Does your baby's father have a big head?

[VeganC]

Not in the egotistical way, but in size. My DH's head is huge. He can never find a hat that fits him right. This makes me really scared that the baby will have his head and I'll either tear really badly or have to have a c-section, both of which I really, really want to avoid.
If your baby's father has a big head (or you, yourself), did your baby end up having a big head as well? Did that cause any complications during birth?

[MsElle07]

My DH DOES have a big head.

I had two big babies with large heads and one baby with an average size head. Couple of thoughts:
#1: the cranial bones are moveable, so they can mold to the shape of your pelvis and fit out more easily.
#2: Women don't grow babies they can't birth. Your body knows how to get the baby out. If you stay active during the birth, and stay off your tailbone as much as possible, your pelvis will almost act as if it's hinged in order to accommodate the descending baby.
#3: If you only push when you absolutely have to, and not when you're 10cms or when someone tells you to, you'll be much less likely to tear. Mother directed pushing results in less perineal damage.
#4: If you birth outside the hospital, you'll have fewer interventions that would lead to an epidural, forceps, or vacuum, all of which can increase pelvic floor damage.
#5: If you labor and/or birth in the water, it helps the tissue stretch and maintain its integrity.
#6: Tears are nature's way of making a little extra room for the baby. Most don't require stitching and heal very nicely with few complications.
#7: Don't spend your time worrying about something you can't control. Trust that nature knows what it's doing.
#8: At my most recent birth a month ago, I had a 10lb baby with a large head, and had no tearing at all. I felt some soreness, more like the kind you would have from riding a horse, and that was completely gone inside of a week.

Take care! You can birth the baby you're carrying.

[~*max*~]

Yup, dh has a very large head - and so did all the kids. So big that newborn & baby hats never fit them. But the head size did not interfere w/birthing. Try not to worry mama. This is one of those things completely out of your control. Enjoy your pregnancy.

[hottmama]

My partner has a HUGE head. No hats will fit him. I am a small woman-- a size 2, 120 lbs., and my baby was born unassisted at home, 9 lbs. with a big fat head and I didn't have any trouble birthing him and I didn't tear. His head was a little squished but that's supposed to happen! Your body is made to birth your baby. My oldest son had a big head, too, although he has a different (smaller head) father and was only 8.3 lbs. It really isn't a big deal!

[VeganC]

Thank you for the reassurance. It makes me feel better!

[teeny_bean]

No, his head is normal, but mine is several inches larger than average. My brother's head is also gigantic -- it's either 26" or 27" around, I forget which.

My baby's head was a nice average size (14"), which, incidentally, was also the size of my brother's head at birth. So obviously, genetics for a large adult head don't necessarily translate into a huge baby noggin. And, like the previous posters said, baby heads are amazingly squishy, and mold to the shape of the birth canal. It's very rare that a woman will grow a baby she truly can't birth, and even then, that's generally because of a pelvic deformity or injury, or because of something like wildly out of control blood sugar issues leading to a truly massive baby.

You'll most likely be fine.

[Diprincess]

My husband does have a pretty big head, and I have 2 boys with pretty big heads. My first was 15" when he was born; my second was 14.5" when he was born. My first was born in the hospital with and epidural through almost my entire labor (3 hours of pushing), my second was born naturally in a birthing center (less than 20 minutes of pushing). With my first they had to cut me 3 "phases" (I think that's what they called it....they said it was 3 out of 4). My second, I barely tore at all, and it healed much faster than my first did. I agree with what MsElle07 said in her post. You're going to do great!

[umami_mommy]

dh has a big head.

ds' head was 14 inches (i know that's big but i didn't even tear, just a skidmark) dd's head was 12 inches, i didn't tear wirh her either even though she was born after 40 intense minutes of hard labor.

i'm sure you'll be fine, just get regular chiropractic adjustments while pregnant (to keep your pelvis aligned correctly) and have someone support your perenium while birthing. (or support and warm compresses if you aren't in the water)

it's not the head, it's the shoulders that can get stuck.

[MamaJenese]

When my aunt weent in for an ultrasound with her first pregnancy the tech asked her, Does your husband have an unusually large head?! The babys head was so big he wanted to rule out a problem! My uncle does have an giant head! She delivered both her boiys vaginally no drugs! We get a big kick out of the story in my family. Other than hearing your child may be ill we figure Does your husband have an unusually big head is one of the top ten things you do not want to hear at an ultrasound!

[witchbaby]

yup! he wears an extra large motorcycle helmet where i wear an extra small! our kids heads were both around 13.5 inches and i only tore the tiniest bit with m (k was a c/s).

[zinemama]

Dh has a huge head. Both my babies had regular-sized heads at birth. It's pretty clear now that my 4yo has inherited his dad's big head and my 7yo has my size-small noggin. But it's taken years for this to be apparent.

Don't worry about it.

[Kayaking Mama]

Yup, DH has a huge, custom-hat-size head, and I worried about it all thru the pregnancy. DS also has a pretty big head, and I did tear in 3 places--needed 6 stitches. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be--i think your best bet is to go into the birth feeling positive and knowing that your body knows what to do!

[maliceinwonderland]

I don't know if my head is actually larger than average, but I think it probably is. Dd gets her head/face shape from me, but it wasn't a problem. I spit her out like an alley cat, as my less than couth coworker likes to say

[UUMamaVeg]

My head and my DH's head are both too big for most hats. I didn't think about it with baby #1 and lo and behold, her head was in the 98th percentile! I had a pretty serious tear, but was fine and back to usual within a month or so. The most important lesson, however, came with baby #2--birth outside of the hospital or at least with a midwife or doula present! She was born at home, I pushed when my body felt like it--very important--and the midwife did perineal massage. The baby, with just as big of a head, came out with no tearing at all. Such a different experience! All those interventions in the hospital led to a longer recovery. With DD #2, I felt completely healed within a week--in fact, I was X-mas shopping two days later!

[Throkmorton]

DH has a gigantic melon, as do my brother and dad.

My MIL had DH naturally, and he weighed 10lbs, 2 oz. She is a tiny slip of a thing, 98lbs soaking wet.

My Grandma had my dad natually, and he was 10lbs, 4 oz with huge shoulders.

My mom had my little brother, shaped much like dad only a lightweight 8lbs something 17 minutes after arriving at the hospital. She barely got her pants off.

It's not the head that it the concern (the bones mold) but rather the shoulders of really, really big babies. An experienced birth attendant can handle that though.

I can't speak from my experiences because I had c-sections both times, but both of my kids had 15.5" heads. No molding, obviously.

[wildmonkeys]

My husband has a huge head. One of my three sons also does and it did cause problems during delivery - tearing/broken tailbone. I would talk to your Dr/midwife about it prior to delivery as I think it is something they can estimate with a good ultrasound.

My other two boys had large but not freakishly large heads and it was fine during delivery.

BJ
Barney, Ben & Patrick

[huggerwocky]

No, I'm the one with the big head, 59 cm circumference , now go try finding a women's hat in that size :

[Blucactus]

I wasn't worried about my DH's head size, but it turned out my son got my BROTHERS huge, round head. Sooo....don't worry about it too much. No telling who's head your baby will get!

[papayapetunia]

My dh has a huuuuuge head, and he's 6'6". He was a 10-pound baby. I understand your fears. Both my children were in the 7-8 pound range, with large heads, but nothing abnormal. And I didn't tear. Thank you, God.

ETA: During the few ultrasounds I got, the doctor would always say, "Oh my God...that's the biggest head I've ever seen..." Thanks, doc.

[nannyboo]

yes, dh has a huge head and so do i! both of my babies had huge heads at birth, but miraculously, i got them out and lived to tell the tale. their heads were identical in size at birth and were about 99th percentile! with dd, i tore some and required stitches (but no episiotomy) and with ds, i didn't tear at all, thanks to slow pushing and skilled midwives who worked very hard to make sure i didn't tear.