Shoulder Dystocia?

[BellyBelly]

Small Pelvis? Here's The Truth About Cephalopelvic Disproportion (CPD)

Often CPD is implied rather than diagnosed. In cases where labour has failed to progress or the baby has become distressed, medical staff commonly assume that this is due to physical inadequacies in the mother rather than look towards circumstances of the mother’s care. These problems frequently occur when CPD is not suspected and there are many other causes such as fear and uncertainty, difficulty adjusting to a medical environment, lack of emotional support and non-continuity of carer.

Big Baby? Then You Must Read This Article...

[loulabelle]

A friend of mines first naby had shoulder distocia. It was quite a close call. The baby was 4.5 kg. her second came out petfectly fine at 4.7kg and she just had a homebirth for her third baby. That baby weighed in at just under 5kg. you are at higher risk than someone who hasnt experienced it, but that certainly doesnt mean it will happen. As others have pointed out, there's lots of ways to help prevent it.

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[BellyBelly]

Size really has nothing to do with it. I know many women who have birthed 10-11lbers without a tear! Its all about position and the way the care unfolds.

Many women are led to believe by their carers that their gestational diabetes babies will be born HUGE. But studies show inducing these babies doesn't even reduce the occurrence of SD.

Induction of Labour - The Hidden Dangers of Labour Induction

Induction For Gestational Diabetes

Even where there is a medical condition involved, for example, Gestational Diabetes, it is worth studying and asking your Obstetrician and / or Midwife to see if induction is going to offer more risks than benefits. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has published a study, which you can read here (which you might wish to print and show your Obstetrician), which concludes:

Based on data from observational studies, labour induction for suspected fetal macrosomia (large baby) results in an increased caesarean delivery rate without improving perinatal outcomes.

They state:

Summary statistics for the nine observational studies showed that, compared with those whose labor was induced, women who experienced spontaneous onset of labour had a lower incidence of cesarean delivery and higher rates of spontaneous vaginal delivery. No differences were noted in rates of operative vaginal deliveries, incidence of shoulder dystocia, or abnormal Apgar scores in the analyses of the observational or randomised studies.

[loulabelle]

My friend is proof of that, kelly. Shes also not a big lady and came out of her second two births without so much as a graze either. (was cut first time)

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[Trillian]

And this is why you don't use forceps with shoulder dystocia;

*warning - this link may be extremely distressing* http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-n...-during-839613

This is absolutely horrific. I cannot even begin to imagine how traumatised that would have left every single person in that room who saw that, let alone the mother and father of the poor babe. The story is extremely graphic so please do not read it if you think it would upset you.

[Meercat]

Oh Trillian that is just awful you would think after six hours they would realize the poor baby was not budging?!?

Afm. I met with my Dr and discussed what I remember. He says it sounds more like the Dr who delivered DD just preferred to use the forceps and he will go through my birth records with me and my midwife to make sure but he believes I won't need a c section. Let's just hope he isn't on holidays when I deliver again!

I also had a friend who had an awful first birth after an induction give birth again. She went into labour naturally and had an entirely different experience. I will be avoiding an induction like the plague this time.

[onthefly]

I will be avoiding an induction like the plague this time.

That's what I figured, too.
Also - the care you receive makes an ENORMOUS difference to how you labour and how you feel about it all. It's hard to get that across till you've experienced different kinds of care.

[Trillian]

Meercat, would you consider getting yourself a Doula to help you this time? I think for you situation a doula could help you immensely during the birth and help you avoid what happened last time.

[BellyBelly]

This is a brilliant article on shoulder dystocia. Highly recommend everyone read it.

Shoulder Dystocia: the real story | Midwife Thinking