Can I request a C-section?

[Jsa1980]

It looks like I'm having a massive baby with a massive head!

I'm not saying I will have a caesarian but I'd like to discuss the option with someone, my concerns were brushed off by the midwife today. Can I take it any further with anyone else?

I'm 5"2 and used to weigh 8 stone and am very narrow. I'm 27 +6 today.

It wasn't explained to me until today just how big the head measured on the 20 week scan and my bump measures 30 weeks.

I'm also pretty sure the baby is breach as I've had no movement at the top of my bump, only at the bottom. Again this was dismissed by the midwife.

How to I get them to address my concerns as I don't feel like I'm being listened to.

Don't get me wrong I don't think a c-section is the easy option and I guess I'm just scared.

The only bit I can help with is the baby's position. My baby is breech oblique and I've been told that they have no interest/concern in the position of the baby until 36 weeks - I'm 35+3. Try not to worry as you've got a while yet and you need to trust your midwife. Good luck.

Definitely don't worry about position now -- it's too early to matter and the baby has plenty of time to engage.

With regard to size, are you talking about measurements of your bump? I thought these were not considered reliable anymore -- where I am they don't even bother. They weigh me and do an abdominal exam. If you are concerned maybe you can have a growth scan, where they measure head circumferance, femur length and probably a few other things and then estimate weight. (Event this is often wildly inaccurate.)

See how you get on, there's plenty of time for the baby to move. I had an emergency c-section in August and the recovery is pretty painful! I would not have chosen it.

I'm having an elective cs next week due to my baby being so big. Growth scans since 20 weeks show baby is on/over 95th percentile for all 3 measurements (head circumference, abdominal circumference and femur length) and my bump measures ahead. Gestational diabetes has been ruled out. My experience was that different consultants have different views - one was clearly recommending I have a cs due to risk of baby getting stuck, difficult birth, severe tears etc, another thought induction was the best option. In the end I thought my chance of a good vaginal birth was not looking good, and I'd prefer to have elcs than emergency one after hours of labour, or hideous tearing down there. I am worried about the cs though, especially the recovery and hope I have made the right decision.

I think if the baby is measuring big then you should be granted an elcs if you want but you might have to request a second opinion and push for it as there is pressure for them to keep cs rates down. You might also find that your baby's growth slows down later in pregnancy - this happened to my friend. Mine has remained huge throughout! Am 38 weeks now and enormous.

30 cm at what is essentially 28 weeks is perfectly normal so please dont worry about that. They are happy with 2 cm either way from your number of weeks.

Anybody has a right to request a C Section. The NICE guidelines have recently changed. Have a read of them as they are really useful in explaining how to go about it, what your rights are and also the relative risks. Many doctors/midwives on the NHS will have you believe that you don't have this right and many will still use language which suggests that they can flatly refuse to offer you an ELCS. This is not true!

If you do discuss the option with your doctor/midwife make sure you ask for the right statistics. They will automatically give you statistics which compare the risks of ALL C-sections (ELCS and EMCS) against all VBs. Just make sure to ask for a comparison only between ELCS and VBs. Obviously emergencies are of higher risk, that's why they are emergencies, but the statistics are actually not relevant if you are considering ELCS vs. VB. I hope that makes sense!

Bigfairy try not to worry about the recovery, it does hurt for the first few days after you get home but I was still able to go back and forth to see ds in the SCBU. The worst things were getting out of bed, and goinf over bumps in the car! I was worried the scar would reopen but despite all the to and froing to the hospital and a sneezy bout of hayfever (which hurt!) nothing bad happened and paracetamol did help take the edge off. The worst bit is over after a few days. :)

In short yes, you can. With DD2 I knew I wanted a ELCS after DD1 was a EMCS. My midwife was v dismissive and made me feel like a naughty girl for wanting this.

Fortunately I had consultant care too and with them there was no issue at all.

I suggest you ask to be referred to discuss your concerns.

Thank you ladies. I guess it's still early days but it is good to know that I do have the option to discuss it.