Katherine D.
What position were you pushing in?  I was not saying that pushing a huge baby
out is easier than a small one, but that a very small infant is undesirable
for reasons having to do with the physics of labor.  Shoulder dystocia is not
unusual with large babies, they sometimes are freed if the mom takes a hands
and knees position.  Otherwise there is Dr. Gregory White's corkscrew
maneuver....
        Sorry about your mom in Mali.  It is nice to live in a technological
society when we are buffered somewhat from the forces of natural selection.
The flipside of that is the indiscrimately applied technologies of birth and
newborn care that jeopardize breastfeeding for many of our clients.  Balance,
anyone?
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC