Why vaginal birth?

[SantaSusan]

Inspired by another thread. I'm really interested to understand the reasons for most women opting for a vaginal birth.

Disclaimer: I really, really want this thread to be a nice discussion to share views. I'd hate for this to descend into a judgy or unkind thread! Obviously, however anyone chooses to give birth is their choice alone. And as long as your precious little bundle arrives safely at the end, then who cares how they got there!?

I ended up with an elective. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd have anything but a vaginal birth. However, for reasons I won't go into, it was decided during my pregnancy that a c section would probably be the best option for me. Everyone I spoke to absolutely loved their c section experience, and 99% of the comments online were so positive, so I wasn't worried about it at all once it was decided upon.

I had absolutely no pain during my c section or during recovery. I breastfed right away. I was up and about pretty much immediately. This seems to be the experience of most women who've had elcs. I would have an elective section again and again. If I'm lucky enough to have another baby, it'll be another section.

As such, I often wonder why more women don't choose to have their babies this way. It's so common in other countries. I think there's a lot of misinformation around c sections. The risks are also lumped in with those of emergency c sections, so electives are often painted to be riskler than they actually are.

You often hear people saying it's major abdominal surgery' in quite a judgemental way, which of course it is. But as far as surgical procedures go, it's generally very straightforward and in most cases, is easy to recover from.

I also repeatedly hear that vaginal is best as it's the most natural. But just because something is the 'natural' way to do something, doesn't necessarily mean it's the best. There's lots of things we do now with technology and with medicine that isn't the 'natural' way, and nobody bats an eyelid.

I can't quite put my finger on why I was so opposed to c sections previously. It's like it was subconsciously ingrained in me for no reason other than popular rhetoric. Which is why I'd be interested to hear why others decided a vaginal birth was best for them? Or why others knew they wanted an elcs? Has your subsequent birthing experience changed your minds at all?

I didn’t consider anything other than a vaginal birth because there was no choice. I’m guessing the cost of a c-section is
much higher. As it happened I was induced the first time and ended up with a forceps delivery. Far from pleasant and really fucked up my pelvic floor permanently. The second birth was marginally better. In hindsight I would rather have had a c-section. It would have been ended up making less permanent damage.

I had 2 vaginal births. For me, it was the most empowering experience of my life. I would do it over and over again but i’m 2 and done.

I should add that I had a family member lose a baby due significant birth injury so that was an additional fear.

Yep, I was absolutely fine 24 hours after my elective. No pain at all, felt at least 90% normally and fully normal within a few days.

my emergency c section however after a induction which resulted in a very stuck baby as they were back to back and chin up (don’t know the proper term!, 6 litre blood loss, heart stopping and lovely bout of sepsis after which resulted in three weeks in hospital was absolutely horrific and took me 18 months to recover from.

would take an elective over an emergency any day of the week but would of preferred the lovely water birth I had in my birth plan for the first!!

No judgement that I can see, just fact and logic.

I had no inclination to opt for a c section without clear medical need, and my vaginal births were straightforward. That being said, it was in my birth plan that I'd rather have a section than an episiotomy.
I'm glad your experience was fine

The agenda is saving money, but only in the short term. They don't take a holistic approach. If you're in charge of obstetric budgets now, you've no incentive to factor in eg costs relating to incontinence later. Comes out of a different pot.

Not all vaginal births are the same. I had 3 VB. My first one was relatively straight forward although my DS had preeclampsia and was only 7 pounds. My second DS was a hellish experience with forceps helping me deliver my 10 and a half pound baby. When I fell pregnant for the third time I spent the whole pregnancy dreading the birth but I was induced at 32 weeks with preclampsia and my tiny DD was born weighing 3 pounds but healthy and I honestly thunk nature has got it wrong and all babies should be 3 pounds at term or possibly we could lay an egg

I had a really pleasant vaginal birth without any issues whatsoever. A bit like doing a big poo (that was actually my mum's terminology, but it fitted).

Statistically speaking, there is lower risk to the mother and a quicker recovery.

So sad to see the judgment and misinformation in this thread. The NHS provides choice but doesn't tell women and does it's best to discourage women exercising maternal choice, so I think it's good to have these threads to ensure women are informed and can support one another. Most women prefer vaginal births but each method has very different risk profiles and will be more acceptable to different women. Plus the nhs only sets out risks for c sections and does not provide a direct comparable for vaginal deliveries, because you are not required to consent for the natural process. This means there is not really a fair comparison in the nhs published info and creates a lot of misinformation.

There is an issue with the research on sections. Eg obesity as a result of sections - this is not proved to be a causal correlation. Obese women are more likely to have sections and obese mothers are more likely to have obese babies. There is also no separation of ELCS and EMCS in the research data, but eg obviously cutting the baby is more likely in an emergency when the baby is distressed and the mother is having active contractions.

I have had two sections. I chose the c section second time around and the risk of a bad vaginal birth was a big factor for me. Eg risk of bad tearing m, instrumental delivery, emergency section, serious distress for baby etc. I was also advised I may be having a very small baby and midwives told me that they do not tolerate delivery well. It was the right choice for me but I know many women who feel differently.

On cost profile, there is research that planned vaginal deliveries cost far more in the long term because it includes health consequences for women and babies and also crash sections etc. The nhs has a horrifyingly large budget for birth negligence claims and the majority are connected with vaginal deliveries. Natural is not without risk!

I have no opinion about how anyone else wants* to give birth, it’s a personal choice.

(*obviously doesn’t always go to plan..!)

Vaginal birth without any intervention is generally considered optimal for healthy mothers with ‘low risk’ pregnancies, because it’s statistically the lowest risk (of serious complications/death) for the mother and baby.

Because I was able to do so with no additional risks and walk out of hospital a few hours later - back to driving straight away never considered surgery

My first was an emergency c section. When I had my first hospital appointment for my 2nd they assumed I would do a C-section and were surprised I wanted a vaginal delivery (I did). Having had a C-section I personally can’t understand why anyone would opt for one if there’s no medical need. My c section was over 20 years ago and I can still ‘feel’ my inside scar at times.
Childbirth is the most natural process in the world. The NHS is on its knees. Women should be given the confidence to give birth without going under the knife. Maybe if elective caesareans required a financial contribution women would have a different view.

The improved immune system conferred by the bacteria in the birth canal and conversely the higher incidence of autoimmune and metabolic disorders linked to C-sections: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8733716/

I think if the body has evolved to do things a certain way, it's probably because it's a successful strategy, maybe even in ways that we don't yet understand.

For me personally - I’ve built a narrative in my mind that if I ever ended up pregnant after 34 I would want a c-section for the fear of not recovering from a vb.

I had a VB mainly because I felt that it’s “just the way it goes”, I was young and didn’t have complications and fortunately as I was very young I bounced back pretty quickly.

I haven’t heard positive stories about c-sections from my circle as it’s always been emergency c sections.

All surgery obviously carries risks, so does childbirth and a part for me opts for the VB.

Maybe if you'd bothered to familiarise yourself with the NICE guidance on costs of attempted VB against ELCS, you'd have a different view. Honestly, why do people come out with this when they've clearly not done even the most basic research?

Just to add to that - vaginal birth without intervention isn’t the best option for all women. There needs to be more discussion with less judgement and a reminder that every mother/pregnancy/baby/birth is entirely personal.

I'm not sure why you're asking for people's reasons for a vaginal birth but you don't want to give your reasons for a c section.

Anyway I chose non surgery because the recovery was much faster. I had no stitches or tears.

I think a straightforward elective section is probably much better than a bad vaginal birth with episiotomy, forceps , birth injuries etc. It’s calmer and more predictable. I loved my elective and would’ve done it again in a heartbeat!

But it’s surgery, when push comes to shove. I don’t think many women would opt for a section for their first birth without good medical reason. A straightforward-ish vaginal birth is surely the best thing all round?

Planned a vaginal birth. Ended up with EMCS.

Had 3 vaginal births, I would have been very, very disappointed if I had had sections.

I wanted the oxytocin rush, immediate skin to skin, for my babies to benefit from vaginal "seeding", to not need to be in hospital (had homebirths) didn't want a load of drugs affecting my breastfeeding journey, wanted my hands to be the first my babies felt not some gloved stranger, didn't want a cannula in my hand, didn't want a hospital gown, didn't want to be on a postnatal ward, didn't want a catheter, didnt want to be cut open, didnt want to increase the risk of uterine rupture in subsequent labours....I could go on and on.

Because the risks are greater with a c-section. It’s that simple.

we can’t possibly say beforehand who will have serious damage from either a vaginal birth or a c-section.

but more women likely to have a harder, and more serious effects from a section than a VB. you’re more likely to get a life threatening infection for example.

stats say VB is the safer option. On a population level- remember anecdotes are not data before any comes at me with “but in my case”…

For me, and I completely appreciate that not all will agree or have the same experience, birth is not a medical procedure. We are not ill needing treatment.
Again to caveat that I agree medical support is necessary in some births, and desired by some women as well - just not the way I saw it for me.

I had 2 lovely vaginal births, one a bit frantic as an unplanned home birth but the second was calm and supported by a midwife whilst I caught my own baby. Not a medical procedure in the slightest but my body knowing what to do to birth my baby. I have never felt more empowered.

A c section with bright lights and a hospital gown is not the same experience to me and is very clinical and medicalised. Not personally what I wanted. Additionally an uncomplicated and straightforward vaginal birth is undoubtedly better for recovery than a c section.

I can completely see the appeal of a c section for instance in gaining control over your birth (in overstretched maternity units not always serving women well), even the benefit of knowing exactly when your baby will arrive. Towards the end I was getting very impatient and I would have loved to know when they would arrive to the hour.

An elective C-section was never something I would have considered as I would have done anything to avoid major abdominal surgery. I wanted as few interventions as possible. Unfortunately DS was back to back so there was no option but to have interventions but I remember being knackered and told this was the last chance to push (with a ventouse) otherwise it was off to surgery. That was enough for me to find the energy for a last push!

For DD, I wanted a home birth so vaginal was the only way!