Can you request a particular consultant to perform an elcs?

[Tea1Sugar]

On the NHS?

I had an awful birth with dd1 (I'll spare you the details) but I had to have a repair job when she was 12 weeks and I did this privately with an amazing consultant.

Now 24+3 with dd2. My GP happily referred me to him on the NHS as I'm consultant led so I've been seeing him for appointments. He's approved an elcs this time but I really really want him to perform the procedure. Is it down to pure luck who's on on the day?

Yes, I think it is down to luck. Even on the day of our planned C/S, I was introduced to one consultant and anaesthetist as the ones who would do mine and ended up having someone else as I was pushed back by 3 hours.

I think it's down to luck. I had to have a paed present at my C-section and I asked for DS2's paed but she wasn't on call for theatre that day. She was working in NICU the day after he was born though and took over his care then. I was lucky that the consultant specialising in fetal anomalies was available so she came and assisted while the registrar did the operation. She'd been DS4's consultant since they'd found a problem at the 20 week scan and she'd done my ERPC after my second miscarriage too so I knew her quite well.

I think you usually get somebody on your consultant's team.. could be wrong though, could be anyone from the pool available at the hospital for all I know. I've never met anyone before who did my two.

Often unless it's going to be a high risk c-section, you're more likely to get a registrar in my experience. I had a consultant with DC2 for my EMCS and the midwife was telling me in hushed tones afterwards how lucky I was to have her although I was not high risk aside from being 35 weeks. She was right, the stitches healed great! I was not so lucky with DC3 - he was a registrar, perfectly pleasant, did a fine job really - but the stitches were just not quite as good!

I think the only way you get any sort of guarantee (and even then they might be sick/on holiday) is to pay to see them privately at vast expense.

Roses I got that too. I lost count of the number of drs and anaesthetists I met who were meant to do my C-section as it was delayed 24 hours.

At my local hospital mostly the consultant does the ERPC's and mostly the registrars do the C-sections. Weird when you think my baby who had already died was "delivered" by a consultant and my premature, disabled, awkwardly lying alive baby was actually delivered by a registrar, albeit with the consultant supervising. She did a good job though, apart from bruising DS4's shoulder with the forceps, but with the way he was lying that was inevitable I think.