We often hear care providers tell folks that their pelvis is too small to birth a baby, especially a “large baby” vaginally. The proper term for this is called Cephalopelvic Disproportion (or CPD for short). The definition of Cepalopelvic Disproportion is when a baby's head or body is too large to fit through the pelvis. Many providers will diagnose a person with CPD and recommend a belly birth instead of attempting a vaginal delivery. Other times, if labor stalls for some reason, care providers will blame it on CPD and off to the operating room they go. Is this a real thing? Is your pelvis truly too small for your baby?
📌CPD is VERY rare. Yet care providers diagnose people with this quite often and it is documented as the reason why someone needed a belly birth. A true diagnosis of CPD is difficult, yet we are quick to diagnose someone, put it in their medical records and further hindering chances of trying for a VBAC since they now has had a documented belly birth due to CPD.
📌CPD is usually only seen with people who have had pelvic injuries in the past.
📌A stalled labor SHOULD NOT put someone at risk for a diagnosis of CPD and/or belly birth. When the reality is that the true diagnosis should be THE CARE PROVIDERS FAILURE TO WAIT! The World Health Organization recently recommended that “Some labors progress quickly, other's don’t. Unnecessary medical interventions should be avoided if the birther and the baby are in good condition.” THIS MEANS GIVE BIRTHER AND BABY AS MUCH TIME AS NEEDED.
📌Our bodies and babies are not robots. We are all different and our births should not be expected to flow on a certain time schedule.
📌Need more proof? Your pelvis is not a fixed object and neither is your baby’s head! Your pelvis is made up of several bones held together by ligaments. During pregnancy your body produces the hormone Relaxin which causes your joints and ligaments to loosen. The ligaments in your pelvis loosen enough to allow your baby to descend, pass through and be born. Your baby’s head is not a fixed object either! Your baby’s skull is made up of bone plates that are not fused together yet. The plates on baby’s head mold and push together to allow them to squeeze through your pelvis. Pretty cool huh! See why the common diagnosis of CPD is nonsense?
Labor can stall for various reasons:
➖mal-positioning of baby can slow labor. Get off your back, pushing on your back closes the pelvis significantly. Try hands and knees position, knees in, squats, and mostly giving baby the TIME TO TURN!
➖unnecessary inductions can lead to a stalled labor because BIRTHER AND BABY WERE SIMPLY NOT READY FOR BIRTH!
➖labor can stall from stress, fear and anxiety.
⬆️THIS IS NOT CPD! ITS MAL-POSITION DIAGNOSIS OR FAILED INDUCTION DIAGNOSIS⬆️
📌A true diagnosis should be given. Diagnosing every person with CPD or a "small pelvis" for the wrong reasons can effect their next birth negatively. They will be pressured into a belly birth because of a false diagnosis.
✅CPD IS VERY RARE. THIS DIAGNOSIS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CPD AND YOUR CARE PROVIDERS FAILURE TO WAIT✅
✅❤️ACOG SAYS: “True absolute cephalopelvic disproportion or CPD (baby too large for pelvis). This is extremely rare and only associated with a pelvic deformity (or an incorrectly healed pelvic break). Fetal positioning during labor and birther positioning during second stage, most notably when people are in a semi-sitting position, cause most CPD diagnosed in current obstetrics”❤️✅
