C-Section East Surrey Hospital

[C305]

Hi😊

I was just wondering if anyone has any experience of a maternal request c-section at East Surrey Hospital?

I'm currently 29 weeks & have an appointment at the 'birth choices' clinic next week and just wanted to know what to expect and if anyone has any advice or experience.

Requesting a c-section isn't a decision that I've come to lightly and have done extensive research into all the pros & cons etc.

Rather than one over arching reason, it's more of a combination of a lot of different things which include:
-I've had a terrible pregnancy & have suffered badly with HG (been signed off work from week 5 to 21 and then again from week 26 until now, including 2 visits to a&e)
-Due to a variety of 'risk factors' on my notes, I'm statistically more likely (and pretty highly likely!) to require an emergency c-section and know that emergency ones carry more risks than planned, so would rather just be able to plan for it initially rather than have to have this in an emergency situation... I also worry about my actual physical ability to go through labour whilst suffering with HG, as I can barely get out of bed or climb the stairs at the moment!
-I suffer from GAD and worked really hard to come off my medication for this once I found out I was pregnant and so along with having had a traumatic pregnancy, my anxiety levels are really high (to be clear though, not about having a vaginal birth, but about something going wrong with a vaginal birth and then needing emergency intervention)
-I suffered from vestibular vulvovaginitis for about 4 years prior to getting pregnant, which also adds to my anxiety about added complications with a vaginal birth (without going into too much grisly detail, if I can get a tampon in, I don't see how I'm going to get a baby out!😂)

Sorry for the long post, just thought it'd be best to include as much info as possible!

Thanks😊

[Weathergirl1]

Can't help with experience if that hospital (or requesting one anywhere) but just wanted to say that you don't need to justify your decision to anyone on here (although it does sound like you have very much weighed everything up!).

Have you read a copy of the NICE guidelines so that you can show them that you know what is recommended & that maternal choice is a valid reason?

Good luck OP!

[C305]

Thanks so much for your reply @Weathergirl1 :) I think I'm just expecting it to be a battle because of the amount of stories there seems to be about people having to make a massive fuss! I'll definitely go armed with the NICE guidelines & you're right, maternal choice should be reason enough really, fingers crossed! 🤞🏽

[MrsCatKins]

@C305 how did the appointment go? I am giving birth at East Surrey. I'm due 7th Sept and waiting for a date to come through now for my Csection. I've been told mine will be in my 39th week! Who is your obstetrician? Have they given you a date yet?

[C305]

@MrsCatKins ah thanks for the reply! The appointment went ok (I mean as far as me having an embarrassing panic attack and not realising that the obstetrician was trying to word things so it would all go through no problems😂🤦🏽‍♀️), they didn't seem to be too bothered about my actual reasons, more about the ones that would meet criteria so to speak, even if those ones were quite low down on my list, if that makes sense!

Annoyingly, I ended up having to go to Crawley hosp to see an obstetrician because there were no appointments left at East Surrey at all until September (which would have been far too late!)

I've got my second appointment with him on the 16th Aug to get everything signed off for the c section but I've been told the same as you, date should come through around 36 weeks and will be at some point during the 39th week (I'm currently 32 weeks & still held up in bed, just can't wait for this baby to be out!🥴)... I'm not due until the 24th Sept though so a couple of weeks behind you! Though I'm really paranoid about going into early labour because baby's currently measuring over so I'm panicking about not getting a date or anything (and just being generally irrational!)

I'm assuming/hoping that the section will be at east Surrey though because I'm literally 10 mins away from there and a lot further from Crawley so it would be a bit of an annoyance (without sounding like a diva!).

Have you got a date through or any more info yet? It's really hard to try and find anything out from anyone at the hospital & it just feels like if you're not going for a 'natural' birth, there's not really any info at all, which is so daft given that over 1/4 of babies born at ES are c section?! Anyway sorry for the essay! Hope your last few weeks aren't dragging too much!

[JenH121]

Hi Ladies!

Congrats on your babies - I hope you're all doing well and keeping safe during this crazy time!

I was wondering if I could ask a bit of advice - I'm currently 25 weeks pregnant and have, so far, had a pretty terrible experience with East Surrey. We're now looking into having an elective c-section just to try and control it as much as possible and limit how much more can go wrong.

I'm going to raise it at my next midwife/consultant appointment, but I wanted to see how your elective c-sections went and what sorts of criteria you needed to meet for them to agree to the c-section?

Thank you so much for your help,

Jx

[Bulldog1429]

@JenH121 can I ask what’s gone bad for you at East Surrey?
I’m also going to ES and and am expecting twins so will go down the elective c section route if possible. But concerned about your post as my interactions have all been positive

[SomeBunny]

I had my baby at East Surrey 7 months ago. Sorry to hear you’ve had bad experiences Jen. Most of my prenatal stuff was handled In a smaller, local hospital, but I just wanted to drop by in case I can provide a little reassurance. The care I received in induction, labour and during my eventual EMCS was excellent. My antenatal experience wasn’t so great, but that was more to do with the inconsiderate patients in the bay around me and the lack of availability amenity rooms. I hope you’re all able to have the birth experience you’re most comfortable with.