No available slots for elective c section

2 things. You could be very local to my unit and in my unit, the lowest risk electives are sometimes having their sections as emergencies In labour (if they don't have a VB first) because we don't have room to book them in for their own slot.

Hi I appreciate you might not see this in time but I’m in the same position as you were.
I currently 37 weeks and they said they’re all booked up the week I’m due (08/10) but I’m on the list and will be called if a slot becomes available and if it doesn’t and he happens to make an appearance before then I should go in and they will do it that day (at the end of the day).

Did your situation change, did you get a date? If you didn’t, how did it all go? I’m anxious because my husband is actually working 2 hours away and I really need a bit of notice to make sure he gets here.

Any advice welcome.

If your aim of to avoid induction then surely going into labour yourself would be a good thing?

Sections are usually booked at 36 weeks in most trusts by the consultant, it sounds like you've just been unlucky that all the slots have already been taken by high risk women who needed them and therefore were booked in early.

An elective that takes place before its planned date is counted as an emergency. Granted it’s very different in practice, but they still categorise it as an emergency.

I was booked in for an elective at week 39. My waters broke at week 38 and I had the c section on the same day. It was deemed an emergency c section even though I didn’t even have any contractions.

In my area, a woman can call gynae admissions from 33 weeks to arrange their elective section, providing they've had their birth choices appointment with the consultant already, which is what I did.

I opted for mine to be at 40 weeks exactly and then was called to ask if I'd be willing to swap to 39+6, which for personal reasons I refused. It didn't matter anyway as labour came on at 38+3 and being my second, baby was ready to come out in under 3 hours. I still opted for a c section.

So yes, things can and do change by the hour!

In my area women can't book themselves in for a C-section, I wasn't aware that was a thing. The only people I've know who've had a C-section booked well in advance are those where there was a medical reason that the pregnancy couldn't continue beyond a certain point. Everyone else had a C-section at 39 weeks approx, with the exact date only confirmed relatively late on. I presume C-sections for medical need would always take priority but I don't know?

It sounds as though in your case you started as elective but the consultant decided that you should not go beyond 40 weeks so you were rightly given priority over other cases on the day.

Just remember an emergency will always take priority over an elective cesarean. There are finite surgeons /anaesthetists, theatre hours. You could end up giving birth naturally. Be prepared for that possibility.

Are there any other hospitals near by? having your baby at a different hospital might be an option?

Even if you have a slot it can be changed last minute. It’s hard but just go with the flow. You’ll get your section.

I didn't get a slot until a few days before. It was all full up but they had to do it as they didn't want me to go over 40 weeks. So if someone didn't cancel they would have, had to bump someone and give me their slot. They seemed quite casual about it so I didn't worry.

Bear in mind that even if you book a date, if an emergency comes in, or someone booked for a later date gets to need an earlier slot , then then you could get bumped. This happened to a friend. She was at hospital waiting to go to theatre but was informed there had been two higher priority cases come in so she would have to go home and they would try to fit her in the next day. Son born late the following day after a bit more waiting about.

Same thing happened to me. My waters broke 10 days before my planned ELCS date so I rocked up to the delivery suite. They asked if I still wanted a section which I did so monitored me overnight to make sure nothing more labour-y happened and I was first on the list the next morning. I presume that my planned slot was given to someone else.

emergencies are emergencies- electives are very different. Obstetrician and theatre time are very limited.

Well anyway, will just leave it at hope you get your a date soon and everything goes a lot more smoothly from now on for you

I was booked for an planned c-section with my twins, after I had an emergency one with my first dd.

They had other ideas and came early so I ended up with a second emergency c-section... so slots can get freed up as babies frequently ignore schedules!

I can see what has happened, I assume your trust is one where they tend to need to book women in before 36 weeks due to how busy they get. However when they made your next consultant appointment not until 36 weeks they didn’t know you wanted a caesarean. When you mentioned to your community midwife about a caesarean she wouldn’t have thought a consultant referral necessary as you had already seen the consultant plus had another appointment at 36 weeks (which is when caesarean bookings are done in most hospitals) she doesn’t work in that department so wouldn’t necessarily know that they tend to be done earlier there or even know that you hadn’t already discussed it with the consultant unless you explicitly said you hadn’t had any contact with them since you decided on a Caesarean. For yourself, again, you knew you had a consultant appointment at 36 weeks and assumed could discuss it and get it booked then. It’s no one’s fault really, they’ll always be women who end up having to have them booked in a bit later, breech, growth problems detected late on etc, they’ll either do it when you go into labour or find a slot before then for you

They’ll be cancellations so it’s likely you’ll be given a date, but there will also be emergencies which are higher priority than an elective c section. Have you asked what happens if there are no slots available and you go into labour? Would you need to give birth naturally instead?

Patients don’t book in c sections so nothing has gone wrong. I’ve had two planned c sections in two different trusts and for both of them, the consultant is the one who books you in and does it at the 36 week appointment. As it happens, both times it was booked much sooner as I asked for a date and they were happy to book it in because I needed a c section for medical reasons.

But there is no expectation on the patient to book it. That’s the doctor’s / hospital’s job.

If you do need a c section and don’t have a date in week 39, they’ll usually give a date for week 40. If you go into labour before your date, you simply call in and they’ll put you in the urgent but not emergency category. My waters broke at week 38, even though I had a c section booked for week 39, and I had the op that day. Which then meant my slot that was booked became free. So, I wouldn’t worry about not having a date at week 39 - it will happen in one way or another.

Completely agree with women being expected to ‘book’ in themselves being very irregular, the usual process is woman attends booking appointment 8-10 weeks with community midwife who then sends off referral to consultant obstetrician (unless absolutely no risks factors or request for caesarean and so can be booked under midwife led care, minority of women these days) A first appointment is then made by the hospital for woman to see consultant at some stage of pregnancy, if caesarean is clearly on the cards (e.g previous CS) then consultant will bring up subject at that first appointment or if women just wishes a caesarean without recommendation then would assume the woman would bring this up at this appointment. The consultant then makes a plan e.g see 4 weekly or maybe if only risk factor is previous CS they may make a plan for next appointment to be at 34-36 weeks to finalise/do consents for caesarean booking. Woman asking to book a slot for their caesareans is not usual practice. As for the process and updating, that wouldn’t usually have anything to do with the community midwife, she doesn’t have anything to do with that process beyond the initial referral at booking or new referral if she picks up complications in pregnancy or a new request from a woman for a caesarean. It would be either the consultant team/hospital antenatal clinic team would say speak to about that.