Can A Woman Give Birth Vaginally After Coccygectomy?
- Giving birth to vaginally can cause or worsen coccyx pain (tailbone pain, coccydynia).
- During childbirth for a vaginal delivery, the baby passes through the birth canal, which can cause pressure and trauma onto the coccyx.
Recently I was asked whether giving birth to vaginally would be likely to worsen the tailbone pain in a woman who had previously undergone coccygectomy (surgical amputation or removal of the coccyx, tailbone)
- Theoretically, if a person’s coccyx was removed, it is therefore “out of the way” and no longer obstruct the birth canal.
- Still, most people have some degree of ongoing discomfort/pain in the coccyx area even after coccygectomy. So there is a risk that pregnancy and especially giving birth can make the pain even worse.
- Certainly no one can guarantee whether a vaginal delivery will or will not flare-up a given individual’s pain, even after coccygectomy.
- I do not know of any published study showing how patients do with giving birth vaginally after coccygectomy, so there is not really any substantial research-based data upon which a given person can make their decision.
- So some of the decision comes down to what makes the most sense for a given woman.
- For my own patients, if someone had a coccygectomy and is now considering giving birth vaginally, I generally use their current level of coccyx pain as a ballpark indicator of how much risk there would be for the vaginal delivery flaring up the pain in that area.
- (If the pain in the coccygectomy area is already pretty bad, then most likely the labor/delivery will make it even worse, in which case it may make sense to consider delivering via C-section [cesarean section]. Alternatively, if the patient had an excellent outcome after coccygectomy and has had multiple years with little or no pain in that area, then they probably have a significantly better chance of delivering vaginally without a substantial flareup, although of course there are no guarantees.)
- There is no one “right” answer that will work for *all* patients.
- Each patient needs to discuss the options with their in-person treating physicians.
GET THE BOOK: To get your copy of the book “Tailbone Pain Relief Now!” go to: www.TailboneBook.com or go to Amazon.
COME FOR RELIEF: For more information on coccyx pain, or to be evaluated in-person at Dr. Foye’s Tailbone Pain Center in the United States, go to: www.TailboneDoctor.com
– Patrick Foye, M.D., Director of the Coccyx Pain Center, New Jersey, United States.

Latest posts by Patrick Foye, M.D. (see all)
- Rowing Machines Cause Coccyx Pain (Tailbone Pain) - December 24, 2024
- Tailbone Pain Awareness Day: November 13, 2024 - November 11, 2024
- Before coccyx mobilization (manipulation), FIRST DIAGNOSE the CAUSE of tailbone pain - July 30, 2024