Would you judge someone for choosing to have a c section?

[ProudOtter]

I’m just curious as to why you would judge someone for choosing to have an elective c section?

For background I’ve decided I’d like to ask for a c section for baby number 2. Some people have made comments about me being insane, or that I’m missing out of giving birth “properly”

I am curious as to why some people have this view.

My first born was semi elective c section, was rushed into an induction due to minor fetal distress and escalated a bit so had to choice to attempt vaginal birth or go for a C-section and I chose the c section. Positive experience and no regrets.

Because unnecessary surgeries are a drain on the NHS. Obvs

Not out of date, thank you. I'm not talking about the baby in recovery but the mother! When you have undergone surgery (in my trust) the mother has to be put in recovery and monitored for at least 20 minutes post surgery. And from what I've seen skin to skin almost never happens during that period. Please don't tell me what I've witnesed doing my job 😂

I think so personally, yes, but that poster seemed to separate ‘medical need’ and ‘pain relief’ as if the latter didn’t fall under the umbrella of the former. So I was curious as to whether she would want people to have to pay for epidurals as well as c sections.

You would judge a woman for being afraid to spend potentially days in relentless excruciating pain? For not wanting to soil herself in front of others, tear her vagina and potentially have incontinence issues for life? Giving birth is a terrifying prospect for most women, why do you believe that women should be beasts of burden even though there is an alternative option? That truly says more about you than the women you judge.

Totally agree and similar experiences here

There’s always one arsehole with a vile attitude.
Ignore them is the best thing to do

I fed both babies while in the recovery bay after both c sections.
Since the baby is placed on you for skin to skin while still in theatre why on earth would it stop in the recovery ward?
You have your baby from that point on.

It sounds like you work at a hospital where no one, including yourself, are well informed on the NICE guidelines.

Lots of things are a drain in the NHS.

Not when you compare them to attempted vaginal birth. NICE consider the difference when downstream costs are included to be a whopping £84. Who know, might be even less now. The assessment is a few years old, and the birthing population have got older and heavier in the interim, which you probably know aren't conducive to a population with good odds of straightforward, cheap vaginal births.

Will you advocate against attempted VB on cost grounds if we get to a point where it costs more on average than ELCS? I hope not, because that sort of attitude is no better in reverse. But it would at least be consistent.

Just sharing my experiences. Midwives aren't present during the recovery time in my trust, can't be the only trust this happens in. I'm very aware of the need for skin to skin thank you, having had two babies of my own, but my patient is the mother, NOT the baby at that time, because I am not a midwife and the mother has just undergone major surgery. Just explaining what might account for a PP stats on skin to skin.

My children were placed on me 5 minutes after being born for skin to skin. Please don't tell me what I have experienced giving birth.
Or am I not allowed to use that phrase?

I wouldn't judge anyone for this kind of decision. I was terrified of labour my whole life after they showed us the birthing film in primary school.
I was going to go natural and pool etc, but things went wrong and ended up in a c-sect.

My main pondering is this though: will everyone need to have c-sect's one day because natural selection will not have played a part in the 'size of brain' V 'pelvis size' part of the evolutionary equation.

ie - one day in the far future babies heads will be too big to fit through the pelvis and c-sections will be the only way to birth a baby?

Oh you’re a vaginal canal.

Sorry? I don't understand what you are getting at here.

Why would there need to be a midwife though? The baby has already been born, has already been passed to the mother in theatre, aside from the baby checks a few hours later it’s entirely down to the mother to care for the baby and decide how much skin to skin she does or doesn’t want to do.
I don’t understand how you are linking skin to skin 40-60 minutes after birth as anything to do with c sections?

I had an elective section AND I formula fed 💀

Fucking blissful it was too.

Im trying to understand what you mean.
Do you c-section would interfere with natural selection?
Where people with larger birth canals will not be naturally selected compared to those with smaller birth canals?

Can you say a bit more on how you think that might come to pass?

ELCS is actually cheaper than VagB, when the overall assoc cost of accident/negligence compensation is applied, which is much higher in vagB v CS.

Sigh. And from what I've seen- again, IVE SEEN, in the recovery period, after surgery, skin to skin does not happen as thoroughly and persistently as I have experienced it with natural births. Just my experience, which I am allowed to share.

I believe you but this sounds awful. Like others who have responded my baby was placed on me right away after my c section and it was wonderful. The anaesthetist was chatting away about his name. Then I was wheeled into another room to be observed for a while and baby stayed on me the whole time.

I cannot understand why skin to skin would rarely happen in your trust and this seems a real shame. In fact I asked about it when they told me I needed a c section and they told me they always do skin to skin right away unless the mum ended up needing general anaesthetic.

Yes, it's very grim but of course before c-sections existed there were many deaths of mothers, or babies, or both, and some of this was down to anatomy.

Women with a pelvic shape that complimented childbirth would have birthed children with larger skulls more easily. Hence the evolution of the human brain getting ever larger over time.
It's a co-evolutionary process.

So, in the simplest terms, if my mum had an emergency c-section due to a narrow or awkwardly shaped pelvic gap and I survived to inherit a narrow/awkwardly shaped pelvis - I may need a c-section to birth my child too - and so on.

I cannot believe that in this day and age people are seriously judging women for having c-sections! If you are one of these individuals then you should be ashamed of yourself - how a woman chooses/needs to give birth to her child is absolutely none of your business.

I proudly had a private elective c-section for my one and only DC. Everything went perfectly smoothly and as an added bonus I still have functioning pelvic floor muscles. Why would I want to go through the trauma and pain of pushing a baby out if I don’t have to? I will never understand all of this rubbish re: unmedicated births and needing to ‘feel + experience’ everything. All that I cared about was that my DD was delivered safely + quickly with minimal distress for either of us.

Thank you, and yes I have often wondered the same but I don't really feel like it's my place to facilitate this, I am not a midwife. I was only replying to the PP who said skin to skin rates were lower in c-section cases, and this is true from what I've seen. I think I should raise this issue, as it has always made me feel quite sad for all involved. I had my two babies VB at the same hospital and we had sustained skin to skin.

Someone just not wanting to “push” then yes but it’s none of my business and someone with a genuine reason such as traumatic birth previously then no.

i’ve had a vaginal birth which was difficult and an elsc as i had twins. Cs was a much nicer experience with better recovery. Post vaginal birth my stiches were done too tight (episiotomy) & a lot of pain for months as didn’t heal properly. Was induced, babies heart rate dipping and swallowed meconium etc so she was lucky not to need special care. Was induced after my waters went & failed to progress & i didn’t want to risk a repeat and possibly get one baby out and a crash section for another. Choosing elsc gave me
some control and less anxiety and despite it being “major surgery” i recovered quickly and healed better than i did 1st time down below.

editied to add i had skin to skin with elsc too. By the time baby 1 was weighed etc bany 2 was out. Husband held baby 1 next to me then he had baby 2 (same as first time round he held them first) both then given to me and we were wheeled up to hospital room with me holding both on my chest (both fine no special care needed)

Why do you care if someone doesn’t want to push?