To ask how many people have asked for a cesarean out of preference?

[VioletteValentia]

I did it. I’ve never met another person who has, or who has admitted to it. I have come across people who seem convinced that supporting maternal choice would lead to everyone asking for cesareans, which I think is bullshit. Not everyone wants one!

Did you do this? Would you? Would you be more likely to if you felt the option was equally acceptable?

I’m interested in how many women feel like I did.

I shouldn’t have to say this but...no “natural v cesarean” insulting please.

I had horrendous deliveries with DC1&2, just so so traumatic. Back to back delivery the first time around so the contractions were constant. It was discovered probably too late that DS was stuck (shoulder dystocia) and I was rushed into theatre for a spinal and forceps delivery.

Second delivery had partial retained placenta and hemorrhaged, lost 4 pints of blood so needed two transfusions.

I still was adamant I would have a natural delivery with dc3 for some reason and did, all thankfully went ok.

I’ve since had two MMC, one which almost killed me after hemorrhaging again and am pregnant again. If this one goes to plan, I will be asking for a c-section. Almost dying just isn’t worth it somehow.

I had an EMCS with my DD 6 months ago, after 7 hours of active labour, 2 hours of pushing and then being told she was stuck. My whole experience of labouring was utterly shite. From the booking in nurse who condescendingly said to me 'you're only 2cms but we won't send you home as your obviously in a lot of pain' (i dilated from 2-10cms in 5 hours and felt like i was being hit by a train), when I had to labour on my own (with my DH admittedly) for an hour with no pain relief and no midwife attention as they were short staffed, from the midwife repeatedly leaving the room and not telling me where he was going and how long he would be even when i was pushing, to him telling me I wasn't trying hard enough when pushing (see earlier note about stuck baby). To then be left on a bed labouring for 1.5 hours whilst waiting to be taken down to theatre was horrific and i felt so out of control. The spinal block needle when it went in was the best thing i ever felt. Interestingly, the surgeon said the angle my DD's head was at and her size meant she was never going to be delivered naturally anyway!! After i questioned a midwife later on, apparently my midwife should have been able to assess my baby's head position earlier and saved me 2 hours of pushing, but i can't be bothered to follow it up with the hospital.

Which leads me on to seriously considering an ELCS next time as my CS recovery this time was easy, my scar is neat and even though it was major surgery, i'm not sure I could go through a labour like that again. But on the other hand, i feel like i'm missing out on delivering naturally (god knows why!!).

Thanks OP for starting this thread, its been an interesting read.

I really wanted one as I just knew my baby would not come out as he was very large, and I'm tiny with a small tilted pelvis.
My request was ignored.
After 33 hours of labour and still 3cms dialated I was eventually allowed an emergency c!
I wish I'd been stronger when my wishes were ignored. Put me off having another.

My mum wasn’t allowed a cesarean. She had IVF to have me and her waters had to be broken. I got stuck, she had a 4th degree tear, pph, botched stitches, then when they realised she had retained placenta, an emergency d and c, more stitches and eventually a hysterectomy.

Needless to say, I’m an only child. The first thing she said when I was pregnant was “Violette, ask for a cesarean.”

It makes me wonder how many women who wanted more children are too afraid to proceed.

I remember the exact time, 18:11, that the spinal block was put in and the pain finally stopped. I remember looking at the clock in the operating theatre and thinking 'I will never forget this'

The spinal feels really relaxing in my opinion. It’s like a warm bath. I found it relaxing and surreal.

I never got to make a birth plan as my twins were early but I never intended on having them naturally. TTC for 4 years, 2 lots of ivf and my mum suffered a still born. I could not take the risk of anything happening to my babies. Had an emergency section in the end as I went into labour and they were hesitant at first but I was not going to let them change my mind. All went fine and I recovered really well. My twins are healthy and amazing, totally worth it.

violette at finding the spinal relaxing! I had a blood pressure crash, had to be tipped on the operating table to get the blood back to my head and given oxygen. Then I got the shakes and the blood pressure cuff kept tightening to the point where it was extremely painful (I maintain this was the most painful bit of the entire procedure) because it couldn’t get a reading and thought I was dead (the anaesthetist’s words)

Still loved my section though and if I were to have another baby it would only be by CS.

I wanted one for a couple of valid (but not medically necessary) reasons, but my midwife said that you can't request one in my area. I wasn't that assertive at the time and didn't push it though, but why should you need to? It seems sad to me that your ability to have a choice in how you give birth, is dependent on your postcode.

@howmuchtoomuch

YES! 18.24 mine went in- stamped on my memory!!!

I had 2 - one emergency and one elective following, as they'd warned me I stood a high chance of having one anyway.
What no one told me about was the complications from scar tissue. The lovely stuff has wrapped itself round most of my uterus and bowels, meaning I've had years of utter misery from it. If I'd have known what I was letting myself in for, I'd have run from those theatres screaming. Biggest regret of my life, thinking it would be "easy" the second time around.

Im not against women having elective sections at all, what ever gets you thru a live altering, possibly very painful moment, but it worries me how when you have a section, and then another section, the risks can become high to give birth and doctor's are reluctant to give another sectuol, obv not if it is an emergency.

Have you come across doctors being reluctant to perform ELCS after two sections missmorley? That's very worrying, the chances of rupture increase with every section. The CS gets more risky but so does attempted VB. It's true that if you're going to have a large family, 4 or more iirc, VB is the safest way to do it so that's something women certainly should be told about in pregnancy.

Thank you OP and user for your nice comments about my posts.

I had one because I'd had several miscarriages, and therefore had sky-high anxiety levels and just wanted the baby out as safely as possible. The consultant signed it off without any questions asked

I found the recovery an absolute breeze. I was up and about after 8 hours and discharged after 24 hours, which is the protocol for the hospital for low-risk ELCS

I only took painkillers for 4 or 5 days, and was only lower doses than my friend who had a straightforward vaginal birth with a couple of stitches

By day 5, I was walking the dog, by week 2, I was driving and by week 6 I was doing pilates and had my first short run

I wouldn't hesitate to have another one, and several of my friends said they would opt for a ELCS over another vaginal birth after seeing how easy my recovery was

I do worry though that if the c/s rate goes up above 50% (it’s approaching 30% this year) that women trying for vaginal births will be fucked - the doctors will be in theatre all day doing elective surgery on mainly low risk women, while high risk women who want vaginal births will put at increased risk because we don’t have enough theatre capacity and obstetric cover to do surgery on those who need it as well as those who want it.

Unless the government decide to pump huge amounts more money into maternity care and lure obstetricians to the U.K. from abroad. Not going to hold my breath for that...

TroubledLichen

My CS was at midday & the next morning I had a shower & was discharged. I physically could not stand up straight at first & the shower was awful particularly when I dropped the shampoo :(

What I found interesting about VB (helped I’m sure by my lack of tearing) is that the pain just disappeared in an instant once baby was born.

Yes I did.
No 1 was forceps, No 2 was ventouse, No3 was cord prolapse followed by emergency caesarean and No4 was elective C at 39 weeks. It was civilised, painless, quick recovery time and I held him immediately and BF him for a year. I know which I would choose.

It's fine to worry about impact of a higher ELCS rate on women wanting VB, just as long as we're clear that this isn't and can't be a reason to try and dissuade women from ELCS if that's their preference.

I expect we all share your pessimism about greater investment in maternity services any time soon minifingerz...

I had a VB with no tearing and there was absolutely no pain after delivery. I felt way more comfortable than I had during pregnancy, giving birth actually made all the pain and discomfort go away!

With my forceps VB that resulted in a cut and tear the recovery was absolute agony. I was in tears every day over the pain. I could barely move, barely use stairs ect. It was horrific and I relied on others a lot for the first weeks, so it really does depend so much.

"It's fine to worry about impact of a higher ELCS rate on women wanting VB, just as long as we're clear that this isn't and can't be a reason to try and dissuade women from ELCS if that's their preference."

Do you feel the government should be prioritising maternal choice of mode of birth above safety?

Because if they're going to change policy in relation to maternity care so that caesarean on demand becomes a reality for everyone, without increasing the number of obstetricians, theatre capacity and postnatal beds, then that's actually what they'll be doing.

nowater that’s awful, you poor thing. My doctor was very strict on no bending and actually said if I were to drop something, either someone else picks it up or I leave it, for an entire month! I don’t know how I would have coped with half washed hair though

I think it’s important to remember that our bodies are all different, I was shaving my legs in hospital on day 2 with one up on the sink at a time (because no bending!) which I’m pretty sure is not normal... but I’d had a horrid pregnancy with HG throughout so post CS actually felt pretty good to me.

Because if they're going to change policy in relation to maternity care so that caesarean on demand becomes a reality for everyone, without increasing the number of obstetricians, theatre capacity and postnatal beds, then that's actually what they'll be doing.

Not everyone would even want one.

That's an assertion with nothing substantial to back it up though, minifingerz. Increased ELCS availability and take up will mean more births can be planned to take place at the most efficient time for the NHS.

mini

How much of a typical ObGyn consultant's week would be freed up for more obstetric work if they weren't dealing with treating birth injuries which would have been prevented if that woman had been allowed an ELCS?

Plus how much time do they spend per birth? It took under an hour of their time to deliver my baby, including the initial introduction, then the briefing with the theatre team, then the actual CS

That's considerably less time than they had to spend with my sister who needed a consultant with her during her labour. She had 4 or 5 hours with the consultant

I remember reading about a UK hospital that changed it's approach to maternal request C-sections by a) Offering women who were requesting one appointments to discuss this early on in pregnancy (women often have to wait until 36 weeks to get an answer which can cause a lot of anxiety) and b) Telling women straight away that they wanted to support them as much as possible with attempting a VB but they would definitely be granted an ELCS if that is what they ultimately wanted. They were also supported in writing a birth plan and taught about their rights and options and how they could refuse forceps ect and choose to divert to a section if complications should arise.
This approach was actually more successful at persuading women to attempt a VB than an outright 'No' policy. The majority of women actually went on to choose a VB. I think saying 'No and with no discussion' to women, especially from a hospital that caused the birth trauma in the first place, is going to make a woman even less confident about labour and birth at that particular hospital.

Tenbob - I don’t think anyone has an answer to your questions. I don’t.

But if they’re doing 10’s of 1000’s of extra surgeries every week, that will have an impact on theatre space and obstetric input. I can’t see that will be offset by the saving of theatre time from having fewer OASI, as these are only a very small minority of all births, especially second/third time births.