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 also had a spinal headache following a lumbar puncture and had to lie flat for 4 days. It was absolutely the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced, including a natural vaginal birth. Utterly excruciating. For that reason I’d also fight off anybody going near my spine with a needle.

I had an emergency c section with dc1 then a vaginal with dc2. I was exceedingly lucky - no tears or trauma from the vaginal birth and felt “normal” the next day. I think that the priority should be a healthy baby and your own health (both physical and mental) over everything. The number of friends I have with significant health issues (prolapse, hip problems etc etc) due to vaginal births is an absolute scandal.

Well, you're supposed to be able to. NICE guidance recommends this, not least because despite some of the claims made in this thread, there's no conclusive evidence that ELCS is either riskier or more expensive than VB.

But in practice, it doesn't always work like that and women aren't necessarily aware of or able to exercise their rights.

Isn’t it a bit like saying why do people choose to crap out of their arseholes, rather than have a stoma fitted.

Look. You had a section, OP. That’s fine. Why do you feel the need to suggest it’s the best way and we should all do it?

I've had 2 kids and I honestly wasn't aware that you could choose to have a c section. I thought you could only have one for medical reasons.

Have I missed something or is it generally not well known?

Yes to this.

The term 'meant' troubles me, unless you are religious, it's obvious that we evolved that way, but our upright stature and pelvis and the size of the human head mean that nature has been v v hard on human females.

Thank God we live in a country and time where babies are scanned, monitored and where hospitals have a surgical team on stand-by, because VB is inherently a life-or-death risk for women if anything goes wrong.

Don't want major abdominal surgery again or the anaesthesia needed to complete it, long healing times, complications caused by adhesions, potential risk of permanent bladder injury during surgery, associated increased risks of stillbirth and all future pregnancies being classed as high-risk... The list goes on.

I had a c section and very nearly died, 19 units of blood laters and 3 different specialists working hard to save me from a dodgy surgeon.

Its not always easy.

I should have had a section with my first, I discharged myself and went home!
I went on and had a normal delivery, and then 2 more after that, no way was I going to be cut open without any explanation as to why, also half hour having a baby I was back on my feet ready to go home!

I wanted a vaginal birth because I wanted to feel that buzz of achievement, the cocktail of hormones, and for the benefits to me and baby of the physiological process such as optimal cord blood, immediate skin to skin, being able to be up and about straight away, to not be in a hospital for ages. It just felt like a rite of passage. If I'd needed a C-section for mine or babies health I would have taken it gratefully, but it wasn't my first choice.

I've had 1 vaginal birth (requiring an episiotomy) and 2 emergency c sections. I appreciate that an emcs is considered quite different to an elective, though my last C-section came under the category of emergency but was somewhat planned (we knew it was very likely to be necessary and was not rushed in urgently) so as close to elective as possible I suppose.

I would absolutely take the recovery from a vaginal birth over C-section any day. I was up and about pretty quick with both C-sections, breastfed fine luckily, and had very straightforward recoveries but it was still much more uncomfortable, trickier to move around easily etc. vaginal birth recovery was a walk in the park in comparison.

Personally I opted every time for a vaginal birth because my body is designed to give birth that way, there was no reason to choose anything else unless it was medically necessary. Unfortunately for me, the last 2 times it was. I didn't find the experience of a C-section anywhere near as beautiful and profound as my vaginal birth. I still so clearly remember how empowered I felt, my body knew exactly what it was doing and it was just an amazing experience for me. It was such an incredible experience that I was so gutted both times I had to have a C-section, not because I was scared, or because of the recovery, but because I wasn't able to experience that feeling again.

The landscape has changed over the past few years, particularly after the Montgomery v Lanarkshire case. Some hospitals are much better at facilitating informed decision making and informing women of their obstetric rights than others. So if you were at one of the ones that tries to deter ELCS and/or you haven't given birth that recently, that might be why.

Apparently, there's a flora that the baby receives when delivered vaginally "Most babies get their first big dose of microbes at birth, while travelling through the birth canal, then pick up more while breastfeeding. Early microbes helped shape your immune system, your digestive system, and even your brain."

This is why my friend chose to birth vaginally.

I may need a c section, so it's weighing up the risks vs. the pros for me xx

Even people who are 'up and about' quickly after a c section are still limited, as I understand it. Unless guidance has changed since I had my DC. So no driving and restrictions on picking up anything heavier than your baby, makes life difficult with a second child.

Goodness - now we've descended into which costs more and whether the NHS should fund elective C-sections 🤦 unless these were considerations you had when deciding how you wanted to give birth, then it's not entirely relevant to the thread!

I was wary before I posted, but I naively thought we could have a nice discussion. Sadly doesn't seem possible on Mumsnet.

My personal perspective comes very much from a place of being so pleasantly surprised at my c section experience. No pain, quick, knew what to expect, no surprises, quick recovery. Not the same for everyone though, obviously.

@OooohAhhhh it's a quite recent change I think. Within the last 10 years.

I wouldn’t want a c section unless it was medically necessary because it is surgery. Just like I wouldn’t opt for any other surgery unless it was deemed necessary and there were no other treatment options. I don’t think it should become the default way for women to give birth.

That is totally outrageous. Most young women haven't cost the NHS anything (other than vaccinations and the odd childhood illness) before they have a baby. It does feel like the NHS hates women at times.

There are two ways of getting a baby out and neither are very attractive in my view. But women should have a choice.

I am glad I had a vaginal birth though as the recovery from an emergency c-section would have been much longer. But from an elective c-section it's probably much less time because there's a lot less trauma.

Babies might be supposed to come out of the vagina, but often they can't! Many women and babies have died in childbirth.

After over 24 hours in labour with baby over 9lb, being allowed to push for 3 hours, followed by a spinal block, episiotomy and a high forceps delivery, extensive tearing and a litre of blood lost, followed by piles a prolapsed bladder and uterus to contend with I think an elective caesarean would have been the better option. It was never an option though!

Needless to say, they are an only child!

• Compromised microbiome for baby (we’re still finding out what the long-term consequences of that are)
• Higher risk of respiratory issues due to baby not being ‘squeezed’ through birth canal
• Requirement for antibiotics post birth, further compromising microbiome of mother and baby (we’re still finding out what other long-term consequences of that are)
• Emerging evidence of long-term impacts on brain-bladder communication from anaesthetic
• Risk of laceration of baby during incision
• Scar permanence on lower abdomen for mother
• Higher risk of haemorrhage/PPH
• Complicated recovery period if mother is caring for an older child (toddler+) and needs to avoid lifting

Can you point me to where I said it's the best and everyone should do it? What is up with the people of Mumsnet!?

I was walking around the park 15hrs after my section, we even stopped for a drink in the pub! I had no issue whatsoever, it was the best experience of my life. Just anecdotally, but the rest of my NCT group all had issues with their vaginal birth. One still hasn’t recovered nearly 3yrs later.

I didn't get a choice, at the hospital I had my children it's vaginal birth unless it's an emergency and you are only offered a planned c section if you previously had difficulty giving birth or they think you'll have problems . Probably different now though