celebrities and cesarean

[Lara77]

Most of the websites on the internet and almost everybody I speak to say cesarean is not a good thing unless it is necessary. So why most of the celebrities and rich people prefer cesarean. Are all of them breach c-sections like VB

[amytheearwaxbanisher]

i dont know i always thought cesareans where the easy way to go,especially seeing these too posh too push things in mags untill i had a vb and seen the women who had cc,s in my ward ,they had to stay in for 10 days and seemed so pained and uncomfortable.if you have to have one then thats fine but if there are no medicle grounds definatly wouldnt opt for one personally

[meemar]

I think in the US there is a culture where surgery is widely considered safer than natural childbirth (less potential for litigation), and it would follow that many high profile stars who can afford the best medical care would go down the c-section route. Also, with all the support that money can buy, their recovery will be faster and easier.

As for the UK, I'm not sure how much truth there is in statement 'most celebs and rich people prefer c-sections'. We do hear about the big stars like VB, and phrases like 'too posh to push', but I think a lot of it may be gossip. We don't really know why they've had c-sections.

[inthegutter]

Guess meemar is right - cultural to a large degree. I've noticed from flicking through OK/Hello mags (in the hairdresser I promise - i don't buy them!!)that most celebs tend to have very medicalised births. If not C section then epidural. It always strikes me as very rare that a celeb just has a natural birth. Meemar's right - we don't know exactly why they have the births they do, but it certainly seems that celebs statistically go for the least natural births.

[Prunie]

It's quite common in a lot of places - Brazil, for example.
Childbirth gets a bad press, phrases like 'honeymoon fresh' get bandied about - I can absolutely see why people choose it. We are getting more and more divorced from our 'nature'.

[Camillathechicken]

i am sure a proportion had genuine reasons for c.section. i am sure a propertion chose it to avoid the last bit of weight gain , and to fit into their schedules.

there are a number of slebs who;ve had vaginal births... Mel B, Davina McCall, Jordan ( first baby ) , Kate Winslet had a VBAC, Charlotte Church just had a home water birth with her first.....

prunie is right, in brazil something like 40 % of birth are c.s

[Prunie]

Every Brazilian I've ever spoken to is agog that we even bother to go for vb (they are rich middle class Brazilians though).
(Lulu have you read about that dr who made his students do a rotation with traditional Brazilian midwives? CS rates went way down.)
As fpr American celebs, well, you just have to do a tiny bit of reading about the American system to see how fundamentally different it is to ours, so it doesn't surprise me. I think if I had the choice between a medically managed AMerican-style birth, and an elective cs, I might go for the latter, tbh.

[Camillathechicken]

i hadn't read that, no. in the USA, VBAC is becoming harder and harder to get due to fear of litigation, so if the c.s rate continues to go up, and VBAC goes down, the USA could see a similar c.s rate to brazil.

mind you , in the uk it can be in the high 20 - 30 % in some areas

[ClaphamLauren]

I heard that the majority of stretch marks appear in the last two weeks and that's one of the reasons why they have c-sections at 38weeks.

What concerns me is that every obs consultant I know has also opted for a c section on no medical grounds - I know of at least 7 obs/gynae consults who this has been the case for. Why do they prefer it I wonder?

[Prunie]

It's said that all obs would opt for CS, but no midwife would.
A reflection of their respective places in the birth process? midwives see the normal births and see the joy. I imagine working with tricky births day in day out would leave one quite afraid of the process.

[Prunie]

Also I wonder if it's a status thing?
If you're an obstetrician, and having the baby in the hospital you work in, I wonder if you (subconsciously) want to avoid the midwives seeing you in the throes of giving birth?

[Klaw]

I just wonder if the American system tells mothers about the risks of Caesarean in full?

Most risks with CS, and indeed Vaginal Birth, are small, but every single woman deserves the right to know exactly what the risks are so we can make an informed decision about what is to happen to our bodies and our babies. How many of us are aware of the risk of hysterectomy? I certainly wasn't until it happened to a neighbour just over a year ago.

Perhaps if more celebrities saw Anna Nicole Smith's story about her caesarean (epidural didn't work) they might think a little harder? Yeah, she worked the media to her advantage but it's good that her story is out there, it's hard watching!! Google if you dare. She says she didnt want a CS but took the medical advice to have one on grounds of baby being large. Turned out she was under 7lb sigh

And I'm very pleased to note all the UK celebs having home births, thereby showing such a great example to the rest of the world. How many of them, however, use an Independent Midwife? I've not researched this but I'd be intriqued to know just how many used the NHS system to have their birth, or were they all private with IMs?

[inthegutter]

Claphamlauren - that's true about doctors isnt it? An awfully high % of them seem to have c sections, and of those that haven't, all the ones i know had epidurals. Does seem strange that they opt for the most medicalised types of birth.

[Katsma]

I thought it was because they have a tummy tuck at the same time

[ScaryHairy]

Katsma has a point. A plastic surgeon I saw about a dodgy mole said "it (cs/tummy tuck) does happen. But I can't imagine it is good for anyone".

[expatinscotland]

Oh, yes, I'm always surprised at how many 'surprise' breech position babies there are among these clebs, especially given how most of them are scanned way more than a normal woman.

this is NOT just a US celeb thing to have a csection, either.

[Camillathechicken]

i thought that was an urban myth

i would have thought that the skin is too stretched at the point of delivery to make an accurate cut?

[Camillathechicken]

interesting article here

cindy crawford, demi moore, pamela anderson, nelly furtado all had home births, apparently...

[expatinscotland]

Pamela Anderson is Canadian.

[ScaryHairy]

Camilla - I think that is why he thought it wasn't a good idea!

The "surprise breach" thing is wierd. Am I right in thinking that Angelina Jolie and Gwen Stefani were both caught out by that one?

[Camillathechicken]

well, she still had a home birth

i did not know that was the reason, scary, i thought that slebs did not justify it

i have a friend who had c.s for an undiagnosed breech, with 1 days notice. it does happen. maybe more in sleb land?

[Prunie]

So was a friend of mine the other week (home birth)

[expatinscotland]

yes, and Bridget Monahan.

i think the surprise breech is a red herring, though.

these ladies have LOADS of scans throughout.

then they find out, during labour, of course, it's a surprise breech and that's why they needed the CS.

why not just come out and say you didn't want a vaginal birth?

[Camillathechicken]

i was just thinking that expat... why not just say, i want a c,s for X Y Z reason....

[evenhope]

I had a surprise breech (found out at 38 weeks) despite a large number of scans. At our M&T group out of the 6 of us with babies 5 of us had cs (3 breech)

[expatinscotland]

but these gals, like Bridget Monahan, Angelina Jolie, find out during labour.