Advice on having a elective c-section

[stephmcuk]

I had an emergency c-section when i had my dd nearly 3 yrs ago. I am currently 33 weeks preggers now and really want to go for another c-section this time. I have to go to the hospital on the 3rd jan to talk to the doc about it and am scared he/she will say no you have to have a natural labour. can they do this? or if you ask for one then they let you.

also if you do have a c-section when they numb you (spinal) can the dad be there, i have read alot of birth stories when the dad had to wait outside is this routine?

Thankyou in advance

glad it went so well for you loopy

lola, you sound like you are more inclined to give VBAC a go, so what might be a good idea is to do a VBAC and a c.s birth plan, so that should your VBAC not go to plan, you can have your wishes acknowledged for a c.s birth

Thanks for the good advice re birth plan Lulumama - have made up my mind and written 2 birth plans accordingly. Now I just need to keep my fingers crossed ....

My dp wasn't allowed in for the spinal and being prepped but he was let in before the start of the operation. (elective due to breech baby)

I had emergency with 1st (25 hour labour, stuck at 9cm, exhausted, baby in distress) spinal and DH arrived just seconds before they cut me open.

2nd pregnancy I requested an elective c section. My midwife was supportive but I came up against a female consultant who wanted me to have a "trail labour" and VBAC but I had a well rehearsed speach! I wasn't going to be swayed, I wanted an elective and had a list of reasons. My biggest one was that should anything go wrong if I was to have a general anesthetic I would be devastated. I was so out of it when I had ds1 I can hardly remember it (the only drugs I had was one shot of pethedine hours before i actually gave birth and then gas and air)I wanted a more positive experience for my second child.

I did have an elective section last year. Was a truly amazing experience. My DH was with me from coming into the hospital, into the anesthetic room, sat there whilst they did my spinal block, he went to get changed when they did my catheta, then back with me for the whole thing.

If you are sure it is what you want and you have thought through looking after a child and coping with a c section then show them that you have thought both options through. It is what I did and it worked for me.

Good luck.

So far hospital medical staff have been quite relaxed about me having the choice over what sort of birth which is a good thing. I am going to try for natural birth - spoke to a mother at local toddler group yesterday who had successful VBAC with 2nd child which was helpful/reassuring. I guess the main thing is that actually I woudn't be so shocked if I ended up with an em section this time.

Fizzylemonade - out of interest, how did you cope with recovering with one small child at home?

Have a sweep booked for tomorrow morning (only 37 + 5 but they don't want me to go over given scar from previous section) so we'll see what the next 48 hours hold!

Hi,
had an el c/s 11 weeks ago, dd1 was born by emc/s and just didn't want to go through same experience.
Was the best decision for us this time, dh got to stay with me all the time, incl insertion of spinal, got to see dd2 being delivered and was able to cut her cord.
Able to go home 48 hours post c/s, yes I was sore but nothing I wasn't able to cope with. Found myself in Next the following day, walking like a half shut knife but was determined to get dd2 some clothes that fitted her!
Dd1 is only 2 and understood that mummy shouldn't really pick her up or be bounced on but think that she helped me to get over c/s quickly.
at the end of the day, it's our choice,
good luck with everything

a sweep at 37 + 5 is not really going to help, they only work if you would have gone inot labour within 24 - 48 hours anyway..

seriously, there i not reason you cannot go to 41 weeks or even further, it is not the lenght of gestation that really stresses the scar... many hospitals are happy to let you go over your dates...and keep an eye on you

you can request an el c.s at 41 or 42 weeks, to give yourself the best chance of trying for a VBAC first if you are so inclined

No, I'm not in labour! In fact, no sweep as plans have changed. Had my hospital appt on Thurs and saw a v nice consultant that we hadn't seen since 12 wk scan (saw a v nervy, fairly useless jnr dr at 36 wk appt). He looked at scan results, had a good prod about and told me I'm having a 'clinically large' baby . We had a discussion about the VBAC plans, if I had insisted, I think they would have agreed but after DD the one thing I want to avoid is another em-cs. He thought there was a good chance I may end up with an em-cs and so I have opted for el-cs - Friday is d-day!

Possibly I relented a little too quickly but I really don't want another em-cs birth like the last and so feel happy with my decision - in fact, felt more relaxed on Thurs eve than I have done in a long while. I've read some really good posts about +ve el-cs stories and quite looking forward to putting the ghosts of DD's cs behind me.