In response to Melissa's post:

Date:    Mon, 7 May 2001 21:33:47 -0600
From:    LC Mama <[log in to unmask]>

My son was 8 lb 9 oz and I'm only 5 feet tall.

Susan, while I completely understand and respect your specific need for a
c/s, I think it's important to remember that small women have big babies all
the time.

Dear Melissa:

I guess I should have just started my post with the head stuck in the birth
canal sideways with the ear first, which appeared in the second line of my
post.

While height does not always predict pelvic size, studies done in
developing countries do show that significant stunting can lead to
increased rates of obstructed labor.  The relevance of this is NOT that
these women should always have C-sections or that many of these women
cannot deliver without complications, but that malnutrition in childhood
leading to stunting of girls has long term negative effects.  That is to
say that there will be AN INCREASE in the PROPORTION of women who do have
complications when stunting has occurred.  It does not mean that all or
even the majority of stunted women will experience these complications.
Public health programs in developing countries still actively PROMOTE that
women eat well during pregnancy and GAIN ADEQUATE WEIGHT even though many
women fear that eating well will cause them to deliver a larger baby.
Reynaldo Martorell (previously with Stanford University and now with Emory
University), has published widely on this phenomenon and its importance for
advocating for effective nutrition programs to PREVENT the stunting from
occurring during childhood. Stunting can have many other negative health
effects in a developing country situation as well.

My height is above the cutoff criteria for high risk used in developing
countries and I did not have a single point on the risk factor index for
the birthing center even though I was 41 at time of delivery and my
birthing class instructor thought birthing centers didn't accept women past
40.

Hope this clarifies that I didn't consider my size to be a risk, and the
implications for public health programs in developing countries

Susan Burger, PhD, MHS

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