Scoliosis/Pregnancy/ Herring rods placed in spine/Birth

Guest · Guest

I am looking for information on pregnancy after scolosis surgery with herrying rods placed in the spine. Any information or websites to inform me of what to expect on a delivery of a baby after such a surgery has been done. I have not seen any documentary on such a subject.
What is done for childbirth and delivery with the herring rods in a spine? It seems that this would be difficult with a epidural.
Thank you for any information you can supply me with.

Guest · Guest

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I had surgery for scoliosis and have the herring rods as well. I had the surgery in 2000 at the age of 23 and I had my first child in 2003. With my first child, I had a c-section and was put under with anesthesia because the doctor was not confident in performing the epidural and warned of leaking spinal fluid which causes a severe headache and requires surgery to correct! With my second child and a different anesthesiologist, I received the epidural with no problem (again, I had another c-section) and was able to be awake for the birth.

Upon having the spinal surgery, I asked my surgeon about childbirth and he said many women go on to have normal births. My c-sections did not have anything to do with the spinal fusion. Just thought that I would share my experience! Wink

guest6 · Newbie Joined: 20 Jan 2007 Posts: 1

I also had scoliosis surgery, and was wondering this myself. I am not successful at finding out more info on this myself. Any info would be a great help.

Guest · Guest

i had scoliosis surgery back in '98 and had my first child in '05. i was not able to get an epidural but they did give me a spinal (after a few tries they got it in the right spot...ekk!). due to my baby being posterior i winded up having to get a c-section in the end. after i had my son, my hips are now way out of wack again, but other than that no issues. hopes this helps a little. good luck!

Laura510 · Newbie Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 1

I had my first herrington rods "installed" in '90 and then they had to remove those and replace them with longer ones in '95. I too have found very little information on the web regarding pregnancy and childbirth after a spinal fusion from scoliosis. But I am currently pregnant with my first child and am scheduled for a c-section in 17 days! The anethesiologist would have considered trying an epidual or spinal tap, however my fusion is too low (L4), so I will be getting general anethesia for the delivery. It's not "ideal" but I think it's the safest and really only option for someone like me.
I have had an amazingly smooth pregnancy. I found that at around 6 or 7 months as the baby got bigger, she was getting shoved into my ribcage. Which is normal, but extra painful for someone with a twisted ribcage from scoliosis. I treated this with heating pads and rest. But as soon as she dropped head down, this pain went away. I would encourage any scoliosis patient to pursue pregnancy if they so desire. I was afraid at first due to the lack of information available, but I ended up having a wonderful experience (so far) Wink

Good luck!!

n3fox · Newbie Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 6

I had a rod placed in my back 13 years ago. I asked my gynocologist if I would be able to give birth normally and she said that I would. Also, my pain specialist is treating me with epidurals for my back pain. I have not found any information on the internet about this topic either. I would trust your gyno. or family doctor for this matter.

Guest · Guest

i had herrington rods put in for scoliosis surgery when i was 17. i was told that i could have an epidural, but when i got to the hospital the epidural lady came in when i was moments away from giving birth and told me i was unable to have one because of the rods in my back. i was told there was very hihg risk of infection. but luckily, my son came out a few moments later. so far, i have not had any other issues with my back since giving birth.

Guest · Guest

I was concerned about this too, because I've had spinal surgey since i was 13 and now I am 21. I was concerned because I might be pregnant and having these rods in my back I thought would be a problem. But I'm glad all of you had great outcomes, thanks for the inputs Very Happy

Guest · Guest

I also had a harrington rod put in my spine for scoliosis back in 2002 at the age of 18, now im 23 and 2 months pregnant. To be honest, Id rather have the C section instead of birth!!
Sounds a little better when you have a metal rod in your spine.
Does anyone know or experienced back ache in pregnancy with scoloisis

Guest · Guest

I had a spinal fusion in 1994 from T2 all the way down to L3. I am not pregnant and had my rods removed, but have heard tht i will not be able to deliver naturally due to pain and the doctor not being able to give me an epidural. If anyone is in my same situation, please repsond and let me know what you did when you were pregnant. I want to be as educated as possible on this before I even get pregnant.[/b]

Scoliosis/Pregnancy/ Herring rods placed in spine/Birth

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