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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think this probably isn't normal for a C-section

80 replies

ZingyThingy · 11/10/2013 10:03

I regularly lurk and sometimes post. I've name changed as I'm considering taking legal action against a hospital and I want this to be as anonymous as possible. I am also aware that this isn't the best place to put this but I need a bit of info fast.

I had an EMCS after a long labour. CS was mooted about two hours before it actually went ahead. During those two hours I repeatedly told the midwife that I could feel the baby going down into the pelvic bones and was ignored. Just before my baby was taken out of me I felt pressure all over my body to the point where I couldn't breathe. DH thinks this was the operating team lying on me. Then there was a huge amount of pulling, so much so that the operating table left the floor and returned with a bang, to a chorus of shocked 'ohs!' from the team. I have been told this is normal for a c-section, is it?

OP posts:

PeppiNephrine · 11/10/2013 11:06

"Please ignore people telling you is okay that you experienced this as you got out alive etc. "

Everyone is saying actually that the sensations are normal in a section. Why on earth would you encourage someone to be more traumatised rather than reassure them that they were treated much like everyone else, and while it is a difficult thing to happen, it IS what happens.

SunshineMMum · 11/10/2013 11:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BalloonSlayer · 11/10/2013 11:14

I had a being "pushed down upon" sensation with all 3 of my c-sections (1 emergency, 2 elective).

It sounds stupid but you know when you open a bottle of childproof medicine, you have to push the top down really hard and then twist while still holding the top down? Well it felt like that, like I was the medicine bottle. I know that's a stupid metaphor but it really did remind me of that.

insanityscratching · 11/10/2013 11:18

I too had a feeling of being pushed down upon during my ELCS. Ds was a footling breech and well and truly wedged under my ribs and I'm small so I imagine it took some pushing and pulling to get him out.

LifeofPo · 11/10/2013 11:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

paperclipsarebetterthanstaples · 11/10/2013 11:25

Legal action? Really? Why? I assume that you and your child are fit and well after the c section?

pianodoodle · 11/10/2013 11:30

It sounds unpleasant but judging from the other posters it seems they've experienced the same sensations.

Sounds like they could have explained better what was happening though!

Haven't had one myself although current baby is still breech - off to scrub the kitchen floor on my hands and knees now!

MissBattleaxe · 11/10/2013 11:36

Sounds like they got your baby out safe and sound. I doubt very much that the operating team was lying on you.

I had an EMCS and at one point I thought someone was kneeling on my chest, but they weren't.

Sounds like the team did a good job to get you both through unscathed.

Enjoy your baby. Congratulations.

mistlethrush · 11/10/2013 11:36

I didn't feel that with my emcs - but then the scar I had was very long - certainly not neat - and they knew DS was a bruiser who'd just got wedged. Perhaps if you'd had a longer scar you might have had less pushing - but then you'd have had a longer scar?

MissBattleaxe · 11/10/2013 11:37

PS Don't sue them. They did their job. EMCS are often a bit rougher than ELCS by their very nature- "emergency".

paperclipsarebetterthanstaples · 11/10/2013 11:45

I can't standbthis money grabbing culture of taking bloody legal action against people who have actually bloody helped you

Why do you think people are reluctant to help in first aid situations etc? Because people like you look gorgeous opportunities to make money out of them . Be grateful that you're both ok and that we have an NHS which is free (at the point of service) to provide you with the emergency surgery which you needed.

paperclipsarebetterthanstaples · 11/10/2013 11:46

Look for* sorry - was angry typing!

TheFantasticFixit · 11/10/2013 11:46

If it helps, something very similar happened to me. I was labouring for approx 60 hours before the decision to section me was finally made, due to my DD getting stuck by her neck and failing to progress further than 4cms.

When they did operate, I had a significant blood loss due to there being a delay while they literally wrestled her out - she was stuck quite far down by the time the decision was made and this caused me to haemorrhage badly, and resulted in a 4 unit transfusion and bowel failure post OP. I was in hospital for a week, although when I finally did get home, my section wound healed beautifully - my mind, not so much. I suffered from flashbacks and had a lot of problems with bonding with my daughter for a long time after.

I'm not sure I would even consider of taking legal action though. My hospital have done everything they can to be supportive and now in my 2nd pregnancy they are offering one to one midwife care, consultant appointments readily and I had a thorough debrief with them postnatally. It's one of those things, and very unfortunate that I had such a traumatic labour.

It will take a while for the flashbacks to stop, and the anxiety around birth and the early days to subside but you need to move on, really. And I say that as someone who understands more than most. You and your baby are safe, and really, that is ALL that matters in the end.

itsn0tmeitsyou · 11/10/2013 11:47

You haven't commented on this so I don't know if you and your baby are safe with no lasting injuries. If you are, then I don't think you have any reason to sue for negligence. Childbirth is a relatively dangerous process, which is why 100 years ago many, many women and babies died during it. We are incredibly lucky in this time and country to have the kind of medical assistance we do, where the mother and baby are monitored and decisions can be made immediately about the best course of action. If the medical team felt it was in your and your baby's interests to get your baby out ASAP, they are qualified to make that decision, and were certainly acting in your best interests.

Lots of people have traumatic birth stories, some where their baby is injured in the process, myself included, but I fully understand what decisions were made when, and why, and actually believe that we are the ones who would have died 100 years ago, so am incredibly grateful that me and DD1 were fine in the end.

itsn0tmeitsyou · 11/10/2013 11:50

p.s. meant to say that even if you or your baby was injured, you still have to think pretty long and hard about whether that was negligent, or just what they had to do to ensure you are both alive today.

itsn0tmeitsyou · 11/10/2013 11:51

x post TheFantasticFixit

TheFantasticFixit · 11/10/2013 11:52

It's not - such a good point. Dd and I would have died 100 years ago. It puts it into perspective really

TinyTear · 11/10/2013 11:53

in my EMCS as my DD had been engaged at 9cm for 6 hours she was stuck and they had to push her upwards to get her out... they were about to call for more people to help when they managed.

It's normal if the baby was engaged, I think...

WowOoo · 11/10/2013 11:53

Sorry you had a traumatic time.
And congratualtions on your baby!

I had quite a shocker of a C-sec. They kept asking me if I needed further counselling. I was talked through a lot of what happened and felt so much better.
In fact I was amazed - their job was to get the baby out alive and to make sure I didn't bleed to death: We are both alive and well today.
Ask if you can go through your notes with a midwife.
Take any chance to talk through what happened to you and your baby. Mumsnet is great for that if you'd rather not bore your friends and family.
It's a hell of a huge thing for the both of you to have been through. x

blueberryupsidedown · 11/10/2013 11:59

My first em c sec I had a similar pain, because DS was engaged and very low. I had been in abour for nearly 30 hours and pushing for one hour, and after trying for ventouse delivery he was truely engaged. I did have a feel it when his head was pulled from the birth canal, it was horrible. It's not something that occurs in all emergency c sections, but it does add to the risks and the sensation is very strong.

I had a second emergency c section and this did not happen as DS2's head was not engaged down the pelvis. He came out of my belly head first, whereas DS1 came out bottom first. It is a horrible sensation but it's part of the numerous risks and dangers that can happen with a c section. It did take me a long time to move on from the feeling, but I have never ever regretted having had a c section and never ever felt that it was the wrong course of action.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 11/10/2013 12:11

I had a very similar sensation with my ELCS with DS2 (DS1 was an emergency section).

His feet were wedged up under my ribs and they really had to tug to get him out. It was a bizarre sensation, like pressure being applied all over my chest.

I would ring the hospital and ask for a de-brief to see your notes and go through what actually happened rather than 'my DH thinks they were lying on me' which is a bizarre thing to say. Either they were and he saw it, or he didn't and they weren't.

50shadesofmeh · 11/10/2013 12:36

It can be I felt like someone was lifting my lower body up off the table as my daughter was stuck In my womb and they were having trouble getting her out, but they did and that I'm thankful for.

SugarHut · 11/10/2013 12:38

Hi,

I'm possible going to sound a bit rude here, so apologies in advance, but it's really not my intention :)

What exactly are you complaining about? As you ask if these physical feelings are normal, then you've never had a C-section before...so....

What's to say that you experienced anything wrong at all? My C-section I felt nothing whatsoever from start to finish, chatted to the anaesthetist, and occasionally felt what I can best describe as on person tugging on one ankle, then on the other. I have no idea if that's what it should have felt like. That's just how mine felt. It was a little weird I suppose, it wasn't at all bad, that's just what it was. Was that normal?

I'm wondering what legal action you are thinking of? Presumably, you're fine. Presumably the baby's fine? So basically, they safely delivered your baby, you're both absolutely fine....what are you even annoyed about? Your OP doesn't read like a story of distress, just a fairly standard birth story. So what if they did lean on you? Maybe my team leaned on me? They probably did, but mine was elective, and I was so relaxed I didn't notice. God bless the screen so you can't see. If they're pulling a baby out of a tiny incision you have to get held down somehow or you'll just get picked up!

I hope you and your little one are both well. Don't waste precious time that should be spent on your baby starting a legal case that you appear have no grounds for.

SunshineMMum · 11/10/2013 12:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

vjg13 · 11/10/2013 12:51

Are you and your baby well now?

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