what shape is your pelvis?

[Pandora]

And how can you tell.
I was looking online, might have been spinning babies I cant remember, and they showed diagrams and said there were 4 main shapes of pelvis that people have.
So is there a way to know which one you have?
I know my pubic bone is "abnormally located" but not whether this is good bad or otherwise

[Heaven]

I was looking at that on the spinning babies website too and had no idea what mine was!

[angelaartsstudent]

pelvis shaped?

I'm not sure...it's covered in too much of a fat layer to tell!

[Tegam]

all i know is mine is very very wide! LOL


Sorry no help at all am i Im in a silly mood!

[Trillian]

Mine is big and round - perfect for birth. I only know cause when I had my lap done my Gyno showed me all the pics he took and he pointed everything out to me.

Found this info for anyone who might not know what shapes there are;

Pelvic Evaluation
There are four basic pelvic shapes:

• <LI dir=ltr>Gynecoid
  <LI dir=ltr>Android
  <LI dir=ltr>Anthropoid
• Platypoid

A gynecoid pelvis is oval at the inlet, has a generous capacity and wide subpubic arch. This is the classical female pelvis.

A platypoid pelvis is flattened at the inlet and has a prominent sacrum. The subpubic arch is generally wide but the ischial spines are prominent. This pelvis favors transverse presentations.

An anthropoid pelvis is, like the gynecoid pelvis, basically oval at the inlet, but the long axis is oriented vertically rather than side to side.Subpubic arch may be slightly narrowed. This pelvis favors occiput posterior presentations.

An android pelvis is more triangular in shape at the inlet, with a narrowed subpubic arch. Larger babies have difficulty traversing this pelvis as the normal areas for fetal rotation and extension are blocked by boney prominences. Smaller babies still squeeze through.

[BekZ]

No idea, but it is retroverted and size number 6!!! (according to the ob's report after my dandc).

My SIL has a heart shape uterus and both her bubs where breech and stuck in one postion. She had to have c-section delivery.

[Heaven]

So does that mean that anterior is not the optimal position for everyone?? And maybe having a posterior baby is better for some ppl because that's how they will fit out best?
So should we trust our bodies and babies know what they're doing and stop trying to turn them??
Hmm......I wonder what mine is, no idea but bubs is sometimes anterior, sometimes posterior.

[BellyBelly]

The Pink Kit goes over this and gives positions ideally suited to your pelvis shape for labour.

[paradise lost]

Don't know if this is true but one of the midwives i saw during my PG with DD said that you could tell if you had a good birthing pelvis by feeling with your fingers.

You basically put the first 3 fingers of your hand against your vulva (not necessarily IN the vagina though) and pull upwards, until all 3 are hard up against the underneath of the pubic arch. She said if your fingers stay in a straight line your baby will "fall out" (was true for me anyway! though i had a bit of an OP labour to begin with), if your middle finger sits a little higher between the other 2 you should make sure you're on hands and knees to deliver and if your middle finger goes so high that your other 2 are almost touching then you can expect a longer 2nd stage but, she stressed, a vaginal birth is still very possible with patience and support.

Bx

[Tobily]

This is from something I read while I was doing my doula training:

There are four different types of pelvis - gynecoid, android, anthropoid and platypelloid. The table below shows the features of each and the incidence amongst women.

The gynecoid pelvis is the most common amongst women and is the ideal shape for childbirth. The sacrum is curved well and the inlet is rounded. The pubic arch has the optimum angle for the baby's head to move past.

The anthropoid pelvis is found in a quarter of women and is the second most common shape. The pelvic brim is wider on the anteroposterior diameter (front to back) than it is on the transverse diameter (side to side). Women with this pelvic shape are often tall and have narrow shoulders. Posterior positioned babies are common with this pelvic shape.

The android pelvis is similar to the shape of the male pelvis and is found in 20% of women. It tends to be more common in women who are short and stockily built and possibly have a tendency to have more body hair than the average woman. Posterior positioned babies are common with this pelvic shape. The ischial spines are close together and may result in a slow descent of the baby in late labor.

The platypelloid pelvis is the least common shape. The transverse diameter at the inlet is larger than other pelvic shapes while the anteroposterior diameter is smaller. Because of the smaller anteroposterior diameter the baby may need to tilt its head (asynclitic position) in order to engage into the pelvis.

And yeah, the pink kit has a heap of exercises on mapping your pelvis so you can get an idea of the shape, where your tailbone is pointing etc. Really interesting.