Past pelvic frature and vaginal delivery?

[Labbemama]

I am not pregnant. Just concerned about something.

Is there any reading out there that would reassure a first time mom to be in this situation?

The situation is this: My sil fractured her pelvis in boot camp carrying her rucksack. It's been a year or two. She was pregnant last year and the dr. told her absolutely she'd have a c-section and was looking like she'd be on bedrest at end of her pg. She miscarried. She has a new ob and c-section has not been mentioned.

So I am Looking for resources for her. She tragically does not have internet access of her own. Her mil told her a bunch of horrific stories about what "could happen" to the baby if her pelvis re-fractures during birth and naturally that is quite upsetting to her and to me as the auntie-- Basically the "true stories" were so graphic I won't write them out--but resulted in fetal death. You know exactly the kind of thing a mom to be doesn't want to hear. :

Any reassurance that there is some hope for vaginal birth would be appreciated. Anyone deliver vaginally after having suffered a fractured pelvis a year or two before getting pregnant? I mean it should be healed pretty good by now right?

[MidwifeErika]

I did! And the same thing (I am assuming we are talking stress fractures here), I did it in bootcamp. 2 years later I had my first vaginal birth.

Unless there are wires holding her pelvis together or the bones healed in weird positions, I can't imagine there would be a problem from it. Did she have to have surgery on her pelvis or anything? Does she know how it healed and what part of her pelvis it was?

[Labbemama]

Yes Erika. Thank you for your reply. No, no surgery was required and yes it was stress fractures. She has two other complications, high bp and GD on top of that. We were talking about whether or not she had time to go and should go to childbirth classes if she was just going to have a c-section. She is 31 wks. I was trying to tell her they cover lots of stuff in childbirth classes besides just birth. Infant care, the what if you have a c-section class. So I will let her know it is possible and to check with her ob about what her mil said.

[MidwifeErika]

Her pelvis should not be a problem at all. Stress fractures heal and don't change the shape of the pelvis or the ability of the pelvis to move and stretch in the ways it needs to for birth. She really shouldn't worry about her pelvis re-fracturing through birth. It would be more of a concern going out for long runs as stress fractures are really an overuse sort of injury.

[Novella]

Stress fracture one to two years ago? I can't imagine why any OB would insist on a c-section for that! As others have mentioned, stress fractures don't change the shape of the pelvis.

I broke my pelvis (not stress fracture) about 9 years before my first child was born. The bone broken was described to me then as a "smaller bone on the inside of the 'frame' of the pelvis". I had to rest while it healed - no surgery or intervention.

No doctors at the time commented on concerns that it could cause problems in birthing. None of the doctors I saw during pregnancy even gave that part of my medical history a second glance.

The stories of the MIL sound down-right cruel. There are certainly birth horror stories about soft-tissue damage to the mother and bone damage (or death) to the baby. But stories about the birth breaking the mothers bones?!