Joint hypermobility disorders :

Hypermobility and pregnancy - - Posted by Liz (Liz), 13 May 2003

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
Posted by SL99 (SL99), 14 May 2003

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: www.ehlers-danlos.org you might also find this link helpful. 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
Posted by Shazinoz (Shazinoz), 14 May 2003

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
Posted by Liz (Liz), 14 May 2003

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
Posted by Pirate (pirate), 15 May 2003

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.
Posted by Pirate (pirate), 18 December 2004

Liz,

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

This old Forum was so valuable that we have kept it as an archive. It is just for reference. If you want to ask questions or offer advice, there is also a current Bulletin Board which you can access from our home page.