Worried about labor with a broken coccyx!

Erinjoyricki · October 2014

My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant with our first child for the last five months now. We're getting more and more anxious and excited as time goes on and we hope that we will be soon!!!

I recently realized that I might have a problem with delivery due to a broken tailbone. I broke my tail bone twice in my life, and since then it had set bending inwards. I would really love to give birth naturally and possibly have a home birth, but I wouldn't want normal labor pains as well as issues with my coccyx.
I've searched for information about this, but everything I've found is about braking during pregnancy. Does anyone know anything about this? I know I have a while to figure it out, but some insight would be very appreciated!

PrimRoseMama · October 2014

As with any fracture, you might need extra coaching to cope with pregnancy, labor & delivery.

I have spinal fractures & worried about that for my births. The last couple weeks of pregnancy were hellish for the pain scale. I imagine a broken tail bone might produce similar discomfort.

With appropriate support from your nurses, doctors & perhaps a doula-- your plans for med-free child birth shouldn't be affected too badly.

I found these other links that might be of interest to you as well:

https://www.mothering.com/forum/213-birth-beyond/918989-those-who-have-given-birth-after-previous-broken-tailbone.html#/forumsite/20454/topics/918989

https://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/how-will-a-broken-tailbone-coccyx-effect-my-labor/

Good luck TTC!

LG2793 · October 2014

I don't know a ton about this, but my friend at work fell on ice and broke hers. It also bends inward. She had her DS a couple of years later, and it turned out fine. Good luck!

femmepink · October 2014

I have daily pain because of my broken coccyx. It's been painful for 4 years now, and I have little faith that it will ever heal or be painless to sit.

I also worried about childbirth. I wanted to go natural so I could give birth in a position that would relieve pressure on my tailbone, but I also wanted the epi so I wouldn't feel pain if it did break or dislocate again.

I ended up going with the epi and it was the BEST decision I ever made. I felt nothing during birth, and good news? My tailbone has no EXTRA pain from pushing a kid out my vag. Childbirth did not effect my tailbone (negatively or positively) in any way. I worried a lot about this before getting pregnant and having a child too, but fortunately it was all for nothing. If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me! Coccyx pain is not understood well and it's frustrating to get answers.

ETA: words.

PrimRoseMama · October 2014

Hey there @femmepink‌ ! :-h

femmepink · October 2014

Hey @PrimRoseMama!

It's been awhile!

Can't believe your little is over a year old now!

bocaburger · October 2014

My sister broke her coccyx years ago. She finally went to a physical therapist for other reasons and they examined her coccyx since she still has pain. They ended up being able to slightly re-set it without having to re-break it (basically through relaxing the surrounding muscles they were able to move it ever-so-slightly each visit). It has significantly helped with her pain and surrounding issues. She was basically told that if she had not gone to PT for it and tried to have a baby, she would likely have experienced excruciating pain and possibly not been able to physically give birth, which would have meant an emergency C-section. I'm not saying this to scare you, but it can be dangerous and you may want to have a doctor or PT examine it or even get some imaging before birthing. ESPECIALLY if you are thinking about a home birth, in which case if something goes wrong you may not be able to get the proper emergency treatment in time.

painttheair14 · October 2014

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it yet. Definitely bring it up when you are meeting/interviewing midwives and doctors.

If you were to do anything before getting pregnant, maybe things like xrays or other procedures you wouldn't want to do while pregnant.

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Worried about labor with a broken coccyx!

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