To ask about your elective caesarian experience?

[AbbeyBelfast]

Hello folks!

I would very much like to hear your stories and experiences with elective sections.

What was your reason for choosing elective?

How was the procedure itself?

What was your recovery like?

Bonus points if you had an elective after a vaginal birth and can provide some insight into a comparison of the two!

Thank you 😊

My milk came in quickly but I was pumping for top ups with the first initially (possibly accidentally over pumped/ power pumped as then I had too much) and the second attached himself like a leech for hours. And for months thereafter.

I breastfed my 3 fine

Amazing experience. On the day I was in the hospital at 7am. Was told I’d be in at 9. Had the various members of the team come and introduce themselves at various points as they prepped me.
Up to theatre around 9.15, baby out at 9.45. Very straightforward, no pain.
Afterwards was wheeled down to the post natal ward for observation then to my own room later that evening. I was walking around by 9pm that evening ish. Post natal care was excellent.
Home 2 days later.
Was a bit painful turning over in bed etc for a week or so but after that was absolutely fine.
Was back playing sport 6 weeks later. Have never had any probably since.
Highly recommend it. Very civilised. A very very different beast to an emergency c section I believe. ELCSs are just a lovely way to deliver a baby. I would never do it any other way. I’ve never given birth vaginally but having watched enough episodes of OBEM and birth videos at NCT, I can safely say that it fills me with horror.

I had an elective following a vaginal birth.
I lost a horrific amount of blood following my first labour and subsequent birth with an enormous 10lb baby.
So chose to have a c section for my second, it was wonderful! Calm, organised, the team were absolutely great. I knew what was going on and DH was allowed to stay the whole time. I came away from my first never wanting to have a baby again, ptsd and pnd, but my elective really helped heal some of the trauma from the first. Recovery was really quick too. Couldn't recommend enough.

I should add here though that a majority of vaginal births go well with no problems. I was just unlucky that was all! And I suppose being a size 8 didn't help with the 10lb baby.

Breast feeding was fine with both of them and would highly recommend peppermint capsules to help with post wind. And arnica

ELCS due to breech baby.
Really calm, lovely birth.
Recovery pretty straightforward, though nearly passed out when first stood up after the op (not due to pain, just low blood pressure)

Something I had to do after my 2 sections were injections into my thigh for 2 weeks. Something to do with my blood. That was horrible. I had whopping great bruises all over my thighs. I used to hold an ice cube on my thigh, then stab the injection in and then cry a bit and go have a slice of cheesecake. I remember that pain and the cannula pain more than the 3rd degree tear.

Wrt breastfeeding and sections. ds2 was over 10lb and really hungry, his weight dropped a lot. The first 2 days in the hospital he just screamed and screamed, he hardly slept at all, he was sucking all night and day. I was exhausted. The nurses took him for an hour to let me rest but brought him back within 30 mins because he was so hangry. After 10 days he hadn’t gained his birth weight (even tho I was feeding him night and day), the hv suggested we combine feed. We did and he much preferred the bottles. Much quicker food. We combine fed for 8 months but he probably had more formula than breast milk. He still is a very lazy eater.

With dd it was different, she was only 9lb and more patient. She slept a lot for the first 24 hours then spent the next day working hard to bring the milk in. By day 4 there was adequate milk for her and she’d gained her lost weight.

I’ve had a crash CS, followed by VBAC followed by elective CS (big baby, gestational diabetes). Of these, my favourite was by far the VBAC, and each CS was frightening for different reasons: the first I was unconscious and baby was at risk, and the second I was awake for the spinal and the experience was like being a piece of well-looked after equipment in the operating theatre. Everyone there was clearly very competent but no part of it was under my control and it was the opposite of the intimate, close experience of my VBAC (which was fully monitored on the labour ward).

CS recovery was incredibly easy the first time, and much harder the second time. I couldn’t manage stairs for two weeks and just felt very weak and shaky for what felt like far too long! I was happy to have had the CS and spared myself the extra two weeks of carrying then delivering a huge babe, but the experience itself was something I don’t like to look back on, really. Perhaps also to do with Covid and being on a postnatal ward without DH, which led me to discharge earlier than I should.

And yes, the horrible post-CS injections! If done into a finger pinch of belly flesh they don’t bruise, but it’s not something I got used to.

Oh yes I forgot about the injections. Vom!

Oh god I forgot about the injections too! I just did them in my stomach didn’t find them an issue they only take 2 seconds. It’s to prevent blood clots. I found wearing surgical stockings in august worse than the injections 😂

I had a an elective C- section in June 2020 so right in the covid pandemic... I thought that because of this they wouldn't want me to go ahead with it but they were more than happy to.

I wanted it because it was my preference- I'd rather endure known risks of surgery than the unknown ones of vaginal birth, and I wanted to avoid attempting vaginal birth only for it to go to emergency c section. So planned c- section it was.

Midwife was very supportive (I imagined having to argue with her) and just made sure I was informed of the risks. Consultant ditto.

The whole experience was fantastic- very calm and supportive environment and the staff couldn't have been better. I recovered really well and was discharged within 24hrs and didn't need any of the prescribed pain relief.

I breastfed straight after the birth and had no problems establishing feeding/supply.

I would do it again!

I actually had a straightforward vaginal broth for DC1 but had severe pelvic floor issues afterwards - literally wet myself all the time - so it was a really long recovery.

I asked for an elective C section for DC2 for this reason and consultant was fully supportive.

ES experience was fine on the whole. Made things like planning childcare easier for the birth but I found it harder to bond with baby initially tbh. It was all just a bit emotionless.

I found recovery extremely painful and especially hard not being able to pick up my toddler. However, on the plus side after a couple of weeks I was totally fine whereas after my vaginal birth it took months to recover from the damage so it was definitely the right decision for me. I would prefer to have a vaginal birth if someone could guarantee I wouldn't need nappies afterwards but as that's not the case if we decide to have a third I'll be going for EC again.

When I was in the hospital with dd the nurse did the injections in my thigh. The first time she did it I jumped and said ‘ow that really hurt’ she actually laughed and told me I couldn’t feel a little injection like that. I told her it did in fact really really hurt. She huffed off. The next day she came in to do it and saw my thigh with a black bruise the size of my fist. She said ‘what’s that from? Did you fall getting out of bed?’ I said no that’s from the injection. She accused me of lying and said it couldn’t be and I was mistaken as she’d done it in the other leg anyway. I have horribly sensitive skin and injections really hurt. As I said the pain I remember most is the needles; the cannulas and especially the steroid injections in my arse to strengthen ds2 lungs when my placenta ruptured at 28wks.

I had the injections after my tear too and remember them stinging like hell but used to do them at the same time as my disgusting laxative drinks so used to give myself some chocolate after to soften the blow!

I have had 1 emergency and 2
Electives last one was aug 2019 and it was a lovely experience I had a very high bmi when I had it and had no complications at all. Was In at 7am baby born at 2.15pm due to emergencies before me,they lowered the screen so I could see everything,even took photos of him coming out, they let me do delayed cord cutting (my mum cut cord) and she got to put him on scales to be weighed.

I was up on my feet ,make up on and showered for that evening for visiting time. Cathetar was in for 3 weeks after but it was due to scar tissue from previous sections sticking to my bladder . Home after 2 nights would have went after one but they insisted due to my bladder problems .

Overall positive experience

Oh I didn't really have a choice 3rd time round as they wanted me to have a section but I would not have opted for vbac of choice was there after 2 previous sections

@MrsKoala I had the same experience with a nurse giving me the blood thinner injection - a massive bruise that was there for a month or more! Apparently that’s what happens when you inject into muscle; I read the leaflet after it and made sure I did the rest into my more ample postpartum stomach as my thighs were clearly the wrong choice!

And yes... steroid shots. Just wow.

I think that you're going to get skewed results by asking this question. If someone has chosen to have an elective a second time around, then this will often be down to a bad first experience. Therefore, by comparison an elective c section may seem a better option. But the reality is that, for most, the recovery from a straight forward vaginal birth is far easier than from a c section. I've had two long labours resulting in two emergency c sections. Although I recovered relatively well insofar as no wound infection or clots, I felt as though I had flu afterwards and was utterly gaunt due to recovery/blood loss. I was also in a lot of pain. I could barely get out of bed and could only shuffle to the toilet. Even the car journey home from hospital left me squealing in Pai on the second occasion (due to a row if connected nylon stitches as a result of being 2 stone overweight.) I had to lie on a stack of plastic carrier bags in order to slide in and out of bed and had to lie on my back (I'm a side sleeper) for about 7-10 days. The pain did slightly improve every day and was more bearable within a week and I felt much more comfortable after two weeks. By 4 weeks I don't recall being in any pain and was driving again by six weeks.
If you do decide to go down that route and are a side sleeper, then I would consider hiring/buying or borrowing a sun lounger type of bed so that you can adjust the back position and lie on your back, whilst propped up as that was by far the most comfortable position for me.

@Hugoslavia

You've had emergency sections, not planned sections, and the two are like night and day for recovery.

Your description of recovery is unrecognisable to me (two planned sections) or anyone I know who has had planned sections.

My journey home, for example was entirely painless, even with multiple speed bumps to navigate!

The same evening as I got home, I was mooching round the house doing bits, without even thinking, out shopping the next day etc.

Everyone's recovery is different, but you answering a question about planned sections with your account of emergency sections is also misleading.

You've had emergency sections, not planned sections, and the two are like night and day for recovery

I had an emcs and an elcs. Physically, there was very little difference in recovery. In fact I’d say the emcs was slightly easier.

The main difference was emotional. The Emcs is took a while to come to terms with not having the birth I’d expected.

The same applies to you @Babyboomtastic- you’ve had two planned sections so can’t compare emcs and elcs.

This is all anecdote- one persons experience will be different to anothers, even with the same procedure. Your experience does not mean all other with a planned section feel the same. My sil had a horrific recovery from hers- 3 hospital readmittances, and her husband ended up needing 6 months of work to care for her and the baby.

It’s surgery. I don’t recognise any of these “wonderful” experiences either. For me it was no netter than an appendectomy or tooth extraction. Just a baby to complicate recovery.

My scar tissue keloids severely, the thought of this happening if I tore severely during a vagina birth petrified me

Baby was measuring big and I was told i would very likely tear

Baby was too big, stuck and in distress (not even in labour, he was just stuck and restricted) therefore during the section they had to use forceps which cut babies head and resulted in an even longer scar due to his size

He was 10lb 1oz, huge for my size.

I had pllyhydraminos, too much amniotic fluid which was discovered during csection and would've contributed to some risks I had.

At the time I thought recovery was horrendous but looking back it wasn't, I was up walking a day later albeit not very far. I went out for a few walks around 5 days later and within 2 weeks I was sort of back to normal. Sleeping was rough due to being uncomfortable with the wound at first.

Scar keloided as expected but I was aware that would happen, so it's fine.

I'm going in for another csection in august.

@CouldItBeCake
Thankyou - I wasn't going to come back to this thread, because I still struggle with reading others experiences of ELCS, but your post made me laugh. To be honest after dd1, I might as well have given birth to a henhouse, as had a ventouse!!

@Babyboomtastic, as you say no two recoveries are the same and no two births are the same - I know this goes for vaginal births that were similar to my 2 and caesareans, both emergency and elective. One of the things I really struggled (and still struggle with, evidently) with after my frankly horrendous ELCS was coming to terms with the fact that it was so awful, and I kept seeing posts that said ELCS were calm and healing, recovery was a walk in the park, only EMCS were hard etc etc....I don't deny they can be all these things, but no outcome or experience of any type of birth is an absolute.

Reason: Chose an elective for MH reasons (severe anxiety around birth) and it was relatively easy to be offered one. I discussed my feelings with the midwife who referred me straight to a consultant.

C-section: The procedure itself was quicker than I expected. Not totally calm because I was terrified, but that's more to do with my own MH issues. Thinking back it was pretty calm - music playing, lights turn down, and a whole team of people to make sure things were ok.

Recovery: Here's where I'm afraid I differ from a lot of people on here. When doing my research into having one I read a lot of comments saying recovery was easier than expected and people were up and driving about at 4 weeks. My recovery was really hard. I lost some blood during surgery so spent a few days in hospital feeling pretty horrible. When I did eventually get discharged I could hardly walk and getting up the stairs back at home was very hard (I think I then stayed upstairs for a couple of days before attempting to come down again). I got an infection which was painful and set me back. I kept on top of the pain relief as others had said but it was still incredibly sore and I really struggled. I would say it was about 8 weeks before I could comfortably move around without pain, and another few before I was able to walk for more than half an hour without needing to sit down. My scar is still painful nine months on, but it bothers me far less now.

I'm not saying all this to try to scare you, but I wish I'd read just one post saying this before I'd had it so I could mentally prepare for a bad experience. I've got no idea what a vaginal birth would have been like in comparison. What I do know is that my baby was delivered safely and as calmly as I think would be possible, and I will also be opting for another section should I have another child. I had no idea how a vaginal birth would go and this was a way to have some element of control over the experience. You do forget the pain after a while and I'm pleased to say it doesn't bother me anywhere near as much now.

For reference I was a size 6-8 before surgery (and the same now although it took me longer to lose the weight than I'd been told - I think it also takes a little longer for your uterus to contract back after a section too), fairly fit and pretty healthy, so this did come out of nowhere as I was assuming it would be a fairly easy recovery.

As I said, not trying to scaremonger but feel I should be honest.

I don't deny they can be all these things, but no outcome or experience of any type of birth is an absolute

Yep. I do find it interesting that for vaginal births you rarely hear about the calm straightforward ones, only the traumatic ones, but for CS the stories posted are always the lovely blissful experiences, never the ones that aren’t.

No one would ever talk about any other type of surgery in such positive terms.

Confirmation bias at it’s best?

Problem is you absolutely have no idea what your experience will be like. You could have a pops out without a scratch v birth, or a cs with every complication in the book. Usually it’s somewhere in between.

Statistically, the risks of serious complications are higher with a cs- if it were such a wonderful option we’d have eliminated vaginal births years ago. Cs are much easier to plan and budget for from a hospital logistics pov.