I'm currently 28 weeks pregnant and I'm small (4'11, WAS 75lbs but gained weight since then) and I feel like shit. Doctor says I should be able to give birth vaginally "just fine, women were built for that" but I have a very, very strong feeling something is gonna go wrong.
Sorry it's a bit unrelated but a bit related cuz we talking about small women and babies and I'm honestly scared.
Congratulations! I am also small. How ‘easy’ a birth is a a complex mix of factors. head soze, pelvic shape, but also the position the baby is in can make a big difference. There’s a (slightly hippy) website called spinning babies which has exercises that can help gently encourage the baby into a good position. Check it out, it’s a bit crunchy but has some good exercises to do.
Right at the end the baby has to rotate, while being head down, under to engage properly and a lot of the issues of birth is the baby rotating - if it’s already locked and loaded it’ll be less bad than if it has to do a full rotation on the way down or if it ends up in a non optimum position.
I would sit down with your other half and discuss what you would like to happen as in if…then… so if they offer you forceps or section? (Answer: get the fuck away from me with forceps, go to section.)
Talk to your midwife or OB or whatever is in your country. Explain your concern and don’t be fobbed off. Ask what the options are for birth. Are they onboard with keeping you as mobile as possible? At what point would they go to section if things aren’t progressing? Will they be cool with you not giving birth on your back? Do they do stuff like support the perineal area during birth?
What kinds of epidurals do they offer? Remember that taking a full (not walking) epidural will affect your movement, and can lead to a cascade of intervention, but also that sometimes that intervention is needed.
They can also estimate head size as well from scans and if the head is ludicrously big sometimes they will section in that alone (not in my case alas, and yes, those Nordic babies have gigantic heads…)
Learn your breathing techniques as well, but pinch of salt with those - they’re great as a tool, but if you need intervention you need it. People get really weird about birth and there’s a camp who will shame you for doing anything other than breathe the baby out silently. Tell them to fuck off too, but dollars the breathing techniques because they’re helpful at various points.
My three top tips would be keep moving, keep as upright as you can and perineal support.
Best of luck with it, I don’t think it’s ever fun but the resulting baby is well worth it.
If you’re not on mumsnet, then that’s somewhere that’s also full of very useful advice.
ETA: I’m small, all my kids have ludicrously large skulls and they were all out fine in the end, one way or another.
