Too fat for vaginal birth?

[Rockies5]

can any mws please respond to this.

At first I couldn't stop laughing, the argument seems just plain stupid.

An obgyn told a women patient i know that since she was obese her chances of section are much higher. Not because of obesity related diseases, but because "sometimes the baby gets blocked by the fat". this woman is fairly tall, but around 270lbs. I don't think she's all that big, but thats beside the point.

[mamachandi]

I am not a midwife but just for your information I have a good friend who happens to be about 200 lbs (she's very short) and she had a homebirth so I think the logic in that ob's advice is lacking...

[TurboClaudia]

umm... yeah... whatever...

tell her to check out www.plus-size-pregnancy.org

~claudia

[Anguschick1]

Not a midwife but I was just looking into this the other day.
I found this article/study. http://pregnancytoday.com/articles/3575.php?wcat=261

I found it interesting that women who had Class III obesity (BMI of >40 or roughly the equivalent of 5foot 4inch woman at 225 pounds) have an average increase in labor length (from 4cms dilated to 10cms) of 1 to 1.5 hours. Ob's not knowing of this tendancy of a longer labor, tend to csection then for FTP.

My dh's cousin recently had a csection as her "fat made it so that her pubic bone wouldn't open up." Sounds like a made up excuse to me - but then I'm the hippie homebirthing liberal of the family.

[LeosMama]

Okay, I'm no midwife or doula, but COME ON!!!

I laughed when I read your post, then got a bit irked.

Ever seen the ancient goddess-worship statuettes? They're not of skinny little women (like me), they're of round, fat, LARGE women. If being fat were an impediment to healthy child-bearing, wouldn't ancient peoples have revered skinny women as the model of femininity?

[doula and mom]

Well I'm only a doula, but I can respond.

I weighed about 270lbs when I gave birth (vaginally) to my dd. I'm 5'6" so I'm sure my BMI was over 40.

However, I have heard that larger women are more likely to be sectioned, and I have a primary para client coming up next month who is a very large woman -- very tall and also heavy -- and I've warned her that she may be really pushed to having a section. Sigh.

I believe the reason "they're" giving for larger women having c-s is that it's hard to get good fetal monitor readings because of all the layers of fat. So, if a baby shows even the tiniest amount of stress, or doesn't stay on the monitors like a "good" baby, they slice and dice. (ETA: They're likely to use fetal distress as the reason, from what I've read.)

God forbid we use dopplers or -- heavens! -- fetascopes!

[gemasita]

My dh's cousin recently had a csection as her "fat made it so that her pubic bone wouldn't open up."

What the heck does THAT mean?

[Ammaarah]

Hi! I'm not a childbirth educator, but I'm popping in anyway! On another board I frequent, a woman had a baby vaginally this week, and she is close to 400 pounds. Her doc was really pushing for a planned c-section for inadequate pelvis, so I was happy to see she escaped that fate!

I am a big woman who was sectioned due to having an asynclitic baby, whose sideways head prevented me from dilating on the hospital timetable, and since my membranes had ruptured, I chickened out on waiting. From what I've read on ICAN and the plus-size-pregnancy website, it seems like bigger women may be more prone to malposition, which OBs aren't usually into fixing.

I have read this notion of fat vaginas, etc, and I think it's a ton of hooey!

[Lizzardbits]

I am one of the women that have a 40 bmi....both kids were born vaginally, albeit my first was an induced labor. I didn't tear with either, and infact my second came so fast that the doctor in the other room didn't have time to even get into the room, the nurse caught her, and i scooped her up

Normally i am not one to be proud of my size, but for this instant I am a Fatty Mother Goddess!!!!

and poo poo on that Ob/gyn!!

[jlpetitte]

I think thats ridiculous!

But, I did learn the other day that clinically obese women have a much higher chance of having a baby with congenital defects, which I did not know. That wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with the birth itself.

[thismama]

I'm another mama who gave birth vaginally, naturally, at 271 lbs. My labour was long (48 hours), and the traditional stirrups position didn't work for me. It wasn't comfy to put my legs in them. They mounted a squatting bar on the bed and I ended up laying on my back with my feet braced on the sides of the squatting bar for the pushing stage. Worked great!

[MamaRabbit]

I thought it was supposed to the be other way around. More dangerous for a C-section if overweight. My 5'2" friend is 300lb and was told they would try everything they could for her to birth vaginally.

[hippiemom]

: Absolutely!!!!! Have any of these OB's disclosed the risks of MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY, which is what C sec is afterall, for an obese woman helLO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! These docs have too much fat in their HEADS, grrr!!

My cousin was over 300lbs when she gave birth to her third boy vaginally, describes this as her best birth of all of them (b/c it was #3, not due to her weight at all, but her weight was not a hinderance really). I agree with other posters here, it is doctor fear at play rather than reality. I would also hazard that it is partially our screwed up society's uncomfortability with overweight women... I have several friends who were well over 200lbs when they delivered their babies, naturally and joyfully... Pregnant Fatty Goddesses indeed, you go mamas!

[doula and mom]

Proud to be a Preggo Fatty Goddess! (And, when not preggo, a Regular Fatty Goddess!)

[Carolinamidwife]

This makes me furious! It's like fatphobia expressed through medical violence. Grrrr....

[maybebaby]

My dh's cousin recently had a csection as her "fat made it so that her pubic bone wouldn't open up."

I feel sorry for this woman, that now she's given yet another reason by society to deem herself "less than" a thinner woman : And how embarrassing that everyone is hearing that as a reason! Some docs just plain suck...

Anyway...wanted to add with my last homebirth I was pushing 300 at the birth and all went wonderfully. I'm 5'8" but still, pretty heavy! I'm in the same boat this time and looking forward to another amazing homebirth! I love my body when pg and I don't feel incapable of birthing at all ~ as a matter of fact, I think I'm pretty darned good at it If 11.5 lbs of posterior baby didnt' get "blocked by the fat" then I'm not worried!!

It bugs me that fat women are just given reason after reason, from so many different directions, to think less of themselves. We rock!!

[afishwithabike]

Here's my two cents. If she's not too fat to make a baby she's not too fat to have it vaginally. SOmebody found the opening otherwise the babe wouldn't be in there in the first place. Sorry I HATE OB stupidity. UGH>

[dace101]

: : : : :

too fat

[hippiemom]

RIGHT ON, afishwithabike, love that phrase. It comes up a lot when I am doing CBE. I would say to any ANY woman no matter how big or small, if you got that baby in there, you can certainly get him/her out, we are just built for it. And it is all meant to be beautiful, pleasurable, meaningful. This is life!
The day after I had my 10lb 2 oz son naturally an OB came in to check me and chat. He said, like a stupid ass, "you have a body that is well suited for having babies" (I had been pressed by an OB to do a c sec just b/c the baby was big, no way!!). I said in reply "Yeah, I'm a woman". Isn't that telling? The OB's really see a lot of us as not well suited for having babies, INSANITY! It is their purpose to somehow interfere and rescue mothers and children from their experiences... so so sad how it undermines the confidence of capable mamas.

[Snowdrift]

Originally Posted by jlpetitte

But, I did learn the other day that clinically obese women have a much higher chance of having a baby with congenital defects, which I did not know. That wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with the birth itself.

Ah, but "clinically obese" according the the standards of a couple of years ago or to today's far more stringent standards? The neat little revised numbers that let the gov't tell us how more than half of us are fat?