Csection or forceps

[BusyBee86]

What would you prefer to have if you had the choice? Csection or forceps and other intervention?

What was your recovery like if you have had either of these?

Congrats NoTime - hope you heal quick and baby is out of NICU pronto.

Had two c sections

1st semi elective after overdue with undisgnosed breach, went back two days later, all calm and went smoothly.

2nd elective in notes from 8 weeks booking in appointment. This was due to issues related to first pregnancy and birth. I saw the specialists midwife for two counselling appointments.

I never ever experienced going into labour with either. Both procedures calm, timed, organised and very much planned for.

I had a cleaner booked for six weeks after birth and DH was great, I told him what I needed. I stocked fridge up with lush ready meals from M and S (one time only!).

C-section.

It is a complete fabrication that CS has "high risk of adhesions and fibroids (affecting future fertility) and placenta acreta", especially in elCS which OP's will be, if she chooses to have one.

Nobody knows for sure what causes fibroids, and there is something called Adhesion Barrier thanks to which adhesions following elCS are quite uncommon these days. And placenta accreta would be "high risk" following a CS only if you have already had multiple CSs.

Whilst I'm very pro cs (see my earlier comments) I'm not sure I agree with you cote - I got pregnant with dd1 within a month of not being careful, not even 'trying' really - yet my next 2 pregnancies (1 mc, dd2) took 8 months each of active trying. This could of course be a complete coincidence but during my second cs the surgeon commented on the amount of adhesions I had - it took longer because of them. So whilst I don't regret either of my sections, I would say, in my case at least, that my fertility was affected.

I don't doubt your story but do consider that correlation is not causation - i.e. that you have taken longer to conceive the second time around doesn't necessarily mean that the reason was your CS.

I know several people who have tried in vain to conceive DC2 for years, and their DC1s were born vaginally, fwiw.

I haven't been able to read all the replies but got as far as someone saying that they would be refusing forceps apart from the lift out ones.
This was my plan, I had that all over my notes and was hysterical telling them they were going to kill my baby when they made me sign a consent for a trial of forceps or section. There is no option to just consent for section when you get to the stage where they are deciding between high/mid forceps and section. They used the forceps despite pretending they probably wouldn't.
I had complications including PPH, my episiotomy opening, which they don't restitch, and an episode of faecal incontinence which thankfully was a one-off.
My friend's baby needed 6 months physio after a forceps delivery and at meeting with consultant for number 2 they told her if she definitely won't consent to forceps then her ONLY option is planned section, basically admitting that you do not get a choice if things get that far. Which was also my experience.

Keillands are horrendous and still in use in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, despite the fact that a perfectly healthy baby was killed in 2009 in ERI by their use - her spinal cord was broken.
I had Haig-Ferguson forceps and they were not a walk in the park either.

I'm not sure if anyone's brought this up, but it's my understanding that you can end up having both...?

During my second section the surgeon had some trouble taking the baby out and called for forceps to help things along. Fortunately they weren't needed in the end.

Perhaps someone with more medical knowledge knows how common this is? But I'd imagine there's less risk of damage to the mother when the extraction is via the incision rather than the vagina.

Whether or not they caused me to take longer to conceive I don't know, but I certainly have adhesions, it is written in my medical notes and is the reason that my cs took longer than normal.

i'm day 4 post forceps delivery vbac...previous emergency cs. so far although i am very very sore swollen and bruised down below the recovery is still better than cs. on day 4 i still struggled to stand up post cs and just was much less able. saying that it was emergency cs not elective and i was exhausted after long labour. however i can't sit down at all or stand for more than few mins at moment.

at present i'm glad i went for vbac even though i ended up with forceps which had been my worst nightmare. i had a senior very skilled obs doing my forceps delivery. dd was bruised for 2d but looks fine now. i'm still bruised and open jury about pelvic floor but that was fairly shot anyway..

i will see how recovery goes to help me decide re delivery of future dc. so far would go vbac again.

Have a c section.

I had forceps (the large ones - DD was 9 15) and very long delivery with DD. I was in pain for couple of weeks after. Not to mention the trauma of delivery. I now have a a severely prolapsed uterus which will need surgery.

I haven't been guaranteed a c section next time, but I would have one if possible.

I've had forceps deliveries twice - second was Kiellands forceps last June.

I would opt for a c-section if I ever had a 3rd.

My poor mangled bits would choose c-section too.

DS was born with rotational forceps - would they be Keillands? I had no idea at all of the risks... He was back to back and not coming out.

I had an epidural but turning him was still the worst pain I can remember.

It took a good 2 weeks to recover (obviously it needed an episiotomy) and I was in a lot of pain for that time. My stitches tore as well.

However, I'm not certain that a recovery from an emergency c-section would necessarily have been any easier.

In all honesty, I took the view that the Drs knew what they were doing and would do whatever necessary and whatever was best for me and DS to come out of there alive.

A few things picked up from previous posters:

1. Putting "no forceps" on your notes. As another poster has already stated, you simply won't be allowed this choice in practice. I stated in my birth plan that in the event of needing an instrumental delivery I wanted to choose to go straight to CSection. I was effectively press-ganged into trail of forceps first. I was exhausted, very stressed and in massive pain as I'd let me epidural wear off to improve pushing . I was told the consultant thought he'd definitely get her out (he was right - but at what price?) so I reluctantly agreed.
2. References to "pushing really hard/pushing for your life" when threatened with forceps. If your baby is, like mine was, in a position such as deep transverse arrest they are stuck. They will never come out from pushing alone.
3. Requesting an episiotomy over tearing. Can't comment on the pros and cons of this but see upthread what happened to my episiotomy - not fun and not restitched.
4. Asking for an experienced consultant to do the episiotomy and stitching. Yep, that's exactly who did mine. Didn't help one iota.
5. Use of forceps AND csection. There are two distinct types of case where this happens and I think they are getting muddled (forgive me if I've misread this).

i) The first case is where a CS, ELCS or EMCS is being performed and the baby is stuck so can't be got out of the abdominal cavity. I could be wrong, but in this scenario I assumed that the forceps were used through the abdonimal inscision to get a grip on the stuck baby. I'm not sure whether the baby could be manouvered into a more favourable position via the vagina - perhaps someone else could answer this? ii) The second case (what happened to me) is "trial of forceps" in theatre, where forceps are tried first and if the baby can't be got out that way then they move to CS. I was "lucky" that I didn't end up with the double whammy of forceps damage plus CS recovery but WISH TO GOD I'd fought harder for that csection.

I wish I could agree with Trazzletoes that Drs knew what they were doing and would do whatever necessary and whatever was best for me and DS to come out of there alive.

There was NO GOOD REASON to risk my daughters and my health with Keillands forceps instead of a CS - other than to keep CS rates down (and IMO so that the consultant could show off his skills to the medical students I had foolishly permitted to watch).

herethere sorry, I'm not saying my attitude was right. Just that it was the attitude I had. As I've said I had no idea of the risks associated with the forceps until today. And my DS is 3. And I did 2 childbirth courses!

Sorry Trazzle I've just re-read what I wrote and it comes across as really aggressive . My anger and aggression aren't directed at you at all (or anyone else on this thread!) I was trying to offer a contrast view for anyone who hasn't had a forceps delivery like we both had - I'm afraid my experiences have coloured my views!

My thinking was exactly the same as your before my first delivery. I'd prepared, read Marie Mongan and Juju Sundin, was fit and healthy, no history of birthing problems in my family and I trusted on of the top hospitals in the country.

Oh herethere I didn't take it as aggressive! Don't worry! I thought I just hadn't explained myself properly. back at ya.

I'm under the impression that forceps are used in a CS to avoid making a very much bigger incision to allow surgeon's hand/s plus baby through. Plus the smaller incision simulates the physical benefits of a vaginal birth, squeezing the baby's lungs better and leading to fewer breathing difficulties. However, since the incision is held open by clamps and IS bigger than the birth canal, the forceps are much less potentially damaging, especially since there are no bones in the way and the risks of any awkward position are much lower. So in terms of risk to the baby, the risks for forceps in CS are minimal compared to vaginal ones. They are really used to ease the baby out. DD3 had forceps marks from her rather precipitous CS but they faded within a day and there was never any question of her being damaged by the forceps.

I personally feel that vaginal forceps belong in the 17th century. They may have saved lives in the days before surgery did a better job, but really why risk it now that we have much less dangerous medical birth options?

Herethere I am one of the posters who said about no forceps.

I can assure you that you can say no, you just need to mean it, and be sure of yourself. I'm a midwife, and I damn well made sure I got my birth preferences. I went completely against everything that was in the policies and guidelines, including labouring in a pool (vbac) no continuous ctg, went to 40+20 etc. I was planning a homebirth, but due to reduced movements I decided to have an induction. It wasn't a standard induction either. I pretty much forced the hand of the consultant. Will never get a job there now!

I can assure you, no one will come near me with forceps ever again.

I've had a failed ventouse, complete with episiotomy before my section. I don't part with my babies well.

The hell that is a forceps delivery is one of the reasons why my DD is an only child. She was yanked into the world following a long back to back labour, after a Registrar tried and failed to manually rotate her whilst still in the birth canal. I was told that ventouse / forceps were pretty much the only option, as she was so low down and that they would be preferable to baby being pushed back into position to facilitate a C section. I was moved to theatre and the Consultant (who apparently had not delivered a baby in years) first attempted to get her out by Ventouse. After 3 attempts, he declared that he "thought he could get baby out" by means of short forceps.

Yes, DD was delivered safely but she had awful bruising to her head and screamed blue murder every time anybody touched her, particularly when we attempted to get her to latch on. She was prescribed Calpol at a day old "to help her to feed" - you can only imagine how wrong that felt on every level. Thankfully, she recovered well and is now a healthy and happy 7 year old.

I, on the other hand, continued to feel the effects of those hideous instruments for years. I had a 3rd degree extended episiotomy (which is a euphemism for "we cut you, but you tore anyway"), which developed a haematoma, which subsequently became infected. I was in agony for around 4 weeks, with a lower level of discomfort that went on for years. Long story short, I ended up being re-stitched when DD started school.

I'm not brave enough to have any more children, but if I did, I'd be booking my C section from day 1.