United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

m&mom

even if you were making jello at the same time?

couldn't resist!!!

Guest,
Especially if making jello at the same time.

Thanks for that, I needed the laugh.

Cindy

I am pregnant right now. Not going to the same ob that delivered Hannah. I have a new one who is fully aware of my condition. I am so pleased with him. He is aware of Hannah and her BPI. He said he will monitor my weight and diet. Also I have several more ultrasounds in my future. I have had 3 already. I am 27 wks along. I opt to have a vaginal delivery. If there is any complications at any point in the delivery he will do a c-section. He is not going to use any means of inducing me or foresept(spelled wrong) or vacuum extraction. I am scared of the whole delivery. Who wouldn't be after having a child with a birth injury. I would just go with your gut feeling.

I am going to take the advice of some of the ones who have posted to see if my doctor does the alternative postions for delivery.

Nicki

Huh? Pardon my ignorance, but how could an epidural possibly be linked to the likelihood of shoulder dystocia? One involves knocking out the pain, and the other is a physical occurrence largely based on pelvic size and factors like that.
Please cite expert or article where you got that, if you can.

Here's some info I know about it:
the epidural slows down the mom's natural sensation to push.
When this happens the baby can descend in an abnormal position, causing a dystocia.

I'm really starting to feel that all of the modern day advances they do during delivery these days are really making things worse than they should be.

I remember reading this on many sites a while back, I don't recall the sites off hand, maybe the original poster will. I'm almost positive it's on the list of risk factors for sd.

Cindy

Having an epidural also increases your likelihood of needing assisted delivery using forceps or vacuum, which can significantly increase the likelihood of bpi's.

Here's the thing that freaks me out, I delivered my BPI baby's head just fine. The head was out, and nothing else would BUDGE. My baby had really broad shoulders. I am TERRIFIED to have another vaginal delivery because with my BPI baby, we had no clue there was anything wrong until it was too late to do a c-section. I simply would not be able to take the chance. I have hypertension with pregnancy too, my blood pressure would be through the roof. I would certainly without a doubt choose a c-section. It CANNOT be worse to recover from than what happened to my body the last time I had a baby (my BPI baby was my 3rd). I have had three babies vaginally, so I know what to expect and I will NEVER have another one the same way.

I new a mother who opted for this and had another child with a brachial plexus injury. Why risk it. Isnt what we are trying to fight for is more c sections in risky situations if i would have known the risks before mine i certainly would have been more concerned about the health of my child then the so called "joy" society has us brainwashed into believing about vag births.