Flexible private consultant at Chelsea & Westminster

EPfds · 2025-05-08T07:24:54+00:00

Hello, I’m pregnant with my third and am trying to find a private consultant at Chelsea and Westminster hospital. I’m considering attempting a VBAC but have some red lines that I would need the delivering consultant to respect in labour - which are: - no IV/cannula unless it’s an emergency, I don’t want to labour with a painful cannula in my hand and never needed them before but was previously forced to have them. - I’d probably still want an epidural, again, without cannula unless it’s absolutely necessary - Absolutely no instrumental delivery or episiotomy, if things don’t work out on their own I want a c section. I have PTSD from previous births because I was never listened to and already lost a child to an extremely premature birth at 24 weeks, as my entire pregnancy and delivery was horribly mismanaged. Subsequent elective c section was better but I again hated having no agency and feeling coerced into multiple unnecessary things, constant takings of blood for unnecessary tests and so on. If anyone can recommend a consultant who believes in maternal agency during birth and would respect the above, I’d be very grateful.

SlicedMelon · 24/08/2025 23:01

A friend of mine also really rated Claire Mellon at Portland. I would also suggest chatting to Con Kelleher at St Thomas who did his MD Thesis on urinary incontinence and quality of life for women and was certainly very supportive of my c section request when labour wasn’t progressing for me (I had similar views to you OP on wanting to tap out of labour early doors if there were any red flags re baby position etc).

Calmbirth · 24/08/2025 14:26

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EarlGreywithLemon · 11/07/2025 09:38

For Chelsea and Westminster, I can vouch for the NICU, which is excellent. It’s level 3, which doesn’t just mean that they can take babies from 22 weeks, but also that they can carry out procedures like ventilation if required.
Our third child, who was born in March, spent two days there with Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn , which is not uncommon for babies born at 38 weeks, as he was. He improved very quickly and we were both home within 48 hours, but initially he came very close to being ventilated after a couple of bad sets of blood gases. We felt in very safe hands, staff were very visibly excellent and very kind and caring, and the unit top notch. I couldn’t rate it more highly.

SatisfiedClient · 11/07/2025 07:00

Also yes, Portland has CTG which can be used underwater.

SatisfiedClient · 11/07/2025 06:59

Portland has NICU facilities and also critical care facilities for mothers. If you need them, the first three days are covered by their self-pay package. They say it is unusual for them to transfer anyone out as an emergency. Definitely talk to them about this if it’s one of your concerns though. They’re obviously not as well-equipped as a large teaching hospital like UCLH down the road which has a Level 3 NICU and can take babies as early as 23 weeks, but then relatively few places are.

I also looked into home birth but am glad I didn’t go that route. If you need to transfer you would be in the NHS and would lose a lot of control. That possibility just wasn’t worth it for me.

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 23:51

MoominUnderWater · 10/07/2025 20:05

They are still a thing but will not normally be allowed to practice in a hospital. So home births only. Obviously that’s an option for the OP as nobody can stop her having a home birth even though as a vbac it would be against advice . And to be honest if she wants to avoid an instrumental it could be a good place to be. Plenty of people have home birth vbac against advice and could use a pool at home but there would be no continuous FH monitoring so she’d need to look into that and the stats regarding it.

OP, there are definitely CTG machines which can be used in pools. Not every hospital has them though. But I was working at a hospital 16 years ago which had them so they’re not a new thing. It might be worth investigating other hospitals locally if this one doesn’t provide them.

Show quote history

I have often fantasised about a home birth, not least because a considerable part of my birth trauma relates to the circumstance that medical staff immediately took my children away from me and I was not allowed any touch, at my first birth for over 48 hours as we were separated on different wards. That I needed to ask permission from strangers to touch and pick up my own babies has really damaged something in me permanently.
At the same time, I’ve ruled home birth out because my biggest fear is that I may lose another child or that the baby is badly injured during the birth. So I’m really safety obsessed now and have very little trust in both my own body and ‘the system’. But yes, instinctively I know that I’d likely have the highest chance of having a smooth delivery if I could labour as if at home. Then again who wouldn’t.

Thanks so much for highlighting the pool friendly CTG, I will ask the midwives and consultants about this.

OP posts:

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 23:31

SatisfiedClient · 10/07/2025 20:49

>> I wonder whether the best approach for you would be to find a doctor with whom you build a relationship over a period of time so that you can develop trust in them; you can ask them to do their best to avoid interventions, but at the end of the day, you can't plan for every situation. <<

I did exactly this OP and it worked out very well. My circumstances were different from yours but I also had PTSD from a previous stillbirth and I wanted to be in the private sector to have that continuity of care and to be able to build up a relationship of trust well in advance. I interviewed six doctors and the one I chose was Claire Mellon. Have a look at her reviews. They are absolutely stellar. She’s at Portland rather than C&W but we’ll worth the trek if you can possibly manage it. I am not local and stayed in a hotel round the corner once I reached term (as many of their clients do).

I’m glad to hear you had a positive experience after such a traumatic previous birth, I’m so sorry.
And thank you for the recommendation, I’ll look into her! Does the Portland still have the problem of lacking facilities in neonatal emergencies or do they have NICU facilities now do you know?

OP posts:

SatisfiedClient · 10/07/2025 20:49

>> I wonder whether the best approach for you would be to find a doctor with whom you build a relationship over a period of time so that you can develop trust in them; you can ask them to do their best to avoid interventions, but at the end of the day, you can't plan for every situation. <<

I did exactly this OP and it worked out very well. My circumstances were different from yours but I also had PTSD from a previous stillbirth and I wanted to be in the private sector to have that continuity of care and to be able to build up a relationship of trust well in advance. I interviewed six doctors and the one I chose was Claire Mellon. Have a look at her reviews. They are absolutely stellar. She’s at Portland rather than C&W but we’ll worth the trek if you can possibly manage it. I am not local and stayed in a hotel round the corner once I reached term (as many of their clients do).

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 20:16

Setyoufree · 10/07/2025 19:52

Are private midwives still a thing or has their profession been killed off now? I think a private midwife would be really helpful here

I think you get a one to one midwife if you book a private delivery. You’ll only meet them on the day though, so no continuity of care or much chance to build up trust sadly. I’d definitely love to be assisted by an open minded but veteran midwife who has a good few tricks from the olden days up her sleeve - minus a mad unsafe fixation with “normal” birth at all costs.

OP posts:

MoominUnderWater · 10/07/2025 20:05

Setyoufree · 10/07/2025 19:52

Are private midwives still a thing or has their profession been killed off now? I think a private midwife would be really helpful here

They are still a thing but will not normally be allowed to practice in a hospital. So home births only. Obviously that’s an option for the OP as nobody can stop her having a home birth even though as a vbac it would be against advice . And to be honest if she wants to avoid an instrumental it could be a good place to be. Plenty of people have home birth vbac against advice and could use a pool at home but there would be no continuous FH monitoring so she’d need to look into that and the stats regarding it.

OP, there are definitely CTG machines which can be used in pools. Not every hospital has them though. But I was working at a hospital 16 years ago which had them so they’re not a new thing. It might be worth investigating other hospitals locally if this one doesn’t provide them.

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 20:00

EarlGreywithLemon · 10/07/2025 19:14

Thank you for the kind words. We are both well thank you, and I have since had two more children by elective C section - both great experiences. I wonder if that might be a good choice for you too given your red lines (which you are more than entitled to have).

I don’t think my delivery was mismanaged. I was given an epidural very very early on, as I requested - at less than 1cm, because I wasn’t coping. I was scanned pretty much as soon as there were indications of issues (which so happened to be very late on, because I went from 1cm to 10cm
in 3-4 hours). I was given the choice of C section and the choice to decline instruments. I chose not to take the C section, because some of the risks of pushing the baby up were simply unacceptable to me. The risk of oxygen deprivation, and brain damage, for example, even if relatively small is a red line for me. That risk is a fact, and I wasn’t lied to about it. I am eternally grateful to the doctors who took me to theatre when they did and got my daughter out before she was affected by the likely placental abruption/ massive haemorrhage.

I do agree that forceps are pretty vicious, and avoided in many countries. The use of ventouse is rising though instead, and that’s pretty brutal too. My tear was the result of ventouse, and a friend of mine also had a 3b tear with successful ventouse (no forceps).

I truly did find my c sections great though. I was NHS, and my first section was done by Melissa Damodaram (I don’t think she does private though), and the second by Tarek Al Shami - both excellent, and I had great recoveries. I was also seen by Mark Johnson and Roshni Patel in my pregnancies, and they were also great and very supportive.

Edited

That’s good to hear, and thanks very much for recommending these doctors, I’ll look into them.

Just to clarify - I’m not saying I think all births ending in instrumental deliveries are mismanaged. I just think births where an emergency arises that leads to frantic attempts to deliver with forceps are often mismanaged.

I can also see why someone would opt to attempt instrumental instead of a section, a section has its own risks. Some doctors are also much better at performing instrumental deliveries than others, some are specialised in complex operative vaginal delivery so that would give me more confidence in the procedure than an unsupervised registrar getting the forceps out at 3am because he wants to go home, which is so often what happens sadly.

OP posts:

Setyoufree · 10/07/2025 19:52

Are private midwives still a thing or has their profession been killed off now? I think a private midwife would be really helpful here

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 19:51

Greybeardy · 10/07/2025 19:28

it's worth reading the whole paper that's quoted above - even a quick skim read suggests some of the reasons that trauma is more common in Canada than in other parts of the world (which is what the gist of the article is, rather than 'all interventional's are bad').

re. 'pushing the baby back up' - it's not done frequently and it's very much worth looking up the risk factors and implications for impacted fetal head (which is frankly one of the most terrifying medical emergencies I've ever seen).

The need for a cannula before a spinal in theatre is independent of the need for a cannula for surgery. A routine part of spinal management is to prevent/manage the predictable sympathetic block (and the funky cardiovascular changes it causes) that you get with a spinal that's high enough to provide anaesthesia for a c-section. The same is true for epidurals although the degree of sympathetic block is usually (but not always) less, but as epidurals are very different techniques to spinals there are some other risks for which an immediate treatment must be available before starting. Siting a cannula in an emergency on labour ward is not always as easy as it sounds, particularly when it's being done in response to cardiovascular collapse, and reacting to a (possibly iatrogenic) emergency rather than anticipating the risk and preventing it would be negligent practice.

the problem with childbirth by any route really is that you really only know it's going to go smoothly after it did go smoothly.

I did read the whole paper. The findings regarding the substantially elevated risks for mother and baby in instrumental deliveries are applying universally, not just to Canada.
the study merely also highlights that Canada has a particularly poor record re injuries in instrumental births.

I’m not sure I understand what you wrote re cannulas. I’m just saying I would refuse a cannula during a VBAC attempt if all else looks normal. That’s surely pretty uncontroversial, even if hospitals prefer to place them on arrival.

OP posts:

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 19:45

re the suggestion of using a pool - my midwife at C&W has sadly said it’s not allowed for a VBAC as the baby needs constant monitoring. I’ve never heard of monitors that can be used in a pool, will ask about that!

OP posts:

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 19:39

@Lavenderandlemons and @MoominUnderWater - I’m aware that many doctors push for an instrumental delivery attempt when the head is low and time is of the essence. But it’s not the case that doing a c section in this scenario is extremely rare. It’s pretty common. Instrumental delivery attempts often fail, and then a section is performed. It’s why many instrumental deliveries happen in theatre.

I know that in the UK in particular, doctors often claim that a forceps delivery is necessary. But if entire countries no longer do them, they’re clearly never necessary. International stats show that in many countries instrumental delivery is v rare, which means in the UK they’re mostly performed for ideological, practical or fiscal reasons. Instrumental deliveries are ultimately always just an attempt to avoid a c section, and I’m fine with a c section. Experienced obstetric doctors will even be familiar with the freak scenario where they have to do a section after the head has been born already and the baby is truly stuck.

It’s pretty common I think that the head is not very well positioned in the birth canal, but if manual manoeuvring or position changes won’t help, I’d just want to skip the instrumental attempts and do a section.

I could of course also just have a planned section from the start. My previous ELCS was fine, and I may also decide to do this again, yes. But I did not enjoy the constant unwelcome interventions and hassling I described in my OP. Unfortunately one is basically a piece of meat during a section and fully at the mercy of a room full of strangers.

Some women do have births without unwelcome intervention, so why not give it a shot is my thinking. I’m pretty open minded re experimenting with midwifery techniques and positions and pain relief etc and I’m not fixated on a particular birth. I just don’t want an instrumental delivery and I think with proper one to one care this can be avoided.

OP posts:

Greybeardy · 10/07/2025 19:28

it's worth reading the whole paper that's quoted above - even a quick skim read suggests some of the reasons that trauma is more common in Canada than in other parts of the world (which is what the gist of the article is, rather than 'all interventional's are bad').

re. 'pushing the baby back up' - it's not done frequently and it's very much worth looking up the risk factors and implications for impacted fetal head (which is frankly one of the most terrifying medical emergencies I've ever seen).

The need for a cannula before a spinal in theatre is independent of the need for a cannula for surgery. A routine part of spinal management is to prevent/manage the predictable sympathetic block (and the funky cardiovascular changes it causes) that you get with a spinal that's high enough to provide anaesthesia for a c-section. The same is true for epidurals although the degree of sympathetic block is usually (but not always) less, but as epidurals are very different techniques to spinals there are some other risks for which an immediate treatment must be available before starting. Siting a cannula in an emergency on labour ward is not always as easy as it sounds, particularly when it's being done in response to cardiovascular collapse, and reacting to a (possibly iatrogenic) emergency rather than anticipating the risk and preventing it would be negligent practice.

the problem with childbirth by any route really is that you really only know it's going to go smoothly after it did go smoothly.

EarlGreywithLemon · 10/07/2025 19:14

Thank you for the kind words. We are both well thank you, and I have since had two more children by elective C section - both great experiences. I wonder if that might be a good choice for you too given your red lines (which you are more than entitled to have).

I don’t think my delivery was mismanaged. I was given an epidural very very early on, as I requested - at less than 1cm, because I wasn’t coping. I was scanned pretty much as soon as there were indications of issues (which so happened to be very late on, because I went from 1cm to 10cm
in 3-4 hours). I was given the choice of C section and the choice to decline instruments. I chose not to take the C section, because some of the risks of pushing the baby up were simply unacceptable to me. The risk of oxygen deprivation, and brain damage, for example, even if relatively small is a red line for me. That risk is a fact, and I wasn’t lied to about it. I am eternally grateful to the doctors who took me to theatre when they did and got my daughter out before she was affected by the likely placental abruption/ massive haemorrhage.

I do agree that forceps are pretty vicious, and avoided in many countries. The use of ventouse is rising though instead, and that’s pretty brutal too. My tear was the result of ventouse, and a friend of mine also had a 3b tear with successful ventouse (no forceps).

I truly did find my c sections great though. I was NHS, and my first section was done by Melissa Damodaram (I don’t think she does private though), and the second by Tarek Al Shami - both excellent, and I had great recoveries. I was also seen by Mark Johnson and Roshni Patel in my pregnancies, and they were also great and very supportive.

MoominUnderWater · 10/07/2025 18:57

would indeed want for the baby to be pushed up the birth canal again instead of instrumental, doctors do this all the time.

they don’t do it all the time at all. Because 99.9% of the time in such a situation they’d do an instrumental. I’ve only seen a baby be pushed back up the birth canal about 2 or 3 times and one of those times the baby died due to a tentorial tear caused by being pushed back up.

if you want to avoid an instrumental vs baby needing to be pushed back up situation I would recommend being as active (and ideally) upright as possible in Labour. Like a previous anaesthetist has said i can’t imagine anyone would site an epidural without a cannula so you’d be best off investigating other methods of pain relief, hypnobirthing, pool birth, etc as well as Tens machine which you’ve mentioned. Pool birth according to the evidence is better pain relief than TENS which I believe the Nice guidelines say is only recommended for latent stage of labour, saying that I’ve seen Tens work for some women for much longer but you obviously can’t use it in the pool. They will want you to be in a ctg but obviously can’t make you, some ctgs are waterproof so could still work in the pool.

Lavenderflower · 10/07/2025 18:41

I am not a doctor, however, I was thinking would a planned elective c-section be less stressful?

Lavenderandlemons · 10/07/2025 18:35

EPfds · 10/07/2025 18:21

I agree that my best bet is definitely to find a doctor I can trust, but I also need one who is onboard philosophocally with certain things that are not up for debate. Nobody can plan a birth ofc, but women do have a choice in certain areas. While it's impossible to rule out c-section without risking calamity, opting to have a caesarian instead of attempting instrumental vag delivery is always a choice - I know that several leading consultants in London are basically completely against forceps deliveries and always want to do c-sections instead. Unfortunately I don't know whether there is one with this mindset at C&W. To answer your Q, I would indeed want for the baby to be pushed up the birth canal again instead of instrumental, doctors do this all the time.

I don't think it's likely at all though that I personally will be in a situation where the baby is very low in the birth canal and intervention is needed - simply because the chances that I'll let labour run for this long before requesting a section is very low. Statistically at my age alone (late 30s) very few women even go into labour naturally it seems - I'd refuse induction also as hormonal drip isn't allowed due to previous c-section and I don't want any manual internal procedures, no sweeps, rods, balloon etc.
In the absence of proper pain relief - I'll probs give tens etc a go but don't think it's likely this will be my rescue - I can't see myself labouring until the end without requesting a section.

I think there's a v v small chance that I'll have a 'fairy tale' delivery that happens on its own in a shortish amount of time - spontaneous onset of labour, perfectly positioned baby, ability to stay mobile, steady progression, no fetal distress, basically no interventions.

Or, in the absence of any of the above, I'll pivot - likely v early - to another planned section. I just don't believe in vaginal birth that is forced. I was hoping to give VBAC a proper shot with an epidural, but if I must have a cannula to have an epidural VBAC is now a remote possibility. I also don't think it would be a problem to fit a cannula spontaneously. Proper emergency sections are nearly always the result of a poorly managed first stage/prolonged second stage in suboptimal circumstances.

The only thing I really worry about is having a section at full dilation - it makes cervical bleeding/injury more likely and increases the risk of future preterm birth. But it's still preferable to me than instrumental delivery, so I just have to accept this risk I guess.

In short - no idea what's going to happen, but I know I won't allow some procedures to be done to me regardless of the circumstances. Not being coerced into anything under false pretenses or dubious clinical practices is basically my primary hope for this birth.

You've done so much research and you are really well versed in lots of statistics and risks versus benefits. But I just felt I couldn't pass by without commenting on your wish to have baby pushed back up the birth canal. Disimpaction is a risky and complicated manoeuvre, and is avoided wherever possible in any scenario I've ever encountered or heard of. Many obstetricians will not perform this willingly. The only scenario you've perhaps not considered is one where labour progresses quickly and everything is well, with the fetal head low in the birth canal, and a sustained fetal bradycardia occurs. Delivery is not imminent, time is not on your side for a c section due to the brady and the only viable option without risking further compromise of the baby is an instrumental delivery. From reading all of your posts and your wishes, which are your every right of course, it sounds like an elective section would suit you best. I think there are too many variables with vaginal delivery to align with your preferences.

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 18:21

I agree that my best bet is definitely to find a doctor I can trust, but I also need one who is onboard philosophocally with certain things that are not up for debate. Nobody can plan a birth ofc, but women do have a choice in certain areas. While it's impossible to rule out c-section without risking calamity, opting to have a caesarian instead of attempting instrumental vag delivery is always a choice - I know that several leading consultants in London are basically completely against forceps deliveries and always want to do c-sections instead. Unfortunately I don't know whether there is one with this mindset at C&W. To answer your Q, I would indeed want for the baby to be pushed up the birth canal again instead of instrumental, doctors do this all the time.

I don't think it's likely at all though that I personally will be in a situation where the baby is very low in the birth canal and intervention is needed - simply because the chances that I'll let labour run for this long before requesting a section is very low. Statistically at my age alone (late 30s) very few women even go into labour naturally it seems - I'd refuse induction also as hormonal drip isn't allowed due to previous c-section and I don't want any manual internal procedures, no sweeps, rods, balloon etc.
In the absence of proper pain relief - I'll probs give tens etc a go but don't think it's likely this will be my rescue - I can't see myself labouring until the end without requesting a section.

I think there's a v v small chance that I'll have a 'fairy tale' delivery that happens on its own in a shortish amount of time - spontaneous onset of labour, perfectly positioned baby, ability to stay mobile, steady progression, no fetal distress, basically no interventions.

Or, in the absence of any of the above, I'll pivot - likely v early - to another planned section. I just don't believe in vaginal birth that is forced. I was hoping to give VBAC a proper shot with an epidural, but if I must have a cannula to have an epidural VBAC is now a remote possibility. I also don't think it would be a problem to fit a cannula spontaneously. Proper emergency sections are nearly always the result of a poorly managed first stage/prolonged second stage in suboptimal circumstances.

The only thing I really worry about is having a section at full dilation - it makes cervical bleeding/injury more likely and increases the risk of future preterm birth. But it's still preferable to me than instrumental delivery, so I just have to accept this risk I guess.

In short - no idea what's going to happen, but I know I won't allow some procedures to be done to me regardless of the circumstances. Not being coerced into anything under false pretenses or dubious clinical practices is basically my primary hope for this birth.

OP posts:

KentishMama · 10/07/2025 17:02

I'm just trying to think through the process here:

You could labour naturally, refusing cannulation and/or epidural. However, if you then have to change approach and switch to C-section, the first thing they'll do is cannulate and get the epidural in. Only it will be a lot harder to do at that stage because it'll probably be an emergency situation that forces you to switch to C-section. As approaches go, this just feels risky.

Also, you need to be aware that there are situations where VBAC progresses to such a point that C-section is no longer an option (i.e. baby is quite far down the birth canal already). Refusing forceps/ventouse at that point is pretty impossible, as there's no real alternative - do you want them to push the baby back up for a section?

I wonder whether the best approach for you would be to find a doctor with whom you build a relationship over a period of time so that you can develop trust in them; you can ask them to do their best to avoid interventions, but at the end of the day, you can't plan for every situation.

You could also consider hiring a doula to act as your advocate while you are in labour. Have you thought about that?

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 15:28

EarlGreywithLemon · 10/07/2025 14:47

That is true, I could have insisted on a section when we found the baby was back to back. I’m sure they would have done it - though I did go to 10cm very quickly and there was no indication that anything was amiss with her position before that.

And yes, of course you can have a section at any stage - the question is, how risky is it for the baby especially (but also for the mother) vs an instrumental delivery. They were prepared to give me the section, and in fact I was fully prepped for it in theatre in case instrumental delivery failed. But they had to explain the risks, and I made my decision based on that.

Incidentally, I originally only consented to ventouse, which failed. I had said absolutely not to forceps, until the doctor said she was pretty confident she could get her out in just one gentle tug- which she did. I was getting very anxious about the baby by that point, and wanted her out ASAP. I then went on to have a suspected placental abruption, so I’m very glad I did make that choice.

Also - ventouse isn’t particularly great. Two people had to hold me back on the operating table while they were trying to pull her out with the ventouse. And the doctor confirmed my 3B tear had already been caused by the ventouse, before the forceps.

Yes, birth is often unpredictable of course as well as poorly monitored and managed, ending up at 10cm without anyone having figured out that the baby is poorly positioned is sadly fairly common I'm sure. I'm going private to have a higher chance of someone actually carrying out these checks in good time, and to check again on my request.

I can see why someone would opt for instrumental in certain circumstances and in sounds like you may have made the right call there - I just personally have decided that I would not. I've come to this conclusion after I I found out that various countries eg Germany have completely abandoned the use of forceps for instance, and after I read multiple studies showing that stats supposedly proving how safe instrumental delivery is often conveniently leave out maternal anal sphincter and prolapse injuries in their morbidity assessments. Maternal trauma is basically disregarded by many doctors who are keen to perform instrumental deliveries.

This study here was very illuminagting as well as shocking: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10585424/
While c-sections are ofc not without risks, it showed that "operative vaginal deliveries are associated with high rates of severe maternal and neonatal trauma", and that especially the risk of neonatal trauma is increased enormously if forceps are used after a failed ventouse attempt. It says: "Adjusted rates of
severe neonatal trauma are fourfold higher for operative vaginal
deliveries than for caesarean deliveries."

They'd never tell you that in the moment, of course! It just appears that ventouse and particularly forceps are significantly less "safe" than they are routinely presented to be.

And especially for people using the NHS - it's been reported again and again over the years that NHS registrar doctors often receive poor training for instrumental deliveries, esp forceps, and are often performing them without adequate experience unsupervised, frequently causing the type of injury you have sustained. All scandalous. I'm glad you and your baby are ok!

OP posts:

Original poster

EPfds · 10/07/2025 15:01

Whiteflowerscreed · 10/07/2025 14:34

Yes! A tens machine helped me get to 9cm without epidural. Really helped.

btw are you okay with cannula in hand for c section? Pretty sure I had to have that for all my c sections

Show quote history

Ah interesting, Tens seems to be a marmite type thing, I've either heard from women who swore on them or from those for whom it did nothing. Worth a shot I suppose!

A cannula is required for any surgery, I'd have to accept that. But for me it's one thing to lie around with a cannula in my hand for one hour or so while under total spinal anaethetic, and quite another to have one in distracting me while I have to endure contraction after contraction and try to concentrate on giving birth. I hated it so much in labour, it just felt counterproductive and intrusive, I'll never do that again.

OP posts:

HoppingPavlova · 10/07/2025 14:48

They can obviously be given ad hoc when required rather than in a blanket approach without indication

The problem is, if there is an untoward issue caused by the epidural, there may be limited time to get one in. That’s why they are standard with epidurals as you need open venous access, otherwise it’s negligent. There are many instances where seconds count, and you can’t waste time stuffing around putting one in once it gets to that. You will be extremely hard pressed to find an anaesthetist who would do this (and frankly I’d be perplexed if anyone agreed and wouldn’t want them treating me!).