-I got really upset about the birth pool thing when i read it, Im 22 weeks so havent had the chance to ask yet but I have my heart set on a water birth, and I cant seem to find a good reason why someone with a high BMI would be at more risk in water?!
Do you mind if I ask what the BMI cut off for your hospital was?
I also had my heart set on this so i seriously hope you arent put in the same place i am....i movedpart way through my pregnancy from one PCT to another, orignally my bmi was 39, and when i moved tothe other PCT a consultant requestes my bmi be checked again....bear in mind this was 3 months on so weight had gone on! my bmi was now 41.... he said any less than 40 should have been ok but now i was classed as "high risk", i had to go and have a crisis chat with my MW because of this as the guy wouldnt explain what this meant! she seemed to think that he meant high risk of needing assistance at some point and the MW's on duty at my labour wouldnt be able to help me out of the pool if i needed it.....sheer cheek i think, im still having a fit over this, as all the MW's ive seen through my pregnancy have told me it should be no issue.
Have the chat early on and see what they say, i really hope you get the birth you choose
let me know how you get on xx[/QUOTE]
Ahh thanks for this info! I actually lost weight after my first 'weigh in' so my BMI should be changed to 29, which is a whole category different, but they wouldnt change it from 30 cos aparently they dont change it! I was furious,a nd its ridiculous that it doesnt work the other way, of COURSE you'll gain weight while pregnant!!
Are you still battling this then? I did a lot of research last night, got sucked into googling for hours! But basically there are 4 reasons put forward for why they exclude whole categories of women using the birthing pools;
1) High BMI mothers are more likey to have high blood pressure and therefore have some kind of haemorrhage and require resucitation during labour. Now, if you're like me, my blood pressure is well within normal range, so actually this has nothing to do with BMI and everything to do with blood pressure. Converesly you can have high blood pressure and low BMI
2) High BMI mothers are more likely to have a larger baby and therefore require forceps or other assistance incase baby gets stuck. This is hard to do in the pool. Larger babies are associated with gestational diabetes with high BMI women are more likely to have BUT I had a glucose tollerance test which showed that Im not even nearly diabetic and my little one is measuring small on scans (but within 'normal' limits)
3) High BMI mothers are more likely to end up having caesarian births. A lot people on the web attribute this not to the actual weight but the fact that intervention such as eppidural is practically forced on women and they are more restricted in their birth options (i.e. use of pool!) and therefore get on the viscous cycle of interventions and end up having birth problems because of this.
4) in the unlikley event that a woman crashed (less than 0.5% likely aparently) medical staff have to be able to get the woman out of the pool for resucitation. If a woman is heavy its harder to manhandle someone out of water in time to save them. I think that in some way this is fair enough but it should not be based on BMI but a weight limit. My BMI is 30 (or 29) but Im 5ft 1. If I were 6ft tall and weighed the same, they would not even consider restricting me. But it would be the same amount on strain in terms of manual handling.
So..Ive prepared my arguement as you can see. Actually if they try and throw evidence base at you, there really isnt one, and the only new evidence emerging seems to suggest that birthing pools are MORE beneficial to women with higher BMI because it allows you more flexibility to get into a suitable position, lowers blood pressure, and reduces risk of needing any kind of assistance in birth.
Some birthing centres now do not restrict any woman based on BMI category. Each woman is individually assessed. They only ask that you can get yoursef in and out of the pool without assistance (which to be frank is quite an ask for any full term pregnant woman!)
Sorry that was such a long essay but like I said, I spent hours preparing my evidence!
Im prepared for a fight and I hope that everyone on here get the safest birth but also the birth THEY choose.
but maintaining my normal weight, presumably due to little bump forming, without even trying, Im eating junk Id never normally eat thanks to sugar cravings!
