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a birth question
I'm a 21 f my friend is pregnant and freaking a little she is like 5'0 and 110 she isn't a big person. she has been watching too much tv in my opinion but she keeps thinking that when she has her baby it will get stuck in the birth canal cause she is little. its scareing me a little too since were the same size is this possible please help i want to calm her down and don't know how thanx
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Sounds just like my wife; 20 years old, 4'11" and 106 pounds when she vaginally delivered our 9.3 pound son.
I don't know any details other than that, and that it went as well as expected. No damage to her or anything like that.
Best of luck to her!
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The size of the vagina doesn't really correlate to the size of a person's body in most cases.
I'm 5'11" and a very large woman, being well overweight for the average 24 year old, and my vagina size is actually much smaller than average--to the point that insertable menstrual products (cups, tampons) are too large for my vaginal size. When I have my annual pap smear a "small" or "child-size" speculum can be used just fine (and is MUCH more comfortable for me).
Just the opposite may actually be true for you, your friend, or even someone as small as a midget (don't know if you've EVER seen midget porn but, yes, there are very small people who safely insert very large things into their vaginas without issue). You could end up having a larger-than-average vaginal size and not even be aware of it. Just because you're short and/or thin doesn't mean your vagina is teeny tiny.
Women have been giving birth to healthy babies since forever, even before medical help, including drugs, were invented and popularized. While there are times where things go wrong, there are usually large indicators beforehand that there may be a health concern for vaginal delivery. With educated medical professionals and the great newer abilities of modern medical equipment, problematic deliveries are at an all-time low.
Her doctor will be able to help her when it comes time to give birth. The doctor will estimate the circumference of the infant's head and the natural dilation to the vagina (aka "birth canal") and base the delivery upon those sorts of measurements. Doctors and/or a nurse will keep track of her vaginal dilation to make sure her body is preparing to give birth properly.
It's extremely rare for an infant to get completely stuck within the vagina. The vagina is very stretchy, naturally dilates to accommodate an infant's delivery, and is fairly short and slippery inside. Of course, there are also natural contractions and pushing to aide the movement of the baby out of the uterus and into the world.
If the infant was to pass through the vagina, but is too large for it to naturally accommodate the size, then there could be some minor "tearing" or "ripping" of the flesh. It occasionally happens. The doctors can suture the problem area up almost immediately and it will heal back to be normal again. Just a little extra added soreness while the mother heals. This issue isn't too common any more though, and if there are ANY concerns of ripping/tearing then the doctor will just cut the abdomen and do the full "c-section" to spare the mother the extra discomfort on her vagina (though, I've heard it's much harder to heal properly from a c-section).
When my friend, who is 5'6" and a little chubby, gave birth to her little girl they thought everything would go fine and she would be able to deliver her naturally. The doctor estimated the size of the infant's head and, after some debate, came to my friend and said, "We're going to have to do a cesarean so that the delivery goes well. The baby's head is more than [number] around and the average woman can only pass [number] through safely." The doctor was able to tell this an hour or so before they actually prepared for the birth.
She needs to express her concern to her doctor so that he/she can talk with her about it and help her relax over it. She is really worrying over absolutely nothing.
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