Question about "Too narrow of bones" with giving birth

My first baby was a c-section because she never descended into my pelvis. After 17 hours of good, strong contractions (and 12 hours of early labor before that), I only reached about 5cm. The doctor said the baby couldn't fit through my pelvis and therefore couldn't descend in order to help my cervix dilate. The doctor "checked" my pelvis during the surgery and said the baby never would have fit through b/c my pelvis is an oval shape rather than round. He advised planning c-sections for future babies.

I really didn't want to go through a c-section again so I decided I was going to try again. I had 41 hours of largely non-productive labor. For whatever reason, it took me a really, really long time to dilate. My midwife finally got me to labor in a squatting position and that forced baby #2 down (and out!). She had a perfectly round head - someone even asked if she was a c-section. I was mentally preparing for a cone-headed baby since my pelvis was supposed to be so narrow.

You really can't "diagnose" CPD until a mom has had the chance to push her baby out. Even then, positioning of the baby, epidurals, etc can interfere with a mom's ability to push her baby out. So having "CPD" in 1 labor doesn't mean you will have it in all labors. I have a friend who had an unmedicated birth the first time and pushed for 3 hours before she consented to a c-section. Her 2nd baby came vaginally... and was over 1 lb bigger!!!

I have little to no faith in third trimester ultrasounds to estimate fetal weight, and it rankles me when docs try to use them to scare women into having c/sections.

Other than that, I can't add anything to what other wise folks have already said.

Squatting position has been mentioned a few times here, I'm curious - after watching that Business of Being Born movie, I noticed a lot of midwifes had the mom get in the squatting position to give birth. I am really curious, does this EVER happen in the hospital? Based on what that movie discussed, along w/ a few other times I've heard this said, it is really effective (gravity is on the mom's side). Just curious, maybe this is a really dumb question!

Unfortunately, I have never seen a pt. allowed to squat for a delivery. Granted I do not have the years of experience in the delivery room as many of our members. How often have you all seen it happen/allowed?

We have women squatting during labor/pushing/birth with some frequency. The providers where I work are very accommodating to what position the woman wishes to give birth in. Both our Midwives and MDs will get down on the ground on their knees with a flashlight (often the labor rooms are dimly lit per request) to help the baby be born. Often though, people are squatting on the actual labor bed which has a detachable squat bar to help with stability.

When looking at a woman, the apparent hip size is related to how much the upper part of the pelvis flares out. This upper part of the pelvis has nothing to do with the birth cannal. It is the inside dimensions of the pelvis, the part that can't be seen that matters in childbirth. For some reason, older women who have given birth seem to enjoy scaring younger women who have not yet given birth. Ignore them.

When the doctor does his first internal exam he can estimate the size of the birth cannal and say if it's average or not. But as previous posters have mentioned, there are lots factors other than absolute size that are important.

And the problem is not usually with the pelvic outlet as some have mentioned. If there is a problem, it is usually with the midpelvis, the distance between the ischial spines. That's the smallest diameter in the pelvis, the outlet is typically larger than the midpelvis. Look at a picture of a pelvis and you can see how the hips are totally unrelated to the passage thru the pelvis.

Seen it @my hospital before... kind of interesting...