of full on labour too i havent got anything to compare it to though x

[Pandora]

mine were both within 20gm in size but significantly different pain-wise.

first birth, DS was 10lb 4oz induced at 9 days over, and i was having very painful contractions for a 6 and a half hour labour. Being allowed int he bath helped somewhat but i got out with intolerable leg cramps (from my toe to my hip, both legs doubled over and I couldnt stand.sit.kneel, I was lying down with a midwife on one side and dh on the other stretching my legs out. I had gas for the last 1/2 hour before pushing. Pushing seemed excruciating
Second stage 2+hours
First degree tear that was sutured.

Second birth, bub was 10lb 3oz. I wasnt sure until my contractions were coming 4 in ten minutes, that it was the real thing, becuase I hadnt gone in to spontaneous labour with number 1. I drove home from my aqua class about a haf hour after they started at 4 per 10 mins.
They were painful and I knew it was the real deal byt he timing of them, but didnt want to freak DH out so stayed pretty quiet for the 30min drive to hospital.
was in transition byt he time we got there so the usual (for me) no im not pushing anymore i'll go home now thanks very much..
5 min second stage.
3.5 hours all up, significantly less pain leading up to the birth, and i think the shortness of the pushing stage is making me remmeber it as less painful than it was, but in all I was much happier with this birth than the first.

[StrawberryMumma]

I didn't find that my bigger baby hurt more during labour/delivery. But I probably felt a bit sorer afterwards..like my pelvis etc..felt more achey (he had quite big shoulders which is probably why though). I didn't take drugs for my babies either.

Ignore those stupid comments! Any labour is hard work! Contractions hurt like crazy with any birth.

[Ozziehoffy]

I would say no. First was c/s so can't include, but Oskar was 5p 12 and Elijah was 8p 8 so quite a difference and I'd say nope. Both were drug free but with Elijah I had no intervention and he was born totally natural but with Oskar he was vacuum assisted and I think it shocked my body more and whilst he was actually being born and I was pushing and they were vacuuming, I remember my breath being taken away. Elijah I got to experience the ol' ring of fire lol and I'd say that was the bit which hurt the most, that I remember but it was a pain as such but a burning.

[Lolli]

Both mine were little- 2500 grams, roughly (about 6 pound). But I really don't think it makes a difference- I found the most painful bit was the contractions, as opposed to the actual crowning/birthing bit. And no matter what size your baby is, your body has to do the same thing to get it out...

[Visitor8]

Suppose everyones experiences are different. For me...

First birth, 47.5 hours lo ng, threatened c/s. Was induced and had epi from early on (around 15 hours into it). Pain was bad, epi didnt' work properly, baby was born and I was badly torn and stayed in hospital for 9 days due to the damage. Would have had 40+ stitches so they did a running stitch.

Second was a 16 hour labour, didn't have an epi till very late (8 cm). Natural start, no induction. He was posterior but was also my 'best' birth and I felt the most in control. 3 stitches.

Last was VERY long and VERY painful. Had epi. Also was induced. Ashton tore me pretty bad.


Jaidan was 8lbs 4oz, 57cm long, 37cm head.
Chase was 9lbs 3oz, 57.5cm long and 37cm head
Ashton was 11lbs, 59cm long, 39cm head.

For me yes Ash was by far my worse. They wanted to give me a c/s as he wasn't engaged at all in labour, his head was able to be moved around and it stayed like that till I was pushing him out. They had no idea he was so big though. I didn't know until they said he was 4.995kg. I almost died!

[nellnell]

Wow,

Seems like the majority of people say 'no'. I suppose there are so many factors which play a part.

The best pain relief is having caring people around you...

I truly believe this too. But also I believe that if your head is in the right place that you can tolerate a lot more. I admit, I have a high tolerance to pain and while going through transistion in my 1st birth, the mw asked me how I was feeling and what the pain scale was like. I replied "it's about 4 out of 10". I'd told myself that the pain would certainly be getting A LOT worse. Of course being the first time I had no idea what to expect and it was all over before I knew it.

47.5 hours lo ng, threatened c/s. Was induced

Missymoo - was this active labour or 'very painful contractions'? My second birth was induced and was 36 hours from initial induction to baby. Although they dont count that as the length of labour, being hooked up to synto with limited movement and not being able to get into the bath was a killer for me. I got SOOOOO tired, and this started to affect my ability to progress further. Is this why they threatened a c/s?

Elijah I got to experience the ol' ring of fire lol and I'd say that was the bit which hurt the most,

hehe Cass - how I wish to have that feeling again, knowing that bub is almost here. For me I didnt have time to think about it, as I was trying my damn best to pant to prevent tearing (didnt work!)

Ignore those stupid comments! Any labour is hard work! Contractions hurt like crazy with any birth.

Thankyou lee. Totally agree, it's the contractions that hurt the most for me too, and was a real relief to push.

Also seems to be harder births associated with inductions. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for your feedback

[~clover~]

Position of the baby does play a big part. DD1 was typical vertex? position. Facing spine, head down, all the rest. But DD2 & DS were sideways/posterior & that was harder. Intense back pain.
DD1 at 7lb 5oz grazed me
DD2 at 8lb 9oz 1st degree tear
DS 8lb 7.5oz nothing
Didn't have stitches with any of them & had gas & peth with DD1 just becuse I was fighting the contractions & the labour kept slowing down.

My friends 7lb baby came face first, so was a bit different to her 10lb 9oz DS who crowned properly.

There are so many things that play a part in it all. The only advice I can give, is be sure you are supported & relax. You need to let you body do what it needs to do. You need to be focussed. I found focusing in on each contraction & humming through it, visualing what it was doing, helped me get through DD2's labour quite well til transition.

& yes, iductions are often alot harder on the body. First of all, your body often doesn't have the time to start preparing itself for labour, which is usually painless opening of the cervix the first little bit. Then the contractions build up gradually. With an induction, the preperation time is skipped. Things just start happening & the contractions ar kinda forced onto the body. Its not natural. Its not the body doing its thing itself, iykwim. Its drugs forcing contractions when the body isn't quite ready for it.
Does that make sense?

[Fleur]

Yep, induced labour is often more painful because your body is working harder at it from the git-go, rather than getting a more gentle run-in.
Probably has much more to do with how much pain you have, than baby size.

For me - my first was 8lb10, second was 9lb13 & was the best labour & birth by far - third was 8lb12 & DD2 was 10lb8 - hers was a painful birth, but I was on my back (not where I wanted to be) & I think that had as much to do with it as her size.

[Visitor8]

nellnell that was active labour according to my discharge papers sent to the MCHN.

I was in a bad way with Jaidan because my waters broke at 39 weeks and nothing happened so they had to induce me the next day. I was in labour for about 4 days, probably a few hours short of that. The start was fine, it was hitting the end of the first day that killed me. I was so exhausted by the end of it as I refused to take sleeping tablets because they scared me. The OB wanted to give me a CS but I refused on day 3 and that night he said it would be best for bub but because he wasn't in distress I refused. The next day his heart rate dropped a lot during the contractions and they were really worried he was in distress so said it was necessary but by the time the OB came he said Jaidan was too far down and it would be more dangerous to pull him back up to get him o ut. I was 7cm by that stage. Jaidan was born and sent to nicu because he had sepsis and breathing difficulties.