a lady i know is just under 5ft and fits into age 13/14 girls clothes! her 3rd baby weighed over 10lb and was a natural birth. she did say she was in agony and had all pain relief going. her 1st, 2nd and 4th were also natural BUT much smaller.

this thread has scared me! i'm petite and my worst nightmare is going in for my normal labour as planned (because midwife says i should be find, she knows women my height who have given birth easily) and then needing an emergency c section because baby gets stuck/distressed. should petite women get checked by the dr? can you check by getting someone to have a look up there or getting a scan done or something?

I'm 4ft 9in but would say I have medium bones, not small, and have been pondering this a lot because at my 20 week scan I was told that due to my height I may be booked in for a planned caesarian... last week the consultant obstetrician carried out an internal examination to help him determine the size of my pelvis to see whether to book me in for a c section. I did say I'd like to try trial by labour but after he examined me his view was that I wouldn't be able to deliver the baby naturally.

The midwives I spoke to though said that this was an old fashioned and inaccurate way of determining whether a woman can successfully give birth naturally though. They told me that women smaller than me from the pacific basin area e.g. Hawaii had much bigger babies naturally without problems. Also, my mum is 5ft and has had 5 babies naturally. Only with the first one did she have an episiotomy and she feels that it wasn't actually necessary.

I think my consultant is being over cautious but now he's put doubts in my mind I feel safer going in for the caesarian!

I am 5ft and had a ventouse delivery first time and a emergency c section last time. That was purely because my babies seem to like lying back to back for some reason, my first born managed to part turn so they could use ventouse but nassim wouldnt budge at all so had to have a c section.Salim weighed 6lb 15 1/2 oz and Nassim was 7lb 1oz. I dont think it has much to do with height its the size and shape of your pelvis. My mum was 4'11 and had to have a section because she was measuring big and after 48 hours in active labour they finally give her a section. I weighed in at 8lb 6oz lol so quite big for someone so small. She wasnt given the option of a vbac with my sister and she had her by section weighing 8lb 9oz.

5'1, birth canal was too narrow to deliver my LO, she measured small while I was pregnant and was 6lbs 1oz - had emergency c-section.

When my sister had her son, she had a 42 hour labor before needing emergency c-section, so I am glad that my doctor is at least thinking ahead of time. I appreciate everyone's comments!

I'm 5'2" and generally weigh 95-105 when I'm not pregnant. I've had 2 children vaginally with no problem at all. One was 7Lb 2oz and one 7Lb 1oz. It's not your height or weight that is the issue, it's your pelvis. The doctor told me early on that I have great "child bearing hips." He said even at my size I could easily carry a 10Lb baby if I had to. Your doctor should be able to tell if your pelvis seems too narrow and be able to warn you of possible complications long before baby comes.

Hi I am 5' and was 95 lbs. pre-pregnancy weight with all of my three.

I was induced for my first child and my cervix didn't dialate so I ended up having an emergency C-section, and my last two were delivered via C-section too because of the circumstances of my first delivery. Two of my children were around 7lbs 11 oz and the other was over 8 lbs. and he was delivered 2 weeks early.

Honestly, I believe my cervix didn't dialate because of scar tissue from a biopsy they did of pre-cancerous cells.