I had a positive emergency c section. AMA

[strawberryiceecream]

My baby is now 6 months old, i had to have an emergency c section at 35 weeks. I did not have a birth plan and had no idea what to expect but my biggest fear was a c section - never been in hospital ever!. I was absolutely terrified but it turned out to be a great experience (obviously aside from the fact it was a CAT1 c section)

this is for any ladies who are thinking of having a c section, or anyone who is just curious about it?

if I was to have another baby I would go elective c section everytime now
:)

I’m glad you had a positive experience but my emergency c-section was horrific. To me, it was a means to an end, as we’d both have died if I hadn’t had one. I would never choose to have one and would never recommend one to anyone either.

I’m sorry you had such a bad experience. But this is why I’ve done this because personally I would recommend a c section if anyone is thinking about it, but everyone has their different opinions and experiences

What were the events leading up to the c-section?

I think the rise of the elective c-section is because the outcomes (and trauma…!) for mothers is so much less than the unknown (and often chaos) of a vaginal birth.

i was watching call the midwife (typical) and I sat down on my sofa at 6.30pm after going to the toilet and my waters just went POP and went everywhere! Rang my mum and husband who was 5 mins away. Went straight down to hospital and they took me up to the ward, and had me on the monitor for about 2 hours? His heart rate was very up and down, they had me on antibiotics incase of sepsis. His heart rate plummeted, they pulled the emergency cord and a lot of people rushed in and took me down to theatre. They warned me that I might have to be put under but I was awake, my son was out within 20 minutes of the cord being pulled. It was scary but my experience in the theatre was great, very calm considering it was an emergency and everyone was very chatty and kept me calm! I also had a very easy recovery which again I know isn’t the case for everyone

I also had a very positive 'emergency' c section, but I put that in quotes as it was literally 8 hours before a planned one, as I'd gone into labour, but it was so relaxed it didn't feel much different from my first elective c section. I have a hip joint problem and was advised to have sections because a standard delivery may have worked, or may have caused my hip to dislocate, so we decided best not to take that chance!

I had one emergency C-section (following induction at 40+12), and one elective C-section (at 40+4). The emergency was a much better experience, hands down.

I had 2 emergency c sections 1 planned.
First pre eclamcia at 35 weeks. Second pre eclamcia twins 34 weeks
3rd planned 39 weeks.
All very calm and good experience.

Agree, I had an objectively tricky birth but an overall extremely positive experience. I had a category 1 section at 4am for fetal distress at 34 weeks.

It was busy, but the team were calm, clear and it was clear I was in safe hands. My baby was very ill when he was born (needed to be on a ventilator) and it is clear without the efforts of the team he may well have not survived.

My recovery was very straightforward. I was up and walking about three hours after the end of my section to go to the NICU, I found getting moving was the most valuable way of staying comfortable. I alternated paracetamol and ibuprofen and that was more than enough. I was largely pain free by about 72 hours post op.

He's five weeks old now and I went for my first run after having him yesterday and had absolutely no pain.

I thought that after my C-section but ended up having a v-bac next time and the physical recovery was much much better, just something to think about if you do have another one. I didn't think the recovery was too bad after my C-section but it was definitely less long term damage after the v-bac. I was up and about the next day after my emergency section and felt really positive about it but 13 years on and my lower abdomen is still weirdly numb but painful if touched, and my abdomen is lumpy under the skin with scar tissue. I also lost some bladder sensation which has led to long standing problems for me. Whereas after the v-bac I could barely walk for 2 weeks and was in agony but healed really well with no long term damage. I'm glad you feel positive about your birth experience though, my emergency section was really traumatic and so was my v-bac, I wouldn't recommend either route.