I don't think "too posh to push" cs should be allowed on the NHS

[SoupDragon]

And by "too posh to push" I mean can't be ar$ed to do it "naturally, want to fit the birth into a busy schedule or want it early to avoid stretch marks. That kind of thing.

Obviously where there is a medical need (and by this I include maternal fear/distress where it can not be allayed beforehand} then yes, they should be provided by the NHS.

In the same way, I did not expect the NHS to provide me with a birthing pool, pay for the electricity and increased heating costs or provide me with food for my home waterbirth.

(yes, I know this will descend into popcorn and hard hats but I don't want to clutter up the other posters thread )

Darling i simply fail to understand why if it is on offer one would do anything else.

Powerful, shocking post about the American system, expat. I don't think enough Brits realise what is going on there.

SittingBull My SIL had a C/S with her dd because she was worried that she would be big like her first child. If SIL had been scanned they would have seen that she weighed nearly 3lb less than her brother, but she had already discussed the C/s which was agreed at an early stage.
I was offered a C/S with dd1 (as I had already had one with DS) but I didn;t want another C/S. I am 5ft and a size 8/10 and the consaltant was worried that I might not manage a normal deliverly, so I did put on my birth plan that if a C/S was needed I wanted to be awake, as it was I did manage it (twice)

Sparkly- a friend had a c.s for the same reason,...her first was 10 lb 3....2nd time......despite being monitored throughout her pregancy..she had elective c,s and the baby was just shy of 8 pounds.....and this was known by her & the docs....

People talk about natural birh being empowering. My labour made me feel humiliated, degraded and worthless and had severe panic attacks and claustrophobia. I came out of a cs feeling proud, ecstatic and on a total high.

I came out of both my C/s and my natural deliverlies feeling the same way. Proud and happy that I had produced a beautiful baby. I never felt that I had 'let myself down' when I had a C/S with my 1st child, I, personally, just knew that I couldn't go through it again, if there was no medical reason to have one,.

We are all different. I would be incredibly distraught if anyone said I had to go through labour again. I'd rather die. I'd have another caesarean tomorrow. No problem. I'd look forward to it. It was lovely.

Its nice to hear u guys saying a cs is just as rewarding as a natural birth cos i have a planned cs at nine in the morning due to baby being breech and this being my first pregnancy. Honestly i am slightly worried that i wont feel that overwhelming feeling a woman gets when she has delivered naturally, but i keep reminding myself this situation is the safest form of delivery for MY unborn child. p.s. know i should be in bed sleeping but its impossible!!! x

Oh, enjoy! It's a beautiful experience. Keep calm and focussed on your heautiful baby. Ask them to deliver the baby onto you. I wish I had. Only regret, really. What an amazing experience you are going to have! YOu lucky woman!

Thank you. Feeling very strange and ever so slighty scared but thats just the unknown i suppose. oh and evidently partner is having no trouble sleeping. They've not idea!!! x

I was so thrilled and elated. Bet your partner will be too. Time for bed for me and for you too! You wont' sleep for....(actually won't put that, it's too upsetting ) As I say, I'm very jealous.

There was, a fair while ago, a discussion on this on Richard and Jidy, talking years back now, and the woman there said that she wanted a C-section because she didn't want to spoil her Pelvic Floor by pushing a Baby out, and hers was done on the NHS...so, they do exist....! Personally ,to me, that is just not reason enough, and yes, that woman should have paid for it!
I would also like to point out, that you can rather easily make your case with a Consultant, you just tell them a made up story and voila, you get it...

Ah, Expat, we all differ huh? For thos who don't know, I too am American. And I would trade the NHS for the American system in a heartbeat. Whilst the NHS is virtually free to the patient, the service is mediocre at best. It lack a middle range of affordable quality care in my opinion. It is very two tier in the NHS, with the tiers very far apart. You can have free mediocre (NHS) or very very very expensive good quality (private). I think we need a middle ground where average people who can afford to pay something can get a better service, leaving the available resources for those who can't.

Anyway, just wanted to say Exapt's view is not typical as far as I know among Americans.

Oh, really, Boowila?

Among all 300m of them?

I'll bet it's pretty typical among the 44m who have no insurance.

Totally agree with you Boowila. Publicly funded resources should be there for the people who really need them not clogged up with people who can afford to pay a bit more. That way EVERYONE gets better care.

Just speculating here, but do you think if only the very poor have access to free health care that they would get the same quality of care as those who are paying?
I like the idea of the money going on those who need it, but I can't help feeling that if you remove all the mouthy, middle class people that the poorer & possibly less well-heard people will get short thrift.

I only personally know two people in the US who don't have medical insurance, and they get their medical treatment free. The big difference I see is the quality of care offered to the masses.

Are we talking about 44 million American citizens?

Is that how it works in the US then? People with no insurance get better care than they would here on the NHS?

I'm not saying that it should not be available to everyone, I just think there should be other alternatives and possibly some incentives for people to stop relying on free medical care(if they can).
I really think that the poor quality of care here is not because the mouthy middle classes aren't pushing enough, I think it's because resources are massivly overstretched.
I mean, I have expensive private medical insurance and it doesn't even cover seeing a GP!! I mean seriously, it's a total joke!

No, we're talking about the NHS in the UK and how it works.

Not in the states, but is Australia people with no medical insurance get better (free) care than on the NHS (IMO) because a large % of the population has private insurance and so are not reliant on publically funded GPs, hospitals, obstetricians, etc.

Bugsy, I'm not suggesting that anyone get booted out of the NHS sytem. Just if we had a level of more affordable private care, then a lot of people would opt out leaving more resources for those who can't. Seems a win win situation.

For example, if I could pay say £15 to see a GP on Saturdays and not have to take time off of work, I would pay that. Then, the the appointment I'm not using could go to someone who can easily go in normal work hours. SAy, for example, a SAHD who has three kids, two are at school, and he could take the little one with him to the surgery during the day. I on the other hand am actually better off staying at work (where I would lose more than £15 in overtime) and then paying £15 to go on Saturday.

It was a real question expat. I apologise. I misunderstood the previous posts.