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Original poster

Has anyone elected for a Caesarean with no medical need for one?

81 replies

Beetawix · 23/01/2024 08:51

I’m due in the autumn so very early days and only just found out. Researching like crazy. I am a bit cautious given they say September/October are the busiest birth months coupled with the maternity ward ratings not being very good.

It’s my first baby, I’m in my 20s and as far as I know there are no other risks.

Baby might be breech or there might be issues with the placenta which mean I have a section anyway.

But, presuming it’s a smooth straightforward pregnancy, would it be naive to choose a section? I understand the recovery is worse and it can be trickier to breastfeed. My sister has had a section for medical reasons and my friend had an EMCS. I know it’s no walk in the park! It does however offer a bit of predictability- I can prep myself for a night in hospital, I’ll know which date it is. I’d prefer a straightforward vaginal birth but nobody can promise I’ll have that.

After reading the statistics for our local area it seems about half of first time mums end up with intervention anyway, be it instrumental or surgical. I would find that very stressful.

We will either be one and done or possibly we’ll have another in several years. I don’t want loads and loads of babies.

Has anyone had a maternal request section before and what was your honest experience of it? Would you choose the same again? It would be so nice if we could have vision into the future to see how both options would go.

Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
winegums88 · 24/01/2024 13:09

Yes this is true regarding microbiome. To be honest I forgot about it because I only opted for the c section a couple of days in advance in the end. It does sound gross but let's face it, they'll be head first through it anyway!

winegums88 · 24/01/2024 13:21

@NoKnit I am not sure why you ascribe moral value to a woman's choice over her own body. Joint decision making is a key part of maternity care. It is immoral to pressure someone into doing something they don't want to do, plus probably costly in the long run.

There is definitely a public health benefit to having lower CS rates but that is not a question of morality any more than it is immoral to eat or drink unhealthily due to additional cost of metabolic diseases.

If we want CS rates to come down we need to be healthier and have children younger - that requires political will, but has nothing to do with morality.

Original poster
Beetawix · 24/01/2024 17:04

RosiePH · 24/01/2024 10:59

I’m also due my first in late September OP, so very early days too! I’ve been set on an elective c-section for a while. Ignore anyone saying some trusts don’t let you because that’s out of date. They all have to let you now. The rules changed a year or so ago.

For 10 years, I was dismissed by GPs, a pelvic floor physio, 2 gynaecologists and an NHS psycho-sexual counsellor as having vaginismus as I couldn’t have penetrative sex or even use a tampon. The counsellor said I was ‘highly strung’ because the usual dilator treatment didn’t work and neither gynae bothered to even examine me. I finally moved areas and got a new referral and was actually examined and I had an issue with my hymen, which meant I needed surgery and my issues were resolved. I didn’t have vaginismus at all.

But I do now have some lingering pelvic floor issues where I find I am often tense, so I’m really worried about the affect of labour on my pelvic floor. I also don’t want to tear and have long-lasting problems, because I spent 10 years suffering at the hands of an NHS that wasn’t helping me. And pelvic floor physio is humiliating and lonely. I’ve done it before and I don’t want to do it again.

I have developed a distrust for medical staff, and I experience a lot of panic in hospital or medical settings. I don’t think this would make my labour smooth because I’d panic too much. And in turn would be more likely to need intervention and risk the potential birth damage from that.

I write this TMI spiel not really to OP (beyond solidarity on wanting an ELCS) but mainly because someone of the PP have been so rude about why someone would choose to have ELCS when you are otherwise healthy. It’s perfectly valid to feel that labour and a natural birth are not for you. It’s not just a case of being a bit scared, but all will be fine when our partner holds our hands…. It can be a a very deep-rooted fear for some of us that goes way beyond a perfectly normal nervousness.

Thank you for this. Congratulations and best of luck. X

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RazzleDazzleEm · 24/01/2024 17:07

Yes and it was fine...

I came out in better shape than many of the other mums with vb

tralalalalalalalal · 25/01/2024 14:57

I haven't because I asked and they said no- wish I pushed for it. Vaginal birth gave me flashbacks and a lot of trauma around sex, I still can't have a medical professional look at me down there (without a panic attack). If you want it, make them let you have it.

Nellle · 25/01/2024 15:13

@noknit

I find it ironic that you think your vag birth prepared you for being a good mother, when it's actually your general air of smugness, superiority and insensitivity that is highly likely to rear its head in your parenting.

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