CPD???? Could I be one of the unlucky ones?

[~mamaspice~]

Okay,
after reading many articles, and watching inspirational videos on YouTube about supposed CPD caesarean mums having blissful VBAC's, I have come to the conclusion that CPD is an absolute load of crapola in the majority of cases. This was fabulous news to me as I had been lead to believe that I could have CPD because my bub did not engage.

However

I've recently been to a Chiro and had a series of x-rays done to try and find out the reason as to why the anaesthetist could not get the epidural in my back for my cs.
Of course the x-rays revealed that indeed I do have a dodgy back (hyperlordosis), but the x-rays also showed that my hips & pelvis are uneven and my left side is noticeably smaller than the right.

Could this mean that I might be one of the teeny tiny %age of people who DO have CPD???? I hope not . . .

Are there any midwives or CPD mums out there who can give me some advice? Has anyone else had a first baby not be engaged at 38 weeks but who've gone on to have successful VBAC's with any subsequent pregnancies?

[BellyBelly]

Have you had rickets before?

Have you broken your pelvis?

If not, I strongly doubt it... you are the result of natural selection... the evolution of human beings has ensured its survival and you can't do that with a pelvis too small to have babies!!!

Know LOTS of women whose baby doesn't engage til labour - and yet they go on to have fantastic births, even homebirths.... trust your body hon....

[Amie]

You are quite correct in that the majority of "diagnosed" cases of CPD are crapola! I'm not saying it doesn't exist but rather, as Kelly says, unless you have had serious trauma to your pelvis then it's highly unlikely that your body has grown a baby that you "can't" birth.

Oh, and as a health professional in my line of work I see up to 15 pelvises (pelvii?! ) every day and nearly every single one of them is "uneven" to some degree. Even people without back pain/issues have an uneven pelvis.

Yay for you and your perfectly-able body!

[~mamaspice~]

hey Kelly, No, no rickets or broken pelvis. Was it a first pregnancy for some of those women who's bubs didn't engage til the last minute? Please say yes . . . I know that second babies sometimes don't engage til the last minute but I was under the impression that first bubs were mean't to engage by 36 weeks?

Thanks for your positive thoughts. Can you tell I'm a bit paranoid of failure

[~mamaspice~]

Thanks SJH, I just read your post. That's great to hear that most pelvis's are uneven, so fingers crossed mine is not incapable after all . . .

[Jesstibb]

With Miss 3, my first pregnancy, I had an appointment on the Friday afternoon and she wasn't engaged and went into labour the next day and only had a four hour labour. I've just got back from the Dr today and this baby hasn't engaged yet at nearly 38 weeks. But I haven't got any pelvis problems so I don't know if that helps you at all

[BellyBelly]

Yup thats what I meant, lots of first time mums whose babes didn't engage til labour. They are just comfy floating about!!! I also know some first time bubs who engaged, unengaged, engaged again.... these babies do what they want!! But at the end of the day, they ALL COME OUT!!! Your body will labour eventually and your baby will engage eventually too.

[kyliealysha]

Thanks for posting this. I have been thinking the same thing. I was delighted to read that it may be possible for me to have a natural birth, but I am really thinking my case was real.... Reasons for this thinking are:-

My baby's head was in the 97th percentile at birth.

I experienced many hours of labour and was fully dilated for hours (including a few hours of syntocin to try and move things along) and she still never engaged. The furthest she ever got was "-1"

After the emergency c section I noted that her head was a perfect shape. She had no bruising or shaping suggesting she was even almost there.

My OB after the surgery told me we made the right decision and that she would never have come through.

Any thoughts?? I think I will still aim for a VBAC next time, but am not confident it will be successful. I was SO exhausted after my first labour which went for DAYS (another reason I thought I may have a true case, as I have heard it can make labour prolonged)

[Trillian]

Kylie, there could have been other reasons why your labour was so long - malposition of the baby for a start. If a woman is left alone to let her body do what it is supposed to do then even a baby with a large head can be birthed vaginally - that is why babies have skulls that mould to the vagina - mother nature knew what she was doing. Often Obs don't like to let a woman go past a certain stage of pushing either, which is ridiculous because if they could just wait, stop telling her to push and just let her be, then it will happen. There is a post that Hoobley made recently that said often women can go past the magical 10cms if they let their body take all the time it needs to stretch slowly to accomodate the baby and this makes a lot of sense.

Tamara, I really doubt that you have it - bubs not being engaged at 38wks is no indicator at all considering that a pg can be up to 42wks long. Out of my 4pgs I have only had one baby engaged before labour started and that was my second. As for public hospital birth and VBAC, you will be better off in a public hospital than a private one and better off again if you have a homebirth with an independant midwife. Private hospitals seems to be the natural enemy of VBAC from what I have read of other women's experiences.

[BellyBelly]

Was your bub posterior? Were you induced? Were you flat on your back/in the bed?

[kyliealysha]

Was your bub posterior? Were you induced? Were you flat on your back/in the bed?

I don't think she was poterior but not sure. I was not induced although I did have syntocin at the end (after I was already fully dilated) in the hopes it would push her down a bit. I was sitting up, not laying down.

Trillian, thanks for that info. I didn't get to push at all as she was too high up

[shorty]

My first baby, Logan never engaged till birth.