Recently, the topic of a "too big baby" came up. My doctor believes in the 'school of thought' that our bodies are made for this and therefore there is never an instance of a baby being "too big" to be birthed vaginally. A friend's doctor warned her that her 10-pound baby was, in fact, too big, therefore; she should definitely consider scheduling a cesarean section surgery.
So, again…off I went to do my research.
Evidently, to date, the largest baby born vaginally was over 15 lbs. HOWEVER, I am having a difficult time verifying that this is accurate, so I am only using this as a guide.
What I did learn...first, when a woman is in labor a hormone called relaxin is released that makes hips, pelvis & tissues relax. This allows our hips to be “floating” and therefore, in very flexible state.
Also, as we all know (hopefully!) a baby’s head is made up of growth plates that do not fuse together until after birth, so their heads are meant to be flexible enough to pass through the birth canal.
These two points alone almost had me convinced that my doctor is, in fact, correct…but I decided to do some additional research.
And then I found one statement that summed it up perfectly for me….
How many other mammals cannot give birth naturally because their babies are too big?
Really, when was the last time an elephant had to visit the delivery ward and have their baby cut out of them?...sorry for the sarcasm, but it really is THAT simple.
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