United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My son Payton is 3. He has a ROBPI. It was pretty severe. He required surgery, but is healing miraculously. I am 33 weeks pregnant with my next child. I am not planning on a c section. The doctor told me that I am measuring 4 cm bigger than i should. I had really no warnig signs with Payton, and other than this no warning signs for this birth. what are your thoughts on vaginal delivery after OBPI?

I have 2 children (both vaginal deliveries). My first son was 8lbs 14 oz and I had some trouble delivering his shoulders. And when I say some I mean a little snip did the trick but I too measured bigger. So with the 2nd pregnancy I was suppose to be induced about 2 or so weeks early so that the baby would not be too large. However, that did not happen and now he is left with ROBPI. Anyway I was told the next would be a scheduled c section. I wish I would have pushed for his to be a c-section. But in my opinion I would do a c-section. But that is just my opinion, I would not want another child to go through what my 2nd son has gone through. Even though I know that babies are born everyday and some end up with OBPI. But I do believe that every thing happens for a reason. Maybe that helped. Not sure if it did but I have 2 boys. And looking back now with the trouble I had with my first delivery,I should have raised h-e-double hockey sticks when they refused to induce me early with the 2nd baby. Anyway you can't turn back the hands of time so I just live life on day at a time. And have Faith.

Hi,

I was told that if is to happen with your first child, that chances of it happening again are very high. I chose to have a scheduled C-section the 2nd time around to avoid any chances of it happening again. My son was due May 30th and I we did the C-section on May 23 and he weighed in at 8.8 lbs!

Good luck with your decision.

Jody

My son Danny (almost 4, LOBPI) was 12 pounds at birth. I was told afterwards by Texas Children's Hospital's brachial plexus clinic to NEVER have another vaginal delivery. That's because after having a BPI child, you have a much greater likelihood of your next baby being injured the same way, regardless of weight.

I did have a C-section with my third child. I switched obstetricians at 34 weeks to get the care I knew was needed. I ended up having the C-section three weeks before my due date, and my daughter was fine (and 9 pounds!).

If you are bigger than you should be, that's something to pay attention to. Please be proactive and discuss this very seriously with your doctor. You may need to be induced early, or possibly even C-sectioned, if the baby is getting too big. You may need to insist on it.

Janet

I dont know statistics but I do know that one of the risk of shoulder dystocia is a prior shoulder dystocia. Couple that with the thought that birth weights increase as you have more children. I would only consider a vaginal delivery if you were induced early but even then, you still could have a large baby. My 1st was 9lb 13oz LOBPI and my 2nd was 9lb 7oz...3 weeks early c-section. I have never second guessed my decision to have a c-section. Good luck
Terri

I was measuring big and my doctor said, "let's wait and see and talk about the possibility of a c-section at your next visit." Well, my water broke a month early, so I never had the next visit or the talk and the baby was (only) 7 lbs. 5 ounces, got stuck and is lobpi. In fact, pretty much the first thing the OB said, (before we knew the baby was injured), was, "well, your next baby will be a scheduled c-section. I wish we had discussed it earlier.

my son was 9.7 lbs and he was 10 days early. They only want to induce me 2 weeks early with this one. If I chose a c section they will however make me go 40 weeks. I am also concerned about that.

oops that last one was me i forgot to sign in.

I am in the minority here because I opted for a vaginal delivery for my second baby. (Let me state right here...this was our decision & was made after much thought, prayer and education on our part. We felt it was right for us, but I'm not saying it's the right thing for everyone...) My first, who will be 3 years old on Monday (holy cow, where does the time go??), was 2 weeks late and weighed 9lbs 4oz (ROBPI).

This time around, I changed care providers, watched everything I ate (almost no sugar at all) and made sure we all had a game plan for if this happened again. I feel like I eliminated some of the risk by not being on my back & not having an epidural this time. I labored standing, squatting & kneeling. It would have taken an army of them to get me on my back this time...haha!

My personal opinion is that these care providers...the same ones who put us on our backs, kindly suggest that we have an epidural because "you shouldn't suffer like that" then pull too hard on the baby if it gets stuck & end up injuring our little ones are the ones that then have the nerve to tell us that there's something "wrong" with our bodies (failure to progress, something wrong with our pevis size or shape, you decided to deliver on a day that ends in "y"...I'm sure we've heard it all). Aren't we trying to educate people that this injury is preventable? Yes, I know, statistically speaking we are now at a higher risk since we've all had a baby with a BPI, but statistics don't always tell the whole story. I know for a fact that my doctor has injured another child who's parents read this board...isn't that a statistic, too? Like statistically speaking, she shouldn't be delivering babies. Sorry, I'll get off my soap box now.

My beautiful baby will be 5 months old next week. She was born 2 weeks early (with just a little "natural nudge") and weighed 7lbs 1oz..we call her our NOBPI baby.

In the end your method of delivery, after you weigh all your options, is up to you & your care provider. I am not a doctor...I don't even play one on TV, so I'm only providing my/our experience.

Feel free to email me if you want more details.
Happy birthing!!!
Heather

Oh, how I struggle with this decision, and I'm not even pregnant yet!

My daughter was my first and is injured, she only weighed 7.5 lbs. (I had zero risk factors, well except the epidural)
I KNOW that I could deliver another baby vaginally, but I also know that I’m at a higher risk of having shoulder dystocia again (all of us here are). This injury is caused by the Dr. What if SD occurs again? Will the Dr. know how to safely deliver, or will they panic?

I still don’t know what I will do, if and when I get pregnant. On one hand I think I can do it, I can safely deliver, and then I think, what if it happens again, can I trust ANY Dr. to deliver safely? I don’t know if I can.
My OB thinks I should have a c-section…..

Good luck with your decision, prayers for a healthy and happy baby.

Julie