United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Has anyone had a vaginal delivery after having a BPI vaginal delivery where the 2nd child came out "normal"? Can you share your stories? I am going to have to face the decision of what I want to do and my doctor is willing to do both vaginal and c-section. Thanks so much!

Karen

Karen.... gosh I hope I don't sound too harsh - I don't mean to... but honestly, I cringed when you wrote that your doctor was "willing" to do vaginal or c-section. Has your doctor talked to you about what the safest birthing method for you and the baby would be? What is his professional opinion?

What you really have to consider and research is "Is your doctor knowledgable and experienced enough with shoulder dystocia births to deal with this emergency and birth a baby vaginally without injuring him/her ?"

More questions would be - can you give birth to a baby without encountering shoulder dystocia?
Were there physical limitations within your pelvic structure?
Did you have gestational diabetes which caused the baby to have larger shoulders?
What other risk factors do you have?
What would this doctor do if he encountered a shoulder dystocia emergency with the next birth? What maneuvers would he do? What would he do if they failed? Has he ever injured any children due to shoulder dystocia? Has he ever injured any children due to c-section? How about the moms....

You have to really weigh both sides and come up with what your "risk comfort level" is. There are risks to both mom and baby - what risks are you willing to take and what risks are you not willing to take.

It's a difficult decision and one that you and your partner should hopefully make together.

Good luck,
francine

No, Francince, you don't sound harsh at all. These are the kinds of things that I need brought to my attention. I have been very stressed out about making this decision and feel like I need to come to a conclusion now so that I can enjoy the rest of my pregnancy as I am only 4.5 months along.

My doctor does seem very confident but I have noticed just with the few things that you have mentioned in your post that I am not asking the correct questions. I guess that is what I need the help with.

He said that he has delivered children that have had shoulder distortia but he managed to get them all out aside from one where he had to break the clavical. That made me nervous honestly but then I started thinking that a broken clavical is easier healing than a BPI (according to internet research that I have done).

So, yes, I do have a ton of decision pro and con weighing to do but man, it is so overwhelming that I don't know where to start. If you come up with any more questions, please shoot them out there. Thanks so much for you help!

Karen

Karen - before asking the doctor more questions I think you need to talk with your husband(/partner) about how much risk you two as a couple/family want to take with the possibilitiy of injuring another child.

Hash out the risk factors - hash out the doctor negligence - hash out the fact that if you have SD once, you're at high risk for having it again. The two of you should come up with the guidelines and the questions you need to ask in order to feel comfortable with whatever decision you need to make.

It's a totally personal decision. Some women try vaginal births again... some are successful and some have another child that is injured. Some women try c-sections....some do fine, some don't do so fine. I think that if you decide to go vaginally, you should have a "plan" of action so that if the vaginal birth isn't going as planned, you can bail out to a c-section in a timely manner so that there's less risk.

I also think that BOTH of you should be seeing this doctor or whatever doctor you choose for your prenatal care and birth. That way if you miss a red flag, your partner will pick up on it.

I think it's great when parents move on and have more kids after a child is injured - HOWEVER - I think you just have to approach it realistically and with great caution. Whatever decision you both make will be the right one.

With all that said - I hope you have a very wonderful pregnancy!

-francine

Francine,
Not that I want to cause a big argument but we all view things differently...

From what research I had done (a few years ago) I recall that the percent rate of having a second SD was about 9-13%.

In the view of some that might be considered High Risk... for me it is a HighER risk but I don't feel at high risk. I am not sure if the medical community feels that we would be considered "high risk" either. Usually with the term "high risk" comes higher fees sometime referal to high risk doctors as well.

As you mention it is totally personal. Risk is different to each person. What I think is a HUGE mistake with the medical community is that they make it seem as if birth (be it vaginal or c-section) doesn't carry much risk when in fact there is a lot of risk invloved no matter what side of the fence you go.

Karen,
I can understand your desire to what to make this decision now and not have to fret about it for the rest of your pregnancy. I have tried to hash this out and I am not even expecting to have another one (I would like to but am not sure I will). What I finally figured out for me is that while I would just like to know what the outcome is going to be so I don't have to plan things for the rest of the time I need to take it all one step at a time... find the doc I am comfortable with, get informed about c-section risk and vaginal risk (get my info from varing resources & consider many view points), talk A LOT about my concerns fears and desires, get the docs opinion of the situation, continually ask questions, make my plans based on the progression of my pregnancy which of course I won't know about until it happens, have several plans in place based on that if A happens we will consider B but if C happens then D would be the best course to follow... I think you get the point!
Anyway I know this is not what you were looking for regarding having a child vaginally after a BPI... I hope that my brining this back to the top will get more responses in that regard for you as well!

Best of luck!

Is this thread missing a post?

Not that I know of...

Karen,
It looks like there is because it says that this post has 6 replies (now 7) but if you count it you see that the numbers don't match!
Kristie

This happens when a "guest" posts something and it hasn't yet been approved by a moderator.

Karen,
I understand not wanting a c-section. They cost more, the recovery time is longer, and there will be more pain. However, I know of no better insurance to avoid another bpi. I personally would have a difficult time forgiving myself if I chose a vaginal birth and my baby was injured. I have had 8 vaginal deliveries, 4 shoulder dystocias (three 10+pounds) and only 1 bpi (my 8th baby) I am due at the end of April and I am planning to have it delivered by c-section. Good luck with your decision.