Mums who have had both vaginal delivery & a c section?

[unsurebear]

So during my last (2nd) pregnancy I suffered from a UTI which resulted in my waters breaking at 36 weeks, getting infection upon infection, and also requiring a blood transfusion following a PPH.

We are now trying for a 3rd baby.

I spoke a midwife at the Birth After Thoughts team about the whole experience and she advised me I would be able to ask the consultant about a c section due to the complications with my last pregnancy.

Both births were vaginal and I find the idea of a c section quite scary and I know the recovery tends to be longer.

I know I must sound so shallow but I don't really want a scar on my belly, I have really bad stretch marks from my last 2 pregnancies.

I just wanted thoughts from mum's who have experienced both vaginal and c sections.

TIA

c section then vbac. Going for another vbac with recovery.

I’ve had both. Recovery from both was similar, c section obviously took longer and it’s weird having no strength, but I wasn’t in any more pain and I was up and about walking after the same amount of time. My c section was an emergency so came at the end of a tough labour. I think if I were to have a third I’d have a planned c section as I really didn’t think recovery was that bad and for me it would outweigh the pain of labour and the issues that come with it going wrong. I wish more people talked about their positive c section stories as I thought it would be the worst possible thing and it was actually fine.

I think it just varies so much, I know some people had far better recovery stories from CS than I did. Mine was the worst pain I have ever experienced and it was ongoing compared to labour which was soon forgotten. Plus Paracetamol as pain relief 😫

I had a traumatic birth with my first, in labour for 3 days, lost 2.5 litres of blood, both nearly died. vaginal in the end with forceps. Horrendous time.

I went for the c section with my second because I was so scared about nearly dying and wanted to make sure everything was easy and less chaotic.

It was great, no issues with recovery. I was home the next day.

First birth, lots of intervention and couldn't sit down for weeks afterwards.
Second birth, easy, no intervention, was hoovering the stairs the next day.
Third birth, crash section. Physically, better recovery than the first, I had to walk to the special baby unit the next day to express, mentally took a long time !

Emergency or planned c section?

I had two vaginal births which were awful, especially the first one. I had severe birth injuries and couldn't sit down comfortably for six months.

DD3 was then born by emergency caesarean at 35 weeks. It was far away the best of my deliveries - the least pain and the speediest recovery. No birth injuries and you really can't see the scar at all. Being along the bikini line means it is absolutely tiny.

So much depends on the bits you can't control/ decide. I already had an overhang/ apron belly from the age of 14, so wasn't worried with my scar from EMCS no 1. Tried for VBAC no 2 after LOTS of research - waters broke & labour started naturally but ended up being cut & stitched after a forceps delivery. Found this recovery worse due to the pain of the stitches and internal stretching. Third birth ended up as EMCS again - I'm no use at giving birth! I find the CSs easier to recover from - takes slightly longer overall but less concentrated pain.
Unlike some others, I haven't had any problems with abdominal muscles, despite the cutting, and long term I had more problems with the episiotomy scar.

First birth vaginal but with episiotomy. Painful to sit down for a while.
Second one emergency c section. Painful stomach wound but at least I could sit down comfortably,
Third one vaginal with no stitches. Amazed birth could be so (relatively) pain free.
I think I preferred the c section to the episiotomy.

I've had both - a c-section was much easier for me in every way. Faster recovery, scar hardly visible now.

Mine was the same. Horrible pain, worse than I ever could have imagined, with all the midwives jollying me along telling me that it wasn't really painful. I couldn't even stand up straight for weeks, I was always hunched over and had to lie with a pillow under my knees to stop my belly stretching and feeling like it was ripping open.

I’ve had a vaginal, a planned c-section, and then a Vbac. I would pick vaginal every time. For me the c-section recovery was long and gruelling. I’m not sure why it was for me. Even a year later I would get sharp pains. The scar is fine, don’t even realise it’s there. I have an over hang though.
These are all personal opinions though from differing experiences. In my experience vaginal birth is a lot of pain in a ‘short’ space of time, whereas my c-section was pain over a long time period and for me I didn’t want to experience that again and went for a vbac.
you need to dig deep, quieten out the noise, and let your gut instinct tell you what’s right for you

I've had one vaginal and two elcs. I'd always choose elcs, as internally your body will always be changed, even if you bounce back in other ways. I needed elcs for medical reasons and didn't have to request them, but I was secretly pleased that I had that excuse and my body wouldn't have the long term effects of three vaginal deliveries.
My births were all relatively easy and painless (I had an epidural and didn't feel any labour pains, but it didn't lead to any interventions or instruments being involved). I recovered fine from the elcs too, and only used paracetamol, I tried the oramorph once and it made me feel funny and the paracetamol worked fine on its own. My scar is fairly visible and has a raised appearance, but only DH ever sees it, it's not visible if I wear underwear or a swimsuit. Abdominally I have recovered completely, I do quite challenging ab exercises with no problems, and I have no problems joining my dcs in a trampoline park.

DH's workplace gives him 6m paid paternity so I didn't really need to test my early recovery, he did all lifting and chores for a couple of months. Maybe I could have managed on my own sooner but I wasn't going to insist on it!

C section wrecked my stomach muscles and also my back! Which no one warns you about! Feels like you’ve had your spine sliced! Then there’s the spinal injuries which a lot of us end up with and bladder and legs don’t work properly when you need them to

also stretch marks are nothing compared to the “apron” you end up with from the c section scar that never goes away

I had an emergency CS followed by a vaginal delivery. Vaginal wins for me, hands down. Recovery much faster, and an amazing feeling of achievement that I didn't get with my first.
It fucking hurt though. 😞

No VB here but 2 planned ELCS. Both at maternal request. Tbh I was scared at the lack of control with a VB, not knowing when or how it would go. I much preferred to have a date booked in. Recovery from both was straightforward, both happened mid afternoon and I was up and walking same day by 8/9pm once epidural wore off. Second I was home less than 24 hours later.
Second ELCS I was in theatre for a really long time as the epidural/spinal just wouldn't take - but judging by the number of staff who popped in to see thats pretty rare.

From what I hear nit all CS are equal - planned seem to have a good rep but crash sections are the worst of all worlds being as you've usually laboured for a while so are already exhausted and in pain and if its a cat 1 they put you to sleep which is another layer of recovery.

Although I don't have my own experience of VB id 100% recommend ELCS, definitely.

Thank you for the experiences ladies, has given me food for thought.

So with a c section, are you awake during the procedure?
Do they give you an epidural with a c section as well?

How long does a planned c section usually take?

With my last pregnancy my waters broke, had to wait to 2 days to be induced, it was all over the place.

I like the idea of knowing the exact time and date I will be giving birth to be honest.

I guess I have never really thought about a C section it as I always assumed that it was either done in an emergency, I wasn't aware that you could request one.

I did have a 2nd degree tear that I can feel when I sit down, I also lost the sensation of my bladder for 4 months last time, was awful.

With my elective last year, I was awake. They give you a spinal block, which is like an epidural but more total in its effect and takes far longer to wear off (was how it was explained to me).

It took about 50 minutes from start to finish I think but I stopped paying attention once the baby was out to be honest!

It does really impact your core strength for a while, which can be bit of a shock at first! I was advised to sleep totally flat, as much as I might not want to, and was really careful to not use my core when getting up from laying down in particular. I was also up and about pretty much straightaway, gently pushing myself every day.

13 months on and my scar has healed really well and I’ve got no overhang/apron at all. Also no back pain.

It was so much easier to recover from, both physically and psychologically, than my vaginal birth. But I appreciate that I had an arduous time there. I have friends who have laboured start to finish in 3 hours, no tearing etc so think a c section would probably feel very difficult to recover from for them.

Everybody is different. I had a horrible planned section and have experienced longterm issues afterwards, whereas beyond being a little tender, a forceps delivery after 30 hours was an absolute doddle.

I had a planned section as my daughter was breach. It was an amazing experience, I was nervous at first but surgeons midwives made it so calming.
tiniest scar right below bikini line (9 years on and you can hardly see it)
recovery was so quick aswel, I know not everyone recovers quickly but I was up and about day 2! Would recommend a planned to anyone x

I've had 3 C-sections and this also has been my experience.