Considering maternal request c section for large baby

I'm 5'7" both my babies were over 9lb and absolutely fine deliveries, one with epidural one with just Gas & air. I think the recent trend of estimating babies weights is making people choose CS they don't need!

Either that or the baby is truly big and a c-section is definitely advised at this point.

The OP was pregnant in July 23 so I am hazarding a guess that the situation has moved on and the baby has arrived by now....

Your body, your choice, so it's about what you feel best with.

I do know plenty of women who have delivered babies over 9 lb, including very small women, mostly at home, without problem. The position of the baby and position of birthing can be more important than the size.

There was recently a big baby study, less than 50% of the women whose scans predicted a big baby actually had a big baby. They are wildly innacurate so I would be wary of undergoing major abdominal surgery based on a growth scan.

9lbs 5 baby here and I’m 5’5. Straightforward VB following induction for going overdue. No damage to me. I did need a few stitches 5but everything healed up quickly and no ongoing issues whatsoever. Big babies don’t always mean difficult births.

Absolutely this. My youngest was VB 11lb 8!

OP do what is right by you but remember the people who suffer the most trauma understandably and the people who talk about it most. There are plenty of positive large baby birth stories as well as the growth scans being off stories. All that matters is what you want to do.

I was all up for letting my body do the 'natural thing'. Uncomplicated pregnancy no additional risks. Waters eventually broke at 41+ weeks, contractions started and then no progress no matter how much I've tried to walk or bounce on the birth ball. So I disagree with the whole 'let the body do it's thing and don't intervene'. I still ended up getting an induction to speed up contractions. I was getting exhausted, baby was getting distressed and it was a very unpleasant experience. Baby eventually came out, but it was assisted delivery. I ended up hemorrhaging badly and suffered with post natal depression. I thought by waiting for a spontaneous labour, I was giving myself and baby the best chance of a positive birth experience. However, if I could go back in time, I would probably not wait this long and would have booked an induction or C-section earlier. I know everyone's experience is different and some natural births go well, but unfortunately this was not my experience. For this reason, I'm thinking a planned C-section is th safer option.

I was told my baby was 9lb at 38 weeks. I was encouraged to go for induction which I went for. Everything they said could go wrong, did go wrong and I was left with quite a bit of trauma e.g. baby stuck, forceps, tear, haemorrhage. I'm also 5 foot 7 and baby was born weighing 8lb 13oz so was close to their predictions.

I'm currently pregnant with my second and they also think this will be a big baby. I'm 100% opting for a ELCS this time round.

Please try and drop the guilt. Women and babies used to die fairly often in childbirth- the reason this is now so very incredibly rare is because we have so many more interventions that can be performed if necessary.

I'm going for an ELCS for my third next month.

Second delivery was my 9lbs 8oz daughter, shoulder dystocia, massive haemorrhage as a result, blood transfusion, also ended up with sepsis.

There is no way I want to repeat that experience - it was ten years ago and I have only lately been able to face down the PTSD (diagnosed) to have another.

The thing with a vaginal delivery is that it is less predictable. All might go smoothly... or it might not. There are risks to ELCS too but they seem to be more predictable/manageable.

My bigger baby was easier than my smaller baby (they were both over 9lb) I'm 5ft 8

There is absolutely no shame in having a c section. I elected to have one as soon as I fell pregnant, got it booked in, hey presto. My main reasons were to avoid inductions, long labour, instruments, birth trauma etc.

It was all wonderfully easy, and I have no regrets whatsoever. I had no medical need, and the baby wasn’t particularly big. I don’t feel an ounce of shame or embarrassment. After your baby is here safely, you will simply be thankful - whatever the mode of delivery.

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide to do.

Have the section, if for no other reason than it sounds like you want it.

Mine were 9lb 7 and 9lb 12, both weights in line with scans.

On the first I was offered induction or section at a week over. I opted for the induction but it didn't work, one midwife thought because of the size of her head. I had the world's calmest EMCS the next morning, breastfed in recovery, easy physical recovery for me.

The second I was going to have by ELCS anyway but in the end she was transverse so it had to be anyway. There were a few complications because of her size and position, she needed a bit of help when born, I lost a lot of blood. But again, breastfed in recovery and had an easy physical recovery myself.

I've never had any hint of judgement from anyone, I suspect the stigma tends to be something we've internalised rather than being a real thing. And when I've mentioned the babies' weights I've been met with outright relief when I say they were sections rather than natural deliveries.

I had a similar dilemma with my second DC. Predicted to be big. Consultant recommended ELCS, especially as DC1 got stuck (following induction) resulting in an EMCS. Spoke to postnatal physio team and they also recommended a section. Midwives generally more in favour of VB.

In the end, I booked a section for when the baby was expected to hit 4kg (definition of a big baby at my hospital). I had a good c section experience first time around and wasnt worried from a recovery perspective. If I went into labour earlier and baby was in a good position, thought I'd give a VB a go.

I knew it was irrational but I felt really guilty about booking a section. Partly societal expectations (in my head, i felt so awkward saying I had a section booked, felt like i needed a "good" reason) and guilt about not being able to pick up/play with DC1 afterwards. For some reason, it helped knowing that the Queen had a section with Charles😂

There's no right or wrong. For me, I had to make peace with either option. If it was a section, I'd never know whether I could have had a good VB but likewise, I'd never know if I'd have had to have an instrumental delivery etc.

In the end, baby had other ideas and arrived very quickly via VB. There was no time to even consider a section. His weight was slightly above growth scan prediction but below 4kg. Minor tearing but overall positive experience.

Mine was 9lbs10oz, I had an elective section at 41w

No regrets. I made the decision after looking at the stats for likely VBAC (I had a section for my first as breech)

Recovery great, undercarriage intact. Overhang belly but I don’t mind that. Worth looking into inoculating baby’s skin with vaginal secretions though - I did this as a precaution (I know it sounds gross, sorry).

There are women who have babies with large heads naturally though (I did, twice - and I’m a size 8 so not big!)

Birth is really unpredictable and you can’t always tell in advance who will have a straightforward birth and who won’t.

My neighbour chose to have ELCS as our local hospital releases stats of their births. In 1 year, 37.8% has EMCS, ventouse or forceps, so not including any unreported birth injuries such as tearing of any grade, incontinence, prolapse etc.

This is also considering that pain relief such as epidural is not guaranteed due to lack of staff. I literally don’t blame anyone who chooses ELCS.

Oh and from a position of vanity I have a c section belly I cannot shift, but obviously that isn't the priority!

With my vb I had only grade 1 tear / grazes despite shoulder dystocia and macroberts manoeuvre. I did pregnancy yoga and used an epino though I don't know if that helped or it was just dumb luck. I refused painkillers after birth and the mw didn't believe me 😄

My CS had a lot of pain and could not walk a few days after. I also found sex painful for a good few months afterwards whereas with dc1 I was fine a few weeks later.

However, this is not the case for a lot of women as I had always heard and believed the same as you, that vb = agony and "frankenfanny". I think I may be an anomaly. But speaking to one other friend who had vb then cs, she felt the same as me. So not unheard of but not necessarily the norm

Don't feel guilt. Then if we can tell you about is recovery. But you can prepare and to be ready to be less mobile for a few weeks after.

I was driving by week 4 post CS but took everything very slowly for the first two weeks to heal.

I had two births. A VB where my baby got stuck and had feeding difficulties after and I had to recover from an episiotomy (they hurt when ever you walk after). He wasn't an easy new born.

My second was an emcs but baby was so happy and healthy after, fed well and was a perfect new born.

Neither might be related to the birth or maybe they were?

I had my children via ELCS, your body, your choice. I wanted to eliminate risks of a VB, recovery was hard and painful esp first 3 days, but after a week each time I was pretty normal and driving again etc. Size guidance from scans isn’t always accurate though so if that’s your only driver for ELCS you may want to give it more thought…

My first baby was 7lb 2oz and got stuck because of malpositioning. He was ventouse delivery.

My second and third were 8lb 12 and 9lb2oz, natural VB and I did have minor stitches but many, many people have 8 and 9 lb babies without massive complications. These are not 12lb enormous babies! I wonder why that doctor said what he did.

*immediately after

Although I think immediafter should be a word 😌

Have the CS if that's what you want. You don't need a medical reason at all. You do not have to do vb if you don't want to. Some people genuinely prefer vb and would do anything to avoid CS, but that's not you (or me!) and there is nothing to feel guilty about.

Fwiw, I've had a vb and a CS. The vb was difficult and baby was big-ish (8lbs 1) and did get a bit stuck, had a v low APGAR score immediafter birth. All very stressful, BUT, her and my recovery was great after that.

I thought I was going to have a massive baby with dc2. There is more chance of shoulder dystocia when you've had it with a previous birth, so I went with an elcs. It was really chilled delivery, very little pain or stress, got to pick music to be played when he was born and was just a lovely experience. However recovery for me from my elcs was not good. But we are all here, healthy and in one piece so can't complain. It just was not nice at the time. Also he was only 7lbs so don't know why I kept getting told he was going to be a whopper!