caesarean for back problems- advice?

[nervousmum2be]

Hi, i'm currently 22+2 weeks pg, and have been told that i will have to have a caesarean as at the end of last year i sustained a nasty back injury resulting in an L5-S1 posterior disc prolapse with an S1 nerve root compression.

Has anyone else had any experiences of this? I'm really keen to avoid a GA, but don't know if it's safe for me to have a spinal epidural, given the nature of my back problems. Also, my orthopaedic consultant has said it could be quite dangerous to go into establised labour as it could aggravate everything, so when am i likely to get my c-section?

I'm due to see my orthopaedic consultant next week, and my obstetric consultant in two weeks time. Any advice before then would be much appreciated. Thanks x

[highlander]

the spinal is dependant on the skill of the anaesthetist - your orthopedic surgeon presumably would be able to recommend one. Sound like its safer for you to have a planned CS, as even getting an epidural in coventional labour might be very tricky if the anaesthetist on call isn't very good.