to be sick to death of getting conflicting information from these 'heath care proffesionals?'

[Gillyan]

MIDWIVES, CONSULTANTS, ANESTHETISTS! Getting really sick of all the conflicting information I'm being given. None of them seem to know what they are on about.

Saw MW yesterday and was chatting to her about birth options as I have STILL not made my mind up what to do. (I'm 32wks)

For those few souls on here that haven't heard me whinging on - I had a 3rd degree tear last time for no apparent reason, I am booked in for a section this time at my choice but still don't know if I even want it.

So far..

One MW said she would recommend an elective episiotomy to avoid a tear going into my bum and not to birth in water as it makes your tissue more likely to tear.

Consultant said - NO WAY for episiotomy as I would be more likely to tear and he suggested a water birth or happy for me to have a section.

Anaesthetist said, as it took 9 times to get the spinal in last time it would be better to have a General for the section.

When they were trying to get the spinal in I had just given birth, was bleeding everywhere and totally distressed and begged them to knock me out and was told it would be better for me to be awake.

Now I am being told it will be perfectly fine to be knocked out while still pregnant!!

He said they would try the spinal as often as I could bare

MW yesterday said they are only allowed to try 3 times and thats it??????

When I asked one MW what happens if I go into labour before the section date she said we just examine you to see how far on you are then if you change your mind and want to give birth thats fine or we just whisk you in for the section.

MW yesterday said NO WAY that will happen, she said if you go into labour before your section date they won't give you a section without a medical reason - to which I relpied, erm..what about the reason I am terrified about ending up with a colostomy bag and the consultants have already agreed I have every right and reason to have one???? She said not. Section is booked for 39 wks and I had DD at 37 so now scared I'll go into labour and my choice will be taken away from me.

WHO do I believe, getting so so fed up of this. I really don't know what to do. I spent all afternoon crying yesterday.

The only thing I can do is to go for it and just hope I don't tear as badly again. Thats it, 'hope' or maybe give birth in water...if the pool is free..if my labour is safe to do so.

Otherwise I go for the section ( if I make it to the day ) and risk having to have a general anaesthetic as they had problems getting the spinal in last time when I needed to be put back together.

What do you reckon?

And I did start a thread asking about anyone who had a bad tear last time, what happened second time but didn't get too many replies so would be very intersetd to hear your stories

I would raise your concerns with the anaesthetic staff at the 36 week meeting.

If you go in, and say you know it was hard last time but you are really really really keen to have a regional I can't imagine that you'll get denied the opportunity to have one. However it might not work you need to accept this.

Sods law dictates though that it will inevitably go in first time and you'll decide the anaesthetist last time was truly useless .

I would hope you would get somone senior to do it without making a huge fuss.

I have...erm...issues with the message that has come through that you won't have a c/s if you labour prior to an elective c/s.

Having dragged my tired butt to theatre many a night to do just that.

If you are a planned c/s then it can happen anytime. Although the anaes. side of things would need review.

Sometimes, if an elective is booked for different reasons to yours, and the woman presents ina great labour, that she is coping with, where clear progress is being made, then all parties may reconsider. Which I would consider good flexible woman centred care. The words 'never' and 'definately' tend to be useless in the relms of birthing women.

That's how I decided in the end. I knew that I would recover from the section - it was controlled if you see what I mean whereas no-one could tell me what would happen if I had a vaginal delivery. I could've ended up having to have reconstructive surgery, which I understand is not pleasant and the results of which were not guaranteed either.

Yes it would be sods law wouldn't it. They did manage to get it inlast time and it did hurt with all the attempts but nothing like giving birth, I'm not bothered by needles at all so quite happy for them to keep trying.

I would totally accept anything that I have to if needed.

I was just starting to feel like I could be a bit pushed around i.e having the GA to suit them, I will just have to be firm and and insist, nicely, if someone else can try.

Starting to think, yes I'll have the section now as all this stress and anxiety will go away. Was not as worried about the risks associated with c/s as much as the risk of tearing again and having bad care until the prospect of the GA.

But I'm alos now worried that if i FINALLY decide on the section and go into labour before I won't get it. Although this would fall into my 'out of my hands' category.

treedelivery crossed posts.

Yes I am bothered about the whole 'can't have an elective befoe the planned date' comment which was from the MW I saw last week.

The consultant never said I could only have it on the specified date!

i think I'll give the senior MW a ring and double check everything that thsi woman told me.

Gillyan - to add to my post about that fear, I would simply ask the hospital to futher reassure you on that matter. That unless this baby is visable and you agree to vaginal birth [tounge in cheek but you know what I mean] you are having a section.

Re the ga to suit them, IME - the culture against GA for section is so strong this is unlikely. Not impossible though so I don't mean to counter your concern as such, I would just encourage you to get more clarification and reassurance as to the managemnet and reasons for it. From the aneas. team. No use asking a midiwfe for example.

Just re-read all the last 3 pages properly.

Just want to add it was a spinal not an epidural. And I sat still, never flinched.

Also I think the plumbing analogy works

TBH the anesthetist was very quick to recommend a GA and when I said ina shocked voice 'oh no I don't want a general' he said 'why?' like I was mental, I would of thought it would be alst rosrt too and avoided if possible.

Also reading back from other posts, I will try and go down the route of either confirming that I can have a section at any time or trying to nring it forward to 38 wks as this is when I had DD anyway.

Thanks for the tips about refusing forceps, if I did have to give birth for e.g. and baby got stuck or soemthing I now know that I would insist on emerg/section rather than instrumental delivery - risking more damage down there.

Let us know how you get on - update this thread if you like. I for one wil be interested in how you get on.

gillyan

I've done loads of "booked elective LSCS now in labour so needs a section now" work in the middle of the night so I think the MW was talking bollocks about you not being able to get one if you went into labour.

If you came in like that there will still be an anaes. consultant on call to support the oncall team so don't fear. If it was a junior anaesthetist on call (junior being relative as to cover Obs out of hours you will usually have done at least 24months of anaesthesia) I don't think they'd feel happy doing either the spinal or the GA given your history so would want the boss in ASAP.

Good luck!

Arh thanks your advice/info ahs been great.

Just been speaking to DP now and I am going to have the c/s. I am going to try and get hold of my MW tomorrow ( the supervisor ) and get it confirmed from her that I can have an elec/c/s at anytime if I go into labour ( obviously not if head is on it's way )

I will speak to my consultant at 36 wks about the anesthetist and if not on the day be firm about them trying as much as is possible or getting someone else to try.

If I have to have a GA I suppose it's not the end of the world as long as we are both ok.

The fear of getting terrible MW's is a real one too. I have some lovely MW's on my team nut also a crap one. The one's I had with DD were awful, they were short staffed and left me on my own until they realised I was ready to push.

The hospital is a big one BTW.

I guess the section is the only way to avoid my biggest fear about further injury to my bum.

Also DD I had on my own - I had split up with the 'father' before I had even found out I was PG. This time is all planned but my partners family have a history of MASSIVE babies - both over 10-11lbs, first resulting in emer/sect next one planned. So I had a bad enough time having a 7.5 baby let alone anything bigger!

gasman thanks so much for your advice - yes I think MW was just being a bitch TBH, i shall have words with her boss tomorrow.

Gillyan - I will try to come back at some point after my elCS Wednesday morning, and let you know how recovery goes.

Meanwhile, don't be afraid to say "No" in your meetings with consultant, anesthetist, and midwife. When in hospital for first birth, I thought they knew best and had my best interests at heart, which I sadly realized later was not necessarily true for everyone I met. This time, I have been refusing what I don't like (early induction, stereoid injections so I could be induced, being kept 'hungry' in case I'm induced, etc). They can't make you do anything you don't want to do.

I posted earlier on the thread Gillyann, and now I see you have opted for the CS.

As I mentioned, I have had three and have always found recovery pretty easy. With my second, there was some trouble getting the spinal to work properly, I got in a bit of a state. It worked in the end, but wore off before I even got to the ward - a far cry from the one I had with DC1 which lasted for about ten hours.

I was worried about the spinal not working when I had my third DC. But the anaesthetist was great and it was as easy as anything, and lasted a good long time. Shame on me to say it but after being up in the night to wee every hour for the preceding two months, I love that post-CS cosy feeling from an spinal and a catheter you can't feel [lazy cow emoticon].

My sister had a CS for her first as she was breech. For her second she had a VBAC, and was given an episiotomy. She told me it hurt just as much as the Caesarean scar had, the only difference was she got no sympathy from anyone.

Good luck!

Gillyan just to reiterate what you've been told here, I was booked in for an elective CS with DD and was told if I went into labour in advance it was entirely up to me if I wanted to try and give birth or have the section at that point.

Having had an EMCS following a 55 hour failed induction with DS, the elective with DD (which I had a 38 weeks) was a breeze. It took about half an hour from start to finish, I was out of bed four hours later and ready to go home in 2 days. Initial pain soon wore off too.

Hope this helps.

cote You're having a elcs this wed???? OMG! Wow, hope it goes well, yes please come back and tell us how tou get on. Best of luck!! xx

ballon LOL at the cozy comments, yes I can imagine that will be lovely actually! I'm weeing all the time now and I know it will only get worse over the next few weeks. My bathroom is a floor below our bedroom and it's such a pain to get down the stairs every few hrs!

sunshine thanks for your info, glad you had such a good experience!

I rang to try and get hold of the MW today (the nice one) but she wasn't in so I asked to leave a message for her to call me back. 5 mins later another MW called from my team and said nice MW was away for the wk on annual leave and could she help....It was the bitch MW who told me a load of crap last week so I said 'no thanks I'll wait till she gets back' I bet she's wondering why I want to speak to the Senior MW having only just seen her ( horrible one ) a few days ago.

Thinking about it too, the consultant never said anything about c/s on booked day only and neither have the oother 2 MW's so she's just talking rubbish.

I will still get hold of other MW to confirm it but if i go into labour I will also just insist ( where feesable ) that I am having a c/s

Thank you to EVERYONE who has posted on here, I know there is no right or wrong answer but I just needed to keep talking it through and all the info off all of you has been really really great. I'll probably change my mind again yet, we'll see

DS was born this morning by elCS. Very positive experience. I haven't had painkillers for a few hours now and while there is some pain, it's totally manageable. Much less than with previous normal birth with huge episiotomy.

Congratulations Cote!

Much love to you and DS.

Remember to keep on top of the pain though. If you wait till that trolley has gone before deciding you need something you can be in for a long wait.

So glad it all went well.

Congratulations Cote. Make sure you keep on top of your pain relief, it is very important.

I can recommend elec CS as well.

UPDATE

Thansk for all the advice I got on this thread,

DD2 was born by elective c/section on 23/06/09 8lbs Summer Jennifer

I ended up in and out of hospital from 34 wks with premature labour that was stopped, kept having to go back in with contractions. Then at 36 wks baby was breech but kept turning every other day as I had excess fluid.

finally decided I wanted the lective section and every time they thought I was inestablished labour - dependning on what doc was on call - they tried to talk me out of the section.

Ended up back in on the 23rd, having biggest contractions yet - cervix wasn't dilating and although it was 6 days to go before my planned c/s I saw the head consultant man who happened to be on call and he was mazing and said if I wanted hee would do the section that day! I had a show in the morning and then lost more blood so I think I would of been established before long. He explained the risk to the babies lungs as I was 37 + 5 but he said it was just a small risk.

We took an hr to think and decided to go for it - I was in theatre within 30 mins and she was born within 10 mins from then, she came out screaming with an apgar of 9 and 9 so no worried about the lungs and 8lbs at 37 + 5!!

out of hospital in 2 days and am making a good recovery

I would chose section over possible 3rd degree tear anyday. The recovery is a million times better than from the tear and the whole experience was amazing and enjoyable.

UPDATE

And the spinal went in 2nd time - easy as that!

Congratulations, Gillyan! Glad you had a happy birth!

Hello all,

I was just wondering if there is any mums out there with children with scoliosis who could have a chat with me. The NHS's view is "keep an eye on her and if it gets worse, operates". I refuse to believe there isn't anything else that can be done. Have looked into some forms of exercise up in London (I live in the south west) and will probably have to travel there for treatment before it gets worse.

I hope to hear from you,

Bringuenti