Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
Sep
12
Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.
“You Have A Narrow Pelvic Opening…”
“You have a narrow pelvic opening and the baby is likely to become stuck.” – OB to mother while trying to encourage her to schedule a cesarean.
There are 20 comments to this post.
Gah! Even with a very narrow pelvic opening that’s still only 3 out of 4 sides. There can still be *plenty* on space down to stretch andx allow baby out, unless the mother’s narrow pelvic opening is also fused to her tailbone! I have a *very* narrow pelvic opening, you can feel bone on 3 sides during a standard VE. My arch is very low and only opens a shy 3 inches, maybe. But my tailbone moves out of the way just fine! I’ve had 3 successful vaginal births, the smallest was 8lb 13oz! I hate it when a narrow or low pelvis is used as an excuse.
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You have a very limited amount of knowledge about how childbirth really works so it’s very likely I will fire you. I’ll find a better provider who believes in my body’s ability to birth.
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Dee the Doula had this to say,
Sep 12, 2012 @ 6:00 am (Quote)
We all have narrow pelvic openings. That’s the point of Relaxin, and the labor process. So sorry OP. How did things turn out for you? Were you able to have a trial of labor?
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Unfortunately, I did not have a trial of labor. I allowed this bully to convince me that my body was not capable of successfully delivering my child. I was also high and closed at 39 weeks. He suggested inducing but highly recommended scheduling a c= birth because he felt that inducing would put stress on the baby and that with my narrow pelvis opening my son would most likely get “stuck”! He also refused to “allow” me to go past 40 weeks. He said that I was swollen ( he put me on bed rest at 38 weeks for very swollen feel/legs) and something with my blood plate count or white blood count (?)–still not very convinced that these were good reasons- I’m guessing he doesn’t “allow” any patients of his to go past 40 weeks. He convinced me that I’d be putting my son’s health at risk if I did not have a scheduled c-section. So against my innermost feelings that this was a horrible mistake I put my faith in a doc. that I shouldn’t have and my son was born via c-birth at 39 weeks and 6 days….
Oh– the best thing that he said was that (and he was quoting his mentor) he could get the baby out but couldn’t get him past the 1st grade (insinuating that the baby would be brain damaged via vaginal birth!)…
I had a beautiful pregnancy, btw, no issues at all! He actually told me from the start that he anticipated me having a vaginal birth! He changed his tune only at the last 2-3 weeks of pregancy– not giving me enough time to think or consult with anyone else– I was a hormonal mess by that point!
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gina Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 11:51 am (Quote)
Oh– to add more, I am 4’11”. He told me (at the end of my preg.) that he thought I would only be able to deliver a small baby vaginally and he thought my baby was too big. (born at 7lbs 12oz). When he was born the OB commented “he was a big baby for you!”.
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Jill Reply:
September 14th, 2012 at 3:10 pm (Quote)
Ugh, it infuriates me that this happened to you! I am also 4’11″, and gave birth to a 7lb 13oz baby vaginally. It was a long labor which didn’t go exactly as planned, but ultimately a joyful one. I hope that if you have another baby you’ll find a new OB who won’t discriminate against you because of your size – under 5 ft ladies can do amazing things!
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E Reply:
September 14th, 2012 at 4:35 pm (Quote)
I’m so sorry. I’m 4’11″ and had my 7lb 10oz baby vaginally. 24 hours of labor, 4 hours of pushing. My OB suggested a section, but for my rising blood pressure, though she did say she was concerned I wouldn’t be able to have him vaginally. It’s so important to have a doctor who’s going to at least promise to let you have a trial of labor, so even if things aren’t ideal, you still did your best and so did your care provider. So frustrating.
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Lisa Reply:
September 15th, 2012 at 1:23 am (Quote)
I’ve told this story a few times, but in case you haven’t seen it…
My first meeting with the OB when I was pregnant with ds1 he told me that I was probably too small to give birth (based on my shoe size, natch). 22 hours after my water broke and labour still hadn’t started, I had a cesarean, because it was obviously “never” going to start, my son was just too big & no contractions & him floating was the “proof”. After the surgery, the OB kindly stopped by to tell me that I was definitely too small to ever give birth to any baby. Oh, and he’d ordered a ped consult because ds1 had massive fontanelles and he wanted to be sure it was normal.
Eventually the fontanelle thing got me thinking that they were obviously so big so my son’s huge head could mold. Which lead to me believing he had no clue what he was talking about. Three years & 11 months later, I gave birth to my second baby in a 20 hour UBAC. His head was extremely molded, but he also came out facing my hip. He was smaller than ds1, and my 3rd baby was even smaller. I thought maybe the doctor had been partially right and ds1 had been too big.
Then ds4 was born in January. All 9lbs 3 oz of him, over a pound bigger than ds1 with just as large a head (15 inches), which wasn’t even noticeably molded.
For the record, I’m 5′. Hopefully my story is encouraging.
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Wendy Reply:
September 15th, 2012 at 6:00 am (Quote)
Wow, Lisa. I hope you sent the first OB a birth announcement, complete with weight, head size, and a proud statement of how it was a vaginal birth! Oh, and (because he probably doesn’t do well at remembering patients) a note of your size and the fact that he’d claimed you’d never give birth vaginally. What an a$$wipe!
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Jane Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 11:54 am (Quote)
Wow. What a lousy doctor. 
How were you supposed to make an informed decision when the doctor was pretty much poisoning you right from the start? (Especially nice touch to tell you at the beginning he thought you could deliver vaginally, and then revoke that verdict. Designed to make you think something must have changed.)
It’s not fair that he pretty much bullied you into an unnecessary surgery.
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Vanessat Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 12:07 pm (Quote)
OMG what a horrible OB !!! I am so sorry you were robbed of a normal birth by this person he set you up for a c section probably from the first appointment and did the bait and switch at the last minute Please know you *are capable of birthing vaginally and having a VBAC, your body is more than able to do this if given a chance. It’s very sad that you had to go through an unneeded c section but you have learned a lot from this experience and you’ll be much better prepared to fight for the birth you want next time. I just wish nobody would have to fight and struggle so much to get decent care in the first place.
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“You have a narrow pelvic opening, so we’re going to encourage you to do some walking and squatting during labor. Being on your hands and knees while pushing will help open up your pelvis so that your baby can slid right out. Why don’t you let me show you the proper way to squat while pregnant so that you can be practicing?”
There. That’s much better.
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Jessica Turner had this to say,
Sep 15, 2012 @ 7:30 am (Quote)
I heard this line the first appointment I had with an OB. I had a small pelvis, and I was too short. Every visit she’d come up with a new reason for a c-section… At 18 weeks I transferred to a wonderful midwife, and at 38 weeks (to which she said was an inaccurate DD, and I was full term), I delivered a perfect 7 pounder vaginally. Go figure?
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Add Your Comment.
Even if it WERE true that this woman had a narrow pelvic opening, then a responsible practitioner does this:
“Therefore we definitely shouldn’t induce labor and should allow the mother’s body to become as ready as possible for labor so as to maximize the relaxin in her body. Also she should be encouraged to push in any position she wants, when she wants, without being forced onto her back or to push to an artificial count of ten while directed by whichever nurse happens to be on shift that day. Oh, and we definitely should get this woman into a tub.”
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gina Reply:
September 12th, 2012 at 11:45 am gina(Quote)
Ah— yes! all things I wish I new about prior.. I wish I laughed at this jerk! Next birth I plan to have a midwife & doula on my team for my natural birth/VBAC!
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