Did you have/attempt a vaginal birth with IUGR?

Hi girls,

Just wondering how many of you attempted a vaginal birth with an IUGR baby. I've heard that some IUGR babies can be weak and don't handle vaginal birth that well. Both my twins are vertex, so I'm contemplating a vaginal birth, but I don't want to do anything that will put either baby at risk. I will obviously be consulting with my OB, but I'm interested to hear what advice other IUGR moms received.

If it matters:

Our IUGR baby is baby A

My OB won't consider a vaginal birth unless I make it to at least 36 weeks (which is right around the corner!), and

Baby A was estimated at 4 pounds at 34 weeks, so I'm hoping with all my might she will be somewhere between 4 1/2 and 5 poounds at birth.

Thanks!

 

Bumping - anyone?

 

Hi Kelly,

Sorry I can't help. Mine were not IUGR, but they were both very small. They were born vaginally at 32weeks.

I hope others can offer you some advise.

Hugs,

 

DS was an IUGR baby and my ob made us do a c-section. We'd been monitoring both babies fairly closely & then suddenly it got to the point where DS hadn't grown very much at all so we had the c-section the next day. This was at 35 wks 4 days. DS was born weighing 3 lbs 14 oz, DD was 5 lbs 6 oz. Both are well over 18 lbs now!

 

My baby B was labelled "possible" IUGR because of the size difference b/n her and her sister. She was small for gestational age throughout the pregnancy but did some catching up near the end and always seemed to have good flow through her cord. So I'm not sure she was ever truly IUGR, we don't know how/when she got behind because we didn't discover her until I was over 20 weeks and she was already measuring behind. Anyhow She was 5lbs 6oz at birth (around 37 weeks) where her sister was 6lbs 9oz. She did great during her vaginal birth - no NICU time. No one ever mentioned IUGR being an issue affecting birth options. My hospital and team of MFM doctors were very provaginal birth.

ETA: I think the severity of IUGR would definitely be a factor.

 

My best friend had IUGR twins (baby b had passed at 23 weeks) she attempted a vaginal birth, but ended up having an emergency c-section, where she had to be put out with gas. I'm not sure if this was because of IUGR, but if your OB is unsure I would go with a routine c-section so you don't end up having an emergency. I don't want to scare you, but this is what happened. I was never planning on attempting vaginal because I didn't want to have one vaginally and one c-section (I didn't want two booboos!), but I ended up having an emergency c-section anyway, but because I had already mentally prepared for it I was okay. GL!

 

My girls were just premature, not IUGR, but they were both born vaginally at 2 pounds, 13 ounces. Baby A was head down and Baby B turned breech, so they turned her so she was born frank breech instead of footling breech. My girls were very healthy, just very small and needed time to mature. I don't think the birth was any more traumatic for them then if they had been full term and full size.

 

My Baby B was IUGR and my peri was perfectly fine with attempting a vaginal birth when they induced me at 35.2 weeks. Sierra's IUGR was due to TTTS and a 2-vessel umbilical cord. They were planning on doing a breech extraction with her after Ainsley was born though.

FWIW, with my girls the IUGR baby was by far the strongest and most healthy. Sometimes that stress in the womb causes them to mature more quickly.

 

Max & Lily were born at 36 weeks vaginally. Lily was a possible IUGR baby for the last 1/2 of my pregnancy. She just started lagging behind growth wise and until she was about 1-1/2 lbs. smaller than Max per the Level II US. She was also transverse and twin B. I was induced at 36 because I developed pre-eclampsia and we were able to do a vaginal birth, but Lily was born breech. After 11 minutes of trying to turn her my OB said I can grab her feet and pull her out breech or we can wheel you down to the OR for a c-section. Well of course I said grab her feet & lets go breech because I wasn't going to do a c-section after giving birth vaginally to Max if I didn't have to. Luckily my OB had small hands and Lily was just under 5 lbs. so I only tore slightly from the breech delivery.

Once the placentas came out the doctor said Lily's cord was kinked / pinched where it connected to the placenta and about 1/2 the size of Max's. She figured that was why Lily ended up weighing 1 lb. less than Max at birth. After the birth we found out Max had a severe heart defect, which required open-heart surgery at 8 weeks old and Lily started gaining weight and flurishing right away. We worried about her almost the whole pregnancy and it was Max who ended up having issues.

Good luck in making your choice and I hope you have a smooth delivery.

 

Thanks girls for sharing your experiences. I am going to talk more with my OB about it on Friday, but he doesn't seem to think baby A's IUGR should cause a problem. She is in the 7th percentile or so, but has been growing steadily since this was diagnosed at 29 weeks, and the blood flow through her cord and her NSTs are good. So hopefully we'll be OK. I was just interested in others' perspectives.