Hypermobility and pregnancy

[Liz]

Hi folks - well, I am getting married in September (woohoo!).  My fiancee and I have been together for several years, and we are looking forward to starting a family ASAP after the wedding.  I know several of the Odd Bods have children... any advice you can give a fellow hypermobile person, as far as what type of issues / problems I might experience?  The only one I've heard is that during pregnancy you may be more unstable than normal, due to the loosening of the joints... and considering we ALREADY have loose joints, that can cause some issues.  But if you know of any others from personal experience, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks!!  Hope everyone is doing well.

Liz

[SL99]

Hi Liz,

Firstly congratulations on your wedding! I'm really pleased for you and hope you and your husband to be have a great, special day.  

As for the questions of pregnancy, the hypermobility/connective tissue issues can cause complications depending largely on the type of problems you have. As you mentioned pregnancy hormones tend to make the ligamnets even more lax, so you may be even more prone to dislocations, subluuxations and sprain. The actually loading and strain that pregnancy will put on your joints will probably be an issue too again depending on how bad they are to start with.

If you don't mind my asking ( not meaning to be nosey!) do you have a diagnosis for your hypermobility i.e. HMS, EDS etc? If so the various advice centres for ech condition will be able to offer specific advice on the compications of pregnancy on that condition. For instance, the EDS support group have some excellent information sheets and books covering such issues: http://www.ehlers-danlos.org you might also find this link helpful. http://www.ednf.org/threepreg.php

It's certainly worthwhile talking to your GP or specialist handling your hypermobility about pregnancy too. Of course if you do have a heritable connective tissue disorder as the cause of your hypermobility the question of pssing on the genes may need to be addressed and normally a genetic counseller is advisable - I have been offered that if I should ever decide to have children.

I hope that some of this has been helpful to you. Take care.

Love and hugs....Jo
xxx

[Shazinoz]

Hey Liz,
AS Jo said Hypermobility can get worse during pregnancy and if you have one of the hypermobility disorders you may also need to see a high risk OB/GYN (I personally have never had kids and as I have HEDS I have decided against ever having them) as some of the disorders can lead to miscarriages and also to premature babies and things like this. Also if ypou have one of these disorders your baby has about a 50% chance of having it as well (about 100% if your intended has it also).
everyone is different and it depends HUGELY on wheather you have Hypermobility or HMS or EDS or one of the others.
It may be a good idea to attend a Genetic councellor BEFORE you start your family to find out things like whast risks you have and what risks there are to the baby.
Good Luck and CONGRATULATIONS on the upcoming wedding.
Sharon

[Liz]

Thanks guys!  No, I have not gotten a diagnosis of anything yet, but I will be going to my doc very soon to discuss everything.  I have a big hunch that it's EDS, based on my symptoms and different problems I've had over the years.  And now that we're starting our life together and a family, it seems more important than ever to get a diagnosis and find out risks and issues.

Liz

[pirate]

Congratulations.

As for the kids thing, I'm hypermobile and have 4 children.

First three were all full term ceasearean section  births, and the youngest was born prematurely at 23 weeks, naturally though, so no Section atleast. ( He is now a little small but otherwise fairly healthy)

I didn't know I was hypermobile when I was pregnant, which may have been an advantage.

Before you decide to have children, Speak to your doctor, Specialist, and see if you can get to see the local gyny clinic, talk to a midwife before you get pregnant, and make sure that you in the best shape possible for you.

[pirate]

Liz,

Are you still here?, Did you get a diagnosis, and did you decide to have a baby.

[watersci]

I am really interested in this topic too. Have been trying for a kid for the past 1.5 yrs and have had two miscarriages. Am starting to think maybe pregnancy is not a good option for me with all my joint issues anyway, and am beginning to consider adoption. Husband thinks adoptions is a good idea too.

Anyone else with hypermobility with pregnancy stories?

[Lana]

I am really interested in this topic too. Have been trying for a kid for the past 1.5 yrs and have had two miscarriages. Am starting to think maybe pregnancy is not a good option for me with all my joint issues anyway, and am beginning to consider adoption. Husband thinks adoptions is a good idea too.

Anyone else with hypermobility with pregnancy stories?

Hi--
I had trouble getting pregnant, and my infertility doctor also specialized in genetics and thought I may have EDS, but the diagnosis was never confirmed.  Much to everyone's surprise, I did extremely well the entire pregnancy.  When I was 39.4 days pregnant I decided I was going to call my doctor on Monday and see about getting induced because my knees were starting to give out on me and where I had the screw (removed) from my TTT was hurting.  I went into labor before I had to call the doctor.
Good luck!

[Stalkermagnet]

I know that this is an old thread, but I have 3 kids and have had some type of hypermobility disorder my whole life. My knees were the same/slightly worse during pregnancy but the big problem was my pelvis. During the last part of my first pregnancy I developed SPD, http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/pubicpain.htm and was very uncomfortable, it got progressively worse during my 2nd and 3rd pregnancies- I cannot put on my own pants, roll over in bed, etc because I can feel (and hear!) my pelvic bones grating against each other. All of my babies were born vaginally at 38 weeks (inductions), all 3 were in the low 8lb range. The last birth I pushed laying on my side and my baby had a serious shoulder dystocia. I do not know if the shoulder dystocia was because of the hypermobility or the position or what. Also, connective tissue disorders can come with skin that is easily torn. During my first birth I had a pretty bad labial tear that required corrective surgery later.

I do not love pregnancy, but I do love having children and will probably go for 2 more, a total of 5.

[LisaWilliams38]

I know this may be old, but I wanted to add my story, just in case.....I only have 1 son and had had minor pelvic pain for yrs, but nothing serious that massage couldnm't handle. I was very fit though & stretched a lot. Most of my problems have been knee related. I felt great during the pregnany (back & knees) until the 3rd trimester. At 30 wks, my back was DONE. Apparently my pelvis shifted considerably. I dealt with back spasms for 6 wks until I went into preterm labor at 36 wks. (Thank God)!!! At only 6 lbs, 5 ozs, Owen was horribly stuck. Plus, my epidural only helped with pain below the waist. I felt the contractions up to my neck, & my iupper back locked up from what we now suspect was a pinched nerve in my lower back. After 2.5 hrs of pushing, he never went past 0 Station. They used the suction to get him out, but his cone head was sideways.

Post-partum was horrible. The back spasms and sciatica were horrendous. I finally saw a PT and pain management Dr, & I had a pelvic upslip of 1/2 inch. I received 2 SI injections for the pain. I've went to PT off/on for the last 3.5 yrs. I was told the ligmaent in my left hip are shot, & if I had mroe kids, we would start over with the same problems. No more kids for us. I'm barely living with the chronic knee problems & just had a horrible Autumn with 2 meniscal tears (for no reason) & a bursectomy thanks to a bursa that sort of blew on its own.

I'm looking into seeing a rheumatologist after the new year to check into HMS or EDS.

[franny]

Again I know this post is a late reply but thought I'd put my story forward.

I have a 2 year old daughter. I felt generally healthy during my pregnancy however I did have PRGP - Pregnancy related girdle pain (i think this what is now referred to as). This was uncomfortable to say the least however I was referred to a brilliant physio and my the hospital (Queens Medical Centre - Nottingham) ran an exercise class that I attended weekly. I also wore a supportive girdle to hold my hips in place. I found keeping active really helped me, I was in pain but sitting around was actually more painful and my physio advised that light and regular exercise was the best course of action. I did have some problems with the birth, I was induced and baby had to be turned with forceps and delivered by vontoose however I think this was due to her size (9lbs 10) rather than anything else.
The worst problems I experienced were a few weeks after I had my baby, I had terrible pain and instability in my knees (one of my real problem areas). I was told that this was due to the hormones released after pregnancy however this too did pass.
The most difficult outcome of having a child with HMS is that I have unfortunately passed it onto my daughter which means she is not yet walking and has had early physio intervention. However I wouldn't change having her for the world and with her very early intervention hpeully her condition will be managed better than mine has been.

I hope this helps anyone who needed more infor about hypermobility and pregnancy

xFx

[MandyF]

Hi Franny, I am new to the site and have just added my own post about my 4 year old daughter who is also hypermobile. I did not know that it was genetic prior to getting pregnant and she wasnt diagnosed until she started physio at 9 months old for treatment for weak muscles in her neck. She was last week diagnosed with a patellar subluxation. This has taken over 18months to be diagnosed and was picked up on some bone x-rays taken in July 2012. Despite the risks for future children we were depserate to give our DD a brother or sister so took the decision to try again this year. Sadly in March I suffered a miscarriage and have since become pregnant again. I had a threatened miscarriage at 7 weeks and so far since then things have settled down. My 12 week scan is next week so very nervous about the outcome. I think the risk of having a hypermobile child is far outweighed by the delight that child brings. Despite my DD's problems she is a happy, bright and adventurous child - who just falls a bit more than normal. The Patellar issue is not caused by her hypermobility but obviously is not helped by it either. All we can do as parents is make sure she is as strong as possible and encourage her to stay active. If she does this there is no reason why she cannot live as normal a life as any other non-hypermobile child.