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Do small women have more problems?



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 4th 03, 07:22 AM
Brad_Chad62
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Default Do small women have more problems?

Excuse me for being ignorant, but do small women have more
complications during pregnancy than large women? I don't mean
overweight women. I'm talking about height. I would think that a woman
who is 5 ft. 10 inches would have a much easier delivery than a woman
who is 4 ft. 10 inches (on average). Am I wrong? Do small women need
more C-sections? I'm just curious.

Thank You,


  #3  
Old August 4th 03, 01:50 PM
Naomi Pardue
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Default Do small women have more problems?

Am I wrong? Do small women need
more C-sections? I'm just curious.


The size of the pelvis is the major dimension that is of interest, not the
height, and short women can and do have amply sized pelvic outlets.
THere are also two other factors he
1. A pregnant woman releases a special hormone that causes the spaces between
the pelvic bones (all her joints actually) to relax more than usual, allowing
that space to open up more than would be possible in a
non-pregnant/non-laboring woman.
2. Nature usually does not allow women to grow babies biggger than they are
physically able to give birth to. (Wouldnt' be very practical, now would it?)

Now... having said that, I would not be at all surprised to find that,
statitically, petitite/small-framed/short women DO have more c-sections/forceps
deliveries/etc. than their more robustly built sisters, but that's probably as
much do to physician assumptions (the belief that the small woman MUST be less
likely to be able to birth the baby successfully), and to some common birth
practices (having women push in positions that tend to close up the pelvis),
rather than to the physiology of the women themselves.


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)
  #5  
Old August 4th 03, 06:11 PM
H Schinske
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Default Do small women have more problems?

(Brad_Chad62) wrote in message
.com...
Excuse me for being ignorant, but do small women have more
complications during pregnancy than large women? I don't mean
overweight women. I'm talking about height. I would think that a woman
who is 5 ft. 10 inches would have a much easier delivery than a woman
who is 4 ft. 10 inches (on average).


Not necessarily. The big variables are head size and head presentation versus
interior pelvic diameters. You can't tell any of that from the outside.

I had a baby with an average-sized head but presenting at the wrong angle, and
I had a difficult delivery that could easily have been a C-section. But there
was nothing unusual about his measurements or mine that led to this problem. It
was purely a question of the angle of his neck.

In any case there is relatively little correlation between size as a grown-up
and size as a baby. My six-three husband was under six pounds as a baby (not
premature) and his taller and wider brother, also full-term, was not much over
six pounds. Many small, slight adults were eight pounds or more at birth.

--Helen
  #6  
Old August 4th 03, 10:09 PM
Kereru
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Default Do small women have more problems?


"Brad_Chad62" wrote in message
om...
Excuse me for being ignorant, but do small women have more
complications during pregnancy than large women? I don't mean
overweight women. I'm talking about height. I would think that a woman
who is 5 ft. 10 inches would have a much easier delivery than a woman
who is 4 ft. 10 inches (on average). Am I wrong? Do small women need
more C-sections? I'm just curious.

Thank You,



Again anecdotal but my Mum had me weighing in at 9lb 3oz with a reasonably
straightforward birth and shes 5 foot. My sister was 8lb 13oz and born in
three hours. I wasn't a problem with my Mum. I am 5'6" and gave birth to a
10lb 8oz boy two years ago no problems.

Judy


  #7  
Old August 4th 03, 10:13 PM
Romy
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Default Do small women have more problems?

I guess the height matters at the time of pregnancy rather than the
actual labor itself. For a shorter woman, the uterus will be very
close to ribs compared to taller woman. Again, this is just an idea.

On 3 Aug 2003 23:22:05 -0700, (Brad_Chad62) wrote:

Excuse me for being ignorant, but do small women have more
complications during pregnancy than large women? I don't mean
overweight women. I'm talking about height. I would think that a woman
who is 5 ft. 10 inches would have a much easier delivery than a woman
who is 4 ft. 10 inches (on average). Am I wrong? Do small women need
more C-sections? I'm just curious.

Thank You,



 




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