Earliest you can have an ELCS?

[Sparklies]

This is DC3 - DC1 arrived spontaneously (and quickly!) at 36w6d. I had preterm labour with DC2 at 34 weeks which stopped, but I ended up having her at 35w5d as I had an infection via EMCS.

My babies (so far) are always BIG - 95th percentile when born. They come out screaming with maximum apgars, and come home with me, despite the theoretical prematurity. I honestly don't think my body is supposed to bake them for 40 weeks - there is a reason I have not made it to term yet.

This time out I require an ELCS as I have a permanent stitch in so the only exit is through the sunroof. I could labour for eternity and all I'd get would be a ruptured uterus (which means if I went into labour pre ELCS it could be.. interesting) This is compounded by the fact I am prone to precipitous labours. Plus we need to schedule out childcare and haven't got any emergency form of childcare. So I really, really don't want an emergency situation.

Ideally, so long as everything checks out of course, I'd like an ELCS scheduled for 37 weeks or a few days after - full term, but I would actually possibly stand a chance of reaching it. 38 weeks I'm pretty sure I won't and never mind 39 weeks.

As you can probably guess, my consultant won't schedule an ELCS before 38 weeks despite all these mitigating circumstances. However I don't like my consultant much and I am planning on going somewhere else anyway.

To compound it all I have seriously bad SPD (to the extent even my osteopath doesn't have a clue how to fix it) and have done since 16 weeks - I can't walk more than a few yards (and I'm in pain for that) and I have two young DCs I have fulltime care of. So the sooner the better for that reason too although it's the least of my concerns really. My main one is the sudden labour/uterine rupture fear which my current consultant won't even listen to me over.

Has anyone managed to get a baby via ELCS any earlier than 38 weeks? Was it with a consultant in a south east London hospital by any chance and if so who? Or.. can anyone recommend a consultant at a hospital that actually, you know, LISTENS to their patient? Probably asking a bit much with that one though..

I requested ELCS in this pg following the unexpected death of my first baby a day after birth. She died of infection. But also my birth was pretty traumatic. So, I want a different and more controlled experience this time.

Consultant agreed straight away. I was initially booked in for 38+5 as he wanted me to be close to 39 weeks. As this falls on a Friday and I am worried about weekend cover/consistency of maternity staff, he has moved to it to 38+3.

Good luck with everything.

LunaticFringe - Yep, there are definitely some conditions that absolutely warrant no labour whatsoever, and in those circumstances even 35 weeks sounds like it's pushing it!! Thankfully I am not in that boat - although ideally I don't want to labour for very long.

Bandita - Thank you for the tip! Yes, with placenta previa I'm not surprised they did an ELCS at 37 weeks!!

sh77 - Thanks! I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. I am very glad your consultant agrees (would have been unbelievably cruel otherwise but knowing some doctors..) It's nice you're getting it at 38+3. Mine will be 38+2 but the day before the enormous Royal Wedding bank holiday so I will be stuck with the agency maternity staff.. he won't push it any earlier though so it was that or hope I last the weekend! Not very convinced I will hit 38 weeks anyway so it probably won't be an issue.. heh.

My frustration is that nobody believes me over my original precipitous labour/preterm labours or that it might be an issue with this one. I think they think it is all tied into my incompetent cervix and as that has been "fixed" it shouldn't be a problem now, but they can't know that for sure. Nobody can!

I had an elective at 37 weeks, but that was because of obstetric cholestasis and very bad liver function. Was originally booked in for 39 weeks, then liver function deteriorated and they re-scheduled for 38 weeks, and finally it was 37 weeks.

Get them to book in as early as you can (38 weeks is pretty early for most Consultants - you might have actually 'got lucky' with your Consultant, as lots of them won't do it routinely before 39 weeks). Then if you feel a sniff of labour symptoms, you go to the labour ward and you kick up an almighty fuss. If there is a genuine need to deliver earlier via section, they will, don't worry!

AvaBanana - Yes, I can see how that would have ended up happening!

Yes, I suspect I am lucky getting so close to 38 weeks, which is why I grabbed at it even though it may take me almost two hours to get there. I think my local hospital would have not gone before 39 weeks which I did not want at all. I will definitely do what you suggest if things look like they're possibly happening (especially post 37 weeks when they may well go "oh, we might as well..") I was actually induced at 35w4d last time (ended up with an EMCS a day later) because of an infection so perhaps I am spoilt!!

Booked in for els yesterday. Despite asking whether it could be at 38 wks consultant was very specific that to do a cs any earlier would be against national guidance in my case. I assume there are medical reasons why they might consider doing cs earlier than 39, but not in straight forward cases.

Thanks sparklies . Just make sure you and baby get checked regularly and make a noise if you are not happy. Best of luck. x