Advice wanted please x

[Rhysmummy061106]

Hi all. I'm new to the site,was wondering if you could maybe give me some advice..
I had my first child nearly 9 years ago, I went 10 days over I went into hospital to be induced, I laboured for nearly 28 hours and only got to 2.5 cm.I had a spinal block for the pain, although I knew and felt it had worked. As my son's heartbeat started to dip I was rushed for a c/section. When I got to theatre the gave me a local anaesthetic in my stomach, to which of course i flinched as the spinal hadn't worked, I then had to be put under general anaesthetic and my baby was 5 hours old by the time I'd come round and was able to hold him.I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant with my 2nd child, and when I saw the consultant last week he was pushing me for a nature birth. I'm scared the same thing will happen again and that my baby will be hours old before I get to hold him or her. Had anyone else been through anything similar? Thanks (sorry for long post) x

I haven't had a similar experience, but I would doubt you'd end up with the general anaesthetic again, it's unusual I think. Did they have any idea why the natural birth was slow or why the spinal didn't work?

Most sections are done with spinal anaesthetic, so unless there's a reason why it doesn't work for you then I'd assume you'd get that in the event a vaginal birth was not progressing and you needed a section.

Good luck!

There are some unusual aspects. Spinals are not usually given unless there is going to be a caesarean. Usually it would be an epidural. Are you sure it was a spinal?

Aww sorry yes it was an epidural. I'm just nervous as to not being able to hold my child first as last time I suffered with the baby blues badly. And don't want that to happen again

I think that there are some aspects to look at first time that you have some control over this time to reduce the chances of your fears happening.

Firstly you were induced which is a major way of interfering with the process of labour. It makes it more likely to be a long old process so you are tired, you are more likely to need an epidural and be immobile and these things could have had an influence on your baby becoming distressed.

I have no idea why they gave you anesthetic in your stomach. I have never heard of this. Usually what they would do is try and top up the epidural to there is no feeling at all and test this with a cold spray. Could that be what made you flinch? If the top-up was not working and they thought that the baby was in distress then they may have decided that the best way forward was a general.

I think you have 2 options here. You either opt for a planned C-section, if the epidural worked its likely a spinal would but you need to get to the bottom of the problem with what happened as I think it is a bit mixed up in your memory. That is really common.

Or you try for a VBAC, no induction, stay as mobile as possible. Ask if your unit has wireless CTG to monitor the baby so you are not restrained with movement. They will want to continuously monitor. You might want to try hypnosis. Natal Hypnotherapy classes downloads are good and there are ones for both VBAC and C-section. This will help you feel calmer about the whole thing and help you cope with pain too.

Firstly, you can opt for the elective as you've had a previous c-section.

But if you try for a VBAC, be assured they will keep an extra eye on you. They won't let you labour off too long and will continuously monitor your baby through delivery.