I have a question. My grandmother said because of how much my MOM weighed, she couldn't deliver me vaginally. I was an emergency c-section, yes. However, I was kept in utero for 48 hours after my mom's water broke, and apparently I just wasn't dropping like I needed to in order to be born that way. I tend to think I was an emergency c-section, because they'd already kept me in there a while after my mom's water broke, and because I wasn't budging.

Is there a correlation between how heavy the mother is, and whether or not she'll HAVE to deliver c-section or vaginally? The doctor has already written on my paperwork "vaginal birth". I guess he's figuring I'll go that way? Which is fine, I'd prefer it over a c-section... but I didn't know how accurate what my grandma said was.

Also, baby is measuring 18w5d, 2 days ahead of my due date, and baby is about 8oz. Is that big for a baby at 18 weeks? Grandma seems to think so.

[Doodle]

nope, no medical correlation

Also, these days most hospitals only give you 24 hours after your water breaks for baby to come. I was staring down a csection with my last b/c she came 25 hours after my water broke. we were on a time line and had she not come before my doctor finished the csection he was in, then I was next!

[lovemama]

I am not sure about that correlation, but I would tend to say it is "BS"! Measuring ahead of your due date at this point is really no big deal! Most women who give birth with no medical intervention, ie: epidural, induction have no problems birthing vaginally. I think when unecessary medical interventions start happening, that is when women get into trouble. We all need to trust our bodies, they know what to do!!!

[Sarah7181]

Eh, there might be a larger amount of C sections for heavier moms because possibly the babies will get bigger than average and not fit through the pelvis.. I'm not a doctor though, so IDK.
measuring 2 days ahead is NOTHING! lol Wyatt routinely weighted 5 days to several weeks ahead. He was born a week early by induction and was nearly 9 pounds. I weigh 120 and am 5 foot 1 when not pregnant. ALSO, I was a 9 and a half pound baby when I was born, and I was born vaginally as well. I think your grandma is jsut comming up with stuff. lol

I didn't think there was a correlation. I couldn't figure out how much a mom weighed would impact vaginal or c section birth. Maybe if the mom was so heavy she was getting worn out faster? The doctor who did my mom's c-section said it had to be done because of her weight, but she wasn't THAT big, plus her regular doctor said no, that wasn't the reason, too.

I was a stubborn baby, apparently. I think I was 8lb 9oz or 9lb 8oz when I was born. I was also 22 inches long, though.

The possibility of a bigger baby makes sense. I don't think I want to propel a 10lb baby from my lady parts.

I love my grandma, but in the end, I agree. I think she just doesn't know what she's talking about.

[Sarah7181]

It could be that your head was too large to fit through her pelvis. That is very possible and is the reason alot of reasons fail to progress. However, the amount of extra weight on a woman has little to do with the inside measure of a womans pelvis.

Sarah, I do think I recall mom saying that her normal doctor, who used to deliver babies and then retired from it, did say my mom's pelvis just wasn't big enough for my head.

Is there a possibility that this will be the case with me? My maternal grandmother had 10 kids, no c-section. So maybe it was a fluke with my mother?

[Crafty Mama]

I tend to notice that things older people say about birth tends to be wrong. Yes, they have a LOT of knowledge, since they've been through it a few times, but things have changed a LOT in the past few decades.
I don't think there's any reason that a person's weight would lead to a c-section. A lot of doctor's try to skip straight to a c-section because the baby is big though. I know that when I had my DD, my water started leaking, and my labor wasn't progressing, and the on-call OB kept bringing up mention of c-section because it had been so long. I ended up having her about 25 1/2 hours after my water started leaking, and usually they try to get the baby out within 24 hours because of risk of infection. So there's a good reason that was why.

[famograham]

This kind of stuff really ticks me off sometimes!

We all love our Grandmas, but the information they have is from the days when Daddies waited in the waiting room smoking cigars, and the doctors examining the Mommies (and the Mommies themselves) were smoking in the exam room! The days before ultrasounds, when we were strapped on our backs, shaved, enema'd etc!!
Their information is just not current!
(Apologetic hugs to your G'ma!)

I'm quite overweight, and my two vaginal births were wonderful. Each had their issues, but they weren't related to my weight.
My doctor, before I had Liam thought I had an inadequate pelvis. Not the case.
My kids were 6.13 (DS) and 8.10 (DD) respectively, and my 8 pounder was easier to birth, due to the tilt of Liam's head and his being my first baby!

I honestly don't think the weight of the Mama has much relation to the weight of the baby either. Unless the Mom's weight is obviously genetic, or she has GD (which knowingly causes babies to be larger)
I eat better than ever when pregnant, and have lovely, healthy weight kids (still @ 12 and 9).

People can't judge the size of your pelvis, nor the size of your baby, based on your weight, period.

I remember also, my doctors estimating that my babies would be huge because apparently they couldn't subtract the thickness of fat from the baby they were feeling...

You'll be just fine! Take Grandma with a grain of salt!

[lauraleaf]

Originally Posted by famograham

I remember also, my doctors estimating that my babies would be huge because apparently they couldn't subtract the thickness of fat from the baby they were feeling...

Oh yes that happened to me too! Last time I kept hearing about how big I was measuring (from the 'ol measuring tape, not an u/s). DD was a nice 8 lbs even at 1 day overdue. I was being told I was measuring up to 43 weeks. Riiight.

And to ditto everyone here- yeah, weight has nothing to do with c-sections, don't worry!

[MandiK]

I completely agree with the previous posters. Don't let anyone trick you into thinking fat women can't deliver babies. We're just as well suited as everyone else. Doctors are just as prone to stereotypes as other people, and sometimes, they start believing the crap they've heard about fat women ... harder births, they're clearly lazy, etc. It's all crap.

Don't worry too much now, love, and when the time comes, stand your ground. There are plenty of pretty husky Inuit women who have been birthing babies vaginally and without intervention for centuries. It will work if you let it.

The concern about "large babies" is primarily linked to GD which you don't have to be a fatty to get. There are plenty of skinnies who end up with 10 pound babies because their pancreas just can't make it through pregnancy. The correlations between fat women and GD are one part stereotype and one part poor eating habits that make people fat in the first place if they have terrible metabolism.

Always tell them you want a trial labor before you'll consider a c-section (if that's what you want, and it's your first). They can't make you get a section, especially without trying to labor and push, if you don't let them. Don't be scared. We've got your back. <3

I love you ladies!! You help me so much and make me feel so much better!

Because I AM overweight, they had me do a glucose test at 12 weeks, and then they want me to do another one at 28 weeks. Guess what? I passed my 12 week one with flying colors. My doctor looked impressed and a bit surprised. Psh. Dude. The other OB said my weight looked great, I had dropped 15-20 in early pregnancy, and I think I put on 1 - 2 pounds at my last appointment.

The doc measured me last time, and gave me a thumbs up. I guess that's good? I wonder if he was accounting for the extra fat layer though!! Guess he must've in Charlie's measuring ahead of my due date by 2 days!

I feel much better about all of this. Logically, I couldn't see how my weight would impact whether or not I could deliver vaginally.

However, there's always the "PANIC!!!" moments I get during pregnancy.

[Isaeph]

Ugh, that kind of stuff drives me bonkers!!! I think a mom's size in general has very little to do with birthing ability, it's all about pelvis shape. I have a friend from high school who is 4'7 or 4'9...I think 4'7. She just homebirthed her first this spring and he was over 7lbs and several days late. No big deal. She is a TINY little thing, but she did it. Her baby was bigger than all of mine too!

I don't trust anything old people say about birth. My gma lectured me for gaining "so much" weight with #1. I gained 36lbs and started out a little underweight. She "only" gained the "rec'd" 10lbs...um yeah, because you smoked like a chimney and starved yourself, duh.

[Doodle]

a lady I know was released from her original OB practice b/c she crossed the line to morbid obesity- she had all 3 of her kids vaginally whether she was overweight, obese or morbidly obese by doctor definition.

[MandiK]

That crap is terrible, Doodle. Like, oh, you don't need an OB because you're fat and pregnant?! You're already knocked up. No turning back now.

I'm right there in the fatty trenches with you, love (which is why I so freely use the not so politically correct terminology ... if it's me, I can say it. Ha.). I'm considering refusing the 28 week GTT in favor of repeat regular fasting glucose draws. I've never had an abnormal one of those. Not an abnormal liver enzyme. Not an abnormal lipid level. I'm nothing like the stereotypes that people associate with fatties and I'm not going to allow them to assume I am.

[lauraleaf]

Originally Posted by Fright

Because I AM overweight, they had me do a glucose test at 12 weeks, and then they want me to do another one at 28 weeks. Guess what? I passed my 12 week one with flying colors. My doctor looked impressed and a bit surprised. Psh. Dude.

Yup, that's why a glucose test was ordered for me at my first doc appointment too. I'm really dreading them telling me I have to do it again at 28 weeks. I have a feeling that if I refuse, that they will just put me down as GD though. :/ I know it's shocking to some docs that you can be overweight and NOT have diabetes, ugh. ESPECIALLY GD, when it happens to women of all weights just as easily.

When I got my OB, I had a whole speech prepared if he called me out on my weight, with, "Dude. I'm pregnant. Maybe I should've lost weight sooner, but there ain't no goin' back now! Just do your thing, and we'll discuss weight AFTER I have the baby." None of the doctors ever said anything to me about it!

Considering I'm overweight, and the negative things people say about overweight peoples' health... the crap people say REALLY bothers me. My blood pressure is perfect. My cholesterol was FIVE points high. Everything else is NORMAL. My thyroid was a little off, but not off enough for medicine, although it MAY account for my weight. I've never had blood sugar issues, and I'm not surprised I passed the FIRST glucose test. Everything on me is normal. Doctors have NOTHING to gripe at me about, except my weight. You wouldn't believe the looks on the doctors' faces when they realize that other than my weight, I am 110% healthy.

I did have one doctor tell me that I was too fat for a boyfriend, when I was 19. I never went back to him again.

[Larissa3636]

Grrr. Reading all these assumptions that people make is so aggrivating! I actually did not go back to my previous OBGYN because after I had my son (I had gained only like 18lbs with him and HE was 9lbs. 7oz) she told me I needed to lose weight. Um, okay, obviously I would love for that to happen but it's not easy. Especially with a little baby to take care of and a toddler!!! She then proceded to tell me HOW to lose weight, as if I have no clue on how that could possibly happen!

So yeah, I hate that kind of stuff! I had to take the GD test early too because of my weight and my previous baby's birth weight (although I didn't have GD with him).

[Jen1985]

i definitely think your weight is not an issue with your baby's ability to be born vaginally. it is the size of your pelvis that the baby has to fit though. maybe your mom had a narrow pelvis and could not fit the head out. and there is not way to know if your baby's going to fit until you try. my kids were 1 ounce apart, my last being the bigger one and he BARELY fit. he almost had to have his clavicle( i think lol) broken to get him out but at the last resort they pushed my legs behind my head and pushed on my tummy to get him out. my ob is still letting me deliver vaginally this time with the hopes that this one is slightly smaller or it was just my last's positioning on the way out. so definitely just because your mom couldn't vaginally deliver you doesn't mean you can't do it and it for most likely had nothing to do with her weight! sorry i got off topic a bit but yeah i think your grandma is off on this one!~

[blessedx7]

Agree with everyone else here!!! TOTAL BS. It's solely based on the size/shape of the pelvis AND how much your pelvis will stretch during labor, none of which can be determined by looking at your outside appearance. Some doctors even think and xray can tell them if the baby will fit through the pelvis and even that isn't accurate because no one knows how much it will stretch when labor hormones come into play. Not to mention the baby's head will not come through at full size either.