Fishbowl shaped pelvis?

[MamaTaraX]

Not sure whether to post this here or in "midwives/etc" forum..

A friend of mine had a baby 7 or so weeks ago. He was a nice big 8lbs 13 oz with a 14" head. He was born by c/s. Basically my friend had ctx off and on for a week and made no progress. She begged for an induction, her doctor reluctantly agreed, telling her itwould fail. It did and he basiclaly said "I told you so". About 12 hours after it officially failed she had a c/s. Baby was really wedged. She hada great experience, thinks c/s is fabulous...

So she went for her 6 wk pp visit last week. Her doctor (this guy is really cool btw) told her that she has a fishbowl shaped pelvis and that was the problem and that she maynot be able to birth vaginally. He said the shape of her pelvis hs also caused her to have a rather short birth canal. She had problems TTC and has a couple of chronic bladder problems which may be attributed to hte shape of her pelvis.

Does anybody know anything about a fishbowl shaped pelvis? Does she really have little hope for vaginal birth?

Namaste, Tara
mama to Doodle (7), Butterfly (2), and Rythm (due at home 1/06)

[applejuice]

According to Williams' Obstetrics, there are four shapes of pelvises.

1. gynecoid - womanly
2. android - manly
3. anthropoid - ape-like (?)
4. platypoid - very narrow.

That is from the official obstetrical text that has been used for over a hundred years, with new editions. No "fishbowl" pelvis described there.

[MamaTaraX]

I know that. I figured by fishbowl he was referring to one of those because telling her that her pelvis was say...platypoid...she might not understand as well as the visual of a fishbowl. THough none of them really make me think "fishbowl" which is also why i asked

Namaste, Tara
mama to Doodle (7), Butterfly (2), and Rythm (due at home 1/06)

[dlm194]

There was a discussion in the vbac forum about pelvis shapes. There are some great links in there!
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=368140

My midwive told me that my pelvis will not allow a baby over 6.5 lbs to be born vaginally (my 8.5 lb dd was born by c-s ). I'm getting a new midwife next time!

[notyourusual]

Really, by the way her contraction pattern was, it sounds more like there was a malpresentation/bad positioning issue going on more than anything (which is the reason for "CPD" vs "big" babies or "small" pelvises). Sounds pretty textbook for what usually goes on with that. It's frustrating that it's not something that's focused on in the medial model and everything gets lumped into big babies/small pelvises when there are things that can be done about malpositionings.

[JanetF]

These might be helpful I wish I had a dollar for every woman who's told me her pelvis is defective
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/pelvis.asp
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/pushing.asp
http://midwiferytoday.com/articles/dozen.asp

[MamaTaraX]

Dana -- thanks for the link. Lots of interesting stuff in there!

*notyourusual* (love the username, btw!) -- I figured he was malpositioned too. Wetried lots of things to get him to move to a more favorable position. I'm almost 100% certain he was asynclitic because when I'd get her up and doing position-favoring things, he'd swoosh his little head around and she'd start contracting whenhe'd stop. I think she did herself a terrible disservice by begging for an induction that more than one person told her would fail.

Janet -- great links! You're such an awesome lady

I think my friend is pretty resigned to having all her babies by c/s. SHe hasn't asked me about VBAC info, though she knows I have a lot. She tells me how great her c/s was, how her recovery was really good. I tell her she's a rare women, most women recovering from c/s have a much rougher time than she and she might not be so luckynext time, or the next. Ipoint out that she has bladder problems and that c/s carries risk of bladder injury and she nods, sort of. She also wants to get pregnant again rather soon, wanting her kids close together, and knows that having vaginal birth really close after a c/s isn't recommended, but hey, another c/s sure is. Talking to her makes mef eel like banging my head against the wall. I tell her that she's not deformed and I really want to tel her that she should have held out a while longer before going the c/s route, thoughi have a feeling she would have had one no matter what. I think she made her mind up way in advance that that is how her baby was coming out. Even as I sat and helped her right her birth plan, I could feel it. But I was optimistic.

Namaste, Tara
mama to Doodle (7), Butterfly (2), and Rythm (due at home 1/06)

[hunnybumm]

Originally Posted by MamaTaraX

She tells me how great her c/s was, how her recovery was really good.

Then imagine how well she would have recovered from a vaginal birth.

[JanetF]

Thanks, Tara, I'm honoured

[mwherbs]

so a fish bowl sounds like a good shape-- I have no idea other than even your friend's doc did not want to do the induction, that alone may be the cause of the c-section, failed induction... there is an interesting childbirth prep dvd and reading materials called the Pink Kit-- it would be worth your while to get access to the information- it can help you and your friend to see what your pelvic shape is and ways to work with your shape and ways to move around to help open up and release if your body is ready.
as far as pelvic shape contributing to UTIs or conception I am not to sure about this-- maybe a short perineum and other habits contribute to UTIs -- fertility problems can be a bit more complex and may not be her physical problem at all...

[MamaTaraX]

She doens't have UTIs. I'll have to go look for the names of what she has. Twobladder diseases/disorders, whatever they are. Long names.
Actually, I thought fishbowl shaped sounded pretty good to me. He said "upside down fishbowl" but still, sounded roomy to me *shrug*

Namaste, Tara
mama to Doodle (7), Butterfly (2), and Rythm (due at home 1/06)

[dlm194]

Originally Posted by MamaTaraX

Talking to her makes mef eel like banging my head against the wall. I tell her that she's not deformed and I really want to tel her that she should have held out a while longer before going the c/s route, thoughi have a feeling she would have had one no matter what. I think she made her mind up way in advance that that is how her baby was coming out. Even as I sat and helped her right her birth plan, I could feel it. But I was optimistic.

Ugh... I know EXACTLY what you mean. I swear, some women are not happy unless they feel like they are medical cases. I'm trying to figure out what it is that makes some women feel proud about having medical problems. I have a friend like this. She really wanted a c-s but her practice made her sign a form that she would labor (no elective c-s on the first baby). Well, of course since she wanted a c-s, she got a c-s (induced a week early, labored for 12 hours, baby went from -2 to -3 and they said c-s)! Her baby was 6lbs 12 oz so she tells people that she just doesn't have the hips to birth. It drives me absolutely mad when she asks about my next c-s. I can't convince her that I am not having another c-s voluntarily!

I got to thinking about your friend since you mentioned she had ttc problems. I got pg without trying the first time (dtd once just 5 days before O!). Unfortunately, I lost that baby. It took months and get pg again. The funny thing was, the month I did get pg again, we dtd just once... in the same "creative" position. I can't help but wonder if that's why I got pg again that cycle! :

ETA: I'm not against the idea of women scheduling repeat c-sections... but i really wish they would educate themselves about the risks and benefits of c-sections vs vbacs before just jumping into another c-s. I can't even get my friend to consider the idea of a vbac even though she spent a couple days in the hospital due to a post-op infection. She is just convinced that her body is defective.