I’m absolutely terrified of giving birth

I elected and would do the same again. I was terrified of natural labour which I did go into so ended up as emergency section.

Opt for an elected CS if you can .

I was terrified too. Here's my experiences:

DS1 was a horrendous birth because he got stuck. I had an epidural which can up the risk of the baby getting stuck and sadly I fell on the side of the stats where he did. He ended up a forceps delivery, I suffered a 3rd (nearly 4th) degree tear. Awful awful recovery.

I somehow worked up the courage to have a second. I was adamant that was not happening to me again but the thought of C section recovery was also daunting with a toddler in tow. With the agreement of my consultant I booked a due date C section with instructions that if the baby came beforehand I'd have a low threshold for intervention and emergency C section. DS2 came 3 days early and quickly. There was no time for any pain relief other than gas and air and he was out. Minimal injury (minor tear) and recovery was amazing, I was out of hospital a few hours later. I dropped DS1 at nursery in the morning, gave birth to his brother and could have picked him up again at the end of the day (but I decided I'd give myself the nursey pick up off that day haha)

Two completely different stories of birth there and I'd have never believed I could have had the second story based off of my first one. You never know what is going to happen until you get there.

I do suggest having a think now about the types of thing you would and wouldn't want if you were thinking of a vaginal birth. Pain relief you'd want, intervention if things aren't going smoothly. It is overwhelming when you get there, and you're a little bit preoccupied when you arrive so aren't in the best frame of mind to be making decisions. Whoever will be joining you in the room, make sure they are also informed of what you'd prefer as there were points where I just didn't want to talk anymore and my husband took over because he knew what I wanted.

Whatever you choose, all that matters is that you and your little one are safe and sound at the end of it all. Those first cuddles make it all worth it!

You don’t need to go as far as a C-section (unless medically required). I had an epidural with DS2 and it was great. No pain, but enough feeling that I felt I was giving birth, and I was mentally with it so could really enjoy those first few moments with him. The prejudice against having proper pain relief in childbirth in the U.K. is idiotic - in eg France almost everyone has an epidural. It’s a classic example of women being expected to put up with pain men wouldn’t dream of putting up with - human beings had teeth removed without pain relief for centuries too but today no one would think you were a better person if you said you’d had that done with no pain relief.

DC1 I asked for an epidural but he came so fast there was no time, so I just had the gas and air but that made me really woozy and so my memories of having him are very vague.

I was scared of a c section to begin withbut had to get an induction. The induction was woeful and failed. Ended up having an emergency c section and it was so much better than I expected. I would 100% opt for a planed c section if I have a second x