SPD help during labour

[Tw1nkle]

Hiya,

I'm suffering from SPD and am getting increasingly concerned about labour, and long-lasting damage!

Can anyone advise any good birthing positions to aliviate the pain?

I've also heard that stirrups and epidurals should be avoided, as should internal examinations?

Any advise or reassurance would be appreciated!!!

 

[Red_Fairy]

tbh it really depends on how bad you have it, some people only have discomfort when turning over in bed, going up/down stairs/in and out of a car ect. while other women have it so bad they seriously cant even walk.

In my experience, i had it bad, but not so i couldnt walk. (i was ok as long as it wasnt a long distance) And during labour, i didnt feel it at all tbh, and i think my case is very common, that if your spd is bad you just dont feel it, becaiuse in labour your feeling alot of other things that take your mind of it lmao.
It certinly wasnt an issue anyway, and i had my legs up stirrups and an epidural with my first.
Right after birth also i wasnt in pain ever again with it either*


*actually i got spd again very early on with my second, it was worse, but again in labourt it didnt bother me in the lightest, but this time it didnt disapear after birth and i had it up to 6 weeks after emily, i was told in servier cases of spd, thats normally the case.

 

[Tw1nkle]

Hiya.

Thanks, that's really encouraging! I guess I've read about it online, and you get told the 'worst scenario', so i've been a bit concerned!!!

 

[kalia]

At the end of the day I did what was best for baby. By the time I was in labour I couldn't walk because of the PGP (which is what it is now called). I had been on crutches for months just to get round the house and I ended up in a wheelchair to get to the midwife unit. Baby got stuck (55 hours labour in total) and her heart rate was dropping so my options really were a caesarian (which is what they prepared me for) or forceps, which means stirrups. Fortunately they managed using forceps and didn't have to resort to a caesarian.

I found in labour that a bigger problem than the pain was the fact that my pelvis couldn't support me so I had few positions I could be in in labour.

While in labour I felt it important to let OH know (so he could tell his sister who was due the day that DD was born) that it wasn't that bad. I honestly believe that because I had been in so much pain for so long I had built up a good stock of endorphins that meant I didn't find labour as painful as I think a lot of others do.

Also, because by the end I could sleep for less than an hour before the pain woke me and I had to change position and I could sleep on one side, the other and then my back but then there was no where left to go as everywhere was painful so sometimes I was only getting 3 hours sleep a night. So having a newborn meant lots of lovely sleep!!! While everyone else was feeling the strain of less sleep I was loving getting 2 or 3 times my usual!

So there are silver linings

I recommend getting a decent baby carrier for snuggly newborn cuddles - either a wrap or a pouch such as a Hotsling. The pouch would be best if you have severe PGP. Although for most of the last 5 months I've used wraps with DD I used a pouch from day one because I still needed to use both arms to manoeuvre myself in and out of bed or chairs for the first week, though after a day or 2 I didn't need the crutches around the house. Having the pouch with me in hospital meant I was able to take my daughter out of her cot and in to bed to feed her. I wouldn't have been able to do that otherwise so I am really glad I packed it!!!

 

[moss]

I was in a pool at first and was kneeling a lot but ended up having to lay on a hospital bed with my legs propped up on the stirrup things (I can't remember what they were called). The worst position, really, according to my physio, but I am fine. I needed to get my pelvis manipulated back into place, but had that done a few times during pregnancy, as well. Your legs don't really need to be very far apart in order for your baby to be born so I think unless you are jumping up and down and doing splits, you will be fine.