Petite women and childbirth
 

My mom keeps telling me that my gf (if me and her get married) are going to problems when we decide to have baby because of the fact that she's petite. Is there any truth in her words or is she just trying to scare me (She doesn't really like my gf) ?

Man, your mom will resort to anything to get rid of this girl, won't she? ;)

If your family - or hers for that matter - are large in stature, she might have some trouble, but you'd be surprised how stretchy that birth canal can be. My dad was 6'3", and his whole family are HUGE. My mom is 4'11" and she had 3 kids, all of us natural (not caesarean). She had a bit of trouble with my brother, the third baby, but that was because of other stuff, not size. Granted, none of us kids are huge but that's more environmental than genetic, I think. Anyhow, yeah, your mom's just trying to scare you. Sheesh. :rolleyes:

Silly to worry about something like that. After you marry her, and after she gets pregnant, then she can ask her gynocologist. Tell your mom to bugger off.

well i'm 4'11 and due to an assault I cant have kids. But there is no reason why she could not Geesh... It would be best to stay away from your mother.

I knew a very tiny girl who had a kid. I don't know details, but she seemed alive and well at the time. Goooooo figure!

Your mom seems to have reached the desperation point. The "petite woman" issue is definately a smokescreen, and I think we can set that aside.

The real question is: why does your mom hate your girlfriend? And, once that is answered, you must ask "is she correct"? Does your mom, with her many years of experience, know that you would be making a mistake? No way for me to tell.

Well it does bring into question the phrase "child-bearing hips", often women are referred to as having a body made for having babies...I wonder if there is scientific truth to this(ie a petite, small hipped woman would have more problems giving birth)

definitely agreeing with everyone. shes just bullshitting. my mom was a tiny woman when she had me and i was born nearly 9 lbs heavy. im about 6 feet tall today.

That's irrelavant as far as i can see. a family member, like anyone else, doesn't have a right to constantly give their opinion on such a personal choice.
Once someone is an adult (as in 18), parents have to deal with the fact that they don't have any rights or power in their childrens lives anymore, and that to some extent, no matter how painful it may be their opinions become irrelvant and unwanted.

Some parents never got the memo on this though.

jeez..she really needs to STFU... always making you worry about your g/f

the body does what it needs to... and there's always c section...

First, your mum should not be part of the conversation, its not her business

Second, there can sometimes be problems when small women have large babies. I am 6'3" and my wife 5'2" both children were born by C Section because of what the docs called Pelvic Insufficiency. The kids, who weren't large, just were not going to come out the way they should. We tried for natural birth and it was long and painful for Penny. I suspect however that it was not a function of her size but rather of the structure of her hips and birth canal which any woman could suffer from. A good doctor would be able to advise you when the situation arises. In the meantime I would suggest that it shouldn't be one of the factors by which you evaluate your future with your girl friend, it was never on my mind I can assure you as it never affected our love life if you know what I mean.

No, she'll be fine. Worst that can happen is a Ceasarean but I seriously doubt that will be necessary.

Enjoy yourselves and let nature take care of things :)

That is a horrible thing to say. If she said something like that she probably wanted you to break up with her anyways.

Sounds like she is just trying to scare you.
Women, both tiny and large, have been having children for eons...it's our job! We are naturally made for it so don't worry about the size issue. I'm petite and have two healthy boys who are both going to be six footers and I had no trouble at all with their births. (This on top of the fact that due to an accident I wasn't supposed to be able to have children!)
Relax and tell Mom to mind her own business!

Ridiculous comment. Size has nothing to do with birthing ability. My wife is 5'6" and has a nice waist to hip ratio yet she has had two C-sections due to her canal being too small for even our small babies (roughly 6 lbs). Her sister who is 3" and 20 lbs lighter gave birth no problem.

My wife's cousin (hot) is seriously tiny and she was successful in giving birth, though I believe she had a C-section.

If her birth canal is too small, they can always to a c-section. (one in four women who go to a hospital here to give birth get a c-section. so it's not like it's some rare thing that happens just because she's petite.)

My mom had two girls with huge heads and she's very skinny. She is 5'7'' and about 120 lbs. My birth took while I think but my sister just slipped out before the doc even got into the room!

If you think about it: how are there any skinny people in the world if skinny women can't have babies well? Skinny moms produce skinny babies. Duh. Her argument is so irrational. Is she crazy?

Or just passive-aggressive...

heh....i work with two petite women who are both pregnant

one has had one previously and it was a natural birth

My wife is 5' 1" and petite. Both of our kids were to big (8lbs 12 ounces each) and she had to have a C-Section.

No other complications though.

She's got issues with your girl. It has nothing to do with her hips. It's an old myth perpetuated in bullshit by moms who hate their son's girlfriends. If your mom actually liked your girlfriend, do you SERIOUSLY think she'd say something that rude and totally not her business? Nope. Find out why mom hates her, or you'll hear it for the rest of your time with the girl. "Mom, why do you hate (her name here)?"

She'll tell you she doesn't. but then you'll get the "it's just that..." or "well, she..." just talk with your mom, she's got issues here.

Your Mom is very petty.

as much as it seems like we are headed in the direction that women will no longer be able to naturally bear children (oh its coming, you mark my words) they still can...
the genes for her to not be able to have children naturally fell out meeeeeeellllliiiioooonns of years ago...


look at it from a darwin standpoint and you'll see your mom really is just shoveling a load right in your path....
just step around :D

That is total bull. The woman's size really has no relation to the difficulty in childbirth.

I am an average build woman 5'5", 135 lbs and meduim bones. All of the women in my family line have had large babies all the way up to 14 lbs at childbirth. Most of them have not had too much trouble. I personally followed my mother in that our pelvic bones are very narrow (not the outside of my hips either) so the birth canal was too narrow. My daughter was 2 weeks late and 8.6 lbs. I was unable to give birth naturally because the disproportion between her head and my pelvis. C-section was really no big deal. I was on my feet and in the grocery store only 3 days later.

Everything is so different from one woman to another and every childbirth is a different experience and a miracle. Even IF (and that's a big if) your mother could accidentally be predicting correctly then your girl can just have a c-section and it will be no problem. Don't worry about it and don't let the "method of childbirth" be a reason to separate you two. That is a pretty petty reason - especially if you and your girl end up without children even. Good Luck

Plenty of small women are just fine. Don't worry about it!!!!!! Mom's either misinformed or trying to cause trouble.

I'm not a doctor, but I agree....

From a darwinian standpoint, almost all women today are capable of successfully carrying a child to term (aside from environmental factors).

For those that can't deliver, there is always the medical assistance (C-section).

I'd tell your mother to please butt out of your life and move along...

nothing to worry about
 

The mother of my kids (my first wife) is barely 5' 0" and cannot be more than 95 pounds soaking wet... We had two kids together - both born a month early, though, but both now healthy as horses... If it's meant to be, it will...great kids, btw.

I am petite and my husband is 6ft 5in. I had my baby with no trouble!! Don't worry about your mother! Mothers don't always know best.

I'm 6-2 250ish lbs, my ex wife is 4-11 95 ish lbs, we have two children together, both healthy, both completely natural deliveries, full term, no complications as a result of her size.....she has 3 other children also full term, natural deliveries, no complications as a result of her size....I hate to say it, but either your mom is misinformed, or full of shit. I believe she's misinformed.