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Hhmmmhh.... Not sure about a broken tailbone. But I have a good friend who previously broke her back and they decided the safest option for her was a scheduled c section. She's a nurse practitioner herself and felt pretty strongly that a vaginal birth would be too risky for her.

@grizz: i know someone who this happened to as well.

Have you been checked for your pelvic/lower back alignment and condition since then?

I broke my tailbone in the past (like, 10+ years ago), and my lowest vertebrae is fused to my tailbone, which causes some spinal and pelvic misalignment, generally. I had a LOT of pain throughout pregnancy (pelvic, lower back and hip) and had to do regular physical therapy, chiropractic work and yoga to try to ease the pain. I've seen several different doctors for the tailbone issue, and none have ever mentioned that being a problem for birth.

I had a scheduled c-section, in part due to small pelvic opening size, so I can't say how it reacted during birth, sorry!

I've broken mine several times (figure skater - apparently not that good at it). Mine's pretty achy regularly. I joke that my butt can predict the weather, because it is especially achy just before it rains. I usually sit forward on my sit bones to avoid leaning on it.

Honestly, labour... not that fun. There was a lot of pressure and bearing down. I didn't notice so much during labour, but after, I couldn't sit down for about three days, because I had to choose to either sit on a very sore tailbone, or lean forward on a 2nd degree tear. Hospital bed was the worst, because the inclined bed pretty much puts all the pressure right on it, so I just avoided that. Don't even have the classic "mom in hospital bed with baby" pose photo because I couldn't sit in it. All our pics are me standing while everyone came in to visit, which was definitely tiring after labour/delivery.

I also had to learn to nurse only side lying, which is challenging with a tiny newborn but doable. I went to a lactation consultant again a few days after we got home to be taught the other positions that I missed out on in the hospital.

I'm not certain whether or not mine was broken as I never had an X-ray, but about 20 years ago I had a very nasty fall from some height onto ice and landed directly on my tailbone. The pain was excruciating and lasted for weeks (gradually lessening in severity but it was awful for a while) and my doctor was pretty sure I fractured it, but said there was really no treatment other than time and rest, so we just let time do its thing. Ever since, it has occasionally bothered me, especially with this, my second pregnancy, but it was a complete non-issue during pregnancy and labour with my first LO. The epidural worked perfectly and it did not impede labour at all. I'm hoping for the same this time - I can let you know in 2.5 months or so!

@Fronkinzankinsbride: I have no experience with the tailbone issue, but in terms of pain tolerance that you mention- I don't feel that your every day pain tolerance is really indicative if your pain tolerance in labor. I can't even get my teeth cleaned without squirming but had a med free delivery. Just totally different types of pain and tolerance. That said, if the tailbone would cause additional pain and the epidural will fix that, sounds good to me.

@Fronkinzankinsbride: lol well tailbone pain is quite literally a pain in the ass but it wouldn't hurt to get things checked out and try some exercises beforehand.