On a scale of 1-10 how much does a CS hurt in comparison to a Vaginal Birth?

[dejags]

Our third DB is due in just over 7 weeks time. She is breech atm - I saw the Ob yesterday and she said that although we can try an ECV at 36 weeks that DB seems very happy in her current position and that I should start preparing myself mentally for a CS at 38 weeks (oh shit, that's five weeks away ).

I am absolultely and totally terrified of the whole procedure. Mostly I am scared of the anaesthetic not working (I had two failed epidurals when I was in labour with DS1) but I am also afraid of the pain afterwards.

So, give it to me straight. For those of you who have had both, how much more painful is a CS than a vaginal birth? (before, during and afterwards).

2 c -sections here both planned and honestly felt no pain have had more painful periods... just make sure you take you rpain releif regularly -- still have fond memories of my morphine pump.. was out of bed and lifting 10lb baby within 8 hours of mine... both where amazing experiences that made birth joyful... totally recommend them!!

I have had 2 CS (one emergency, one planned). With the first one, the labour pains were really bad - but with both CS, pure bliss.
No pain during, ve little pain after (painkillers for this) driving in a day or so, back to work after one week.
I know its probably different for everyone, but that 6 week rule for driving or lifting seems to be a bit of a myth. No-one I knew (MW, Doc or HV) had heard of it.
Get on with things, instead of lying aroung feeling sorry for your self.

I had painful labour followed by emergency CS, and a subsequent painful VBAC - no difference between them, but of course, no pain during the op with CS.

After the birth CS was less intense pain but lasted a lot longer than my VBAC (but then I had complications with my VBAC which probably made it a lot worse than most vaginal births). I remember after VBAC being in intense toe curling pain unless I took my 2 types of painkiller regularly..whilst I needed no painkillers with CS but had a painful scar area months later. (VBAC pain was over after a couple of weeks)

My experience was like Aloha's, the pain of natural labour felt like torture. No pain at all with my two c-sections.

With my second (elective, the first was emergency) I can honestly say that the most painful thing was getting the canula in the back of my hand beforehand - after that, nothing! The only painkillers I needed after the second cs were paracetamol. The first was worse in terms of discomfort and general recovery time, but I think that's because it was an emergency after a long labour.

Hopefully all this worry will be for nothing. It's very, very likely that baby will turn. At 32 wks (what you are now?) approx 11% babies are still breech. By 37-40 weeks only 3.7% will still be breech. I would wait as long as possible for the CS. Many breech babies still turn during labour so if you can bear it, you could wait until you go into labour naturally, check if baby has turned and if it hasn't then go for a semi-elective CS.

My last baby was breech at least from 28 weeks to 36. I then tried everything going - pulsatilla (a homeopathic remedy) and moxibustion (a mixture of accupuncture and reflexology that you can do yourself very easily). When I went for an appointment to finalise the CS plans at 38 wks they did a quick scan and lo and behold baby had turned and I've no idea when it happened, but it was definitely after 36 weeks.

Here are a few useful links:
www.spinningbabies.com
www.radmid.demon.co.uk/Skills.htm
www.breechbabies.com/contents.htm
www.birthinternational.com/articles/andrea13.html
www.mother-care.ca/breech.htm
www.moondragon.org/obgyn/pregnancy/breech.html

After your easy vaginal births I agree it would be a shame to have a CS, so if I were you I'd wait as long as possible and then have a last minute scan before you agree to the op.

By the way, I've had 2 CS. The first one was very easy, not much pain, but the second was horrendously painful for weeks afterwards. Lots of fainting. Not pleasant.

Best of luck.

Oh dejags, I really hope that your baby (and mine, and Mrs Jaffas) turn cephalic soon.

FWIW, I had an emergency c-section with DD - under a general, so was out for the duration. I was up and about about 2 hours after the anaesthetic wore off. Pain afterwards - It was hard to sit up, and the scar was sore. I had morphine for a day, then voltarol suppositories (wonderful things!). The pain was bad for a few days, but I was mobile after about 7-10 days.
I didn't drive for 6 weeks, although I was probably fit enough to do so after 2 weeks.

The worst pain for me was trapped wind and 5 days of constipation after the section.

I have only had an emergency c-section but I have to say that I did not feel a thing during - no "rummaging sensation" nothing! My recovery was quick, I was up out of bed the same day (very cautiously) and in the shower and I went home on the third day. As someone else has said you will feel uncomfortable but the pain was at no point unbearable and I stopped the morphine in the hospital the day after the op and then was on over the counter pain relief from then on.

Incidentally I had an ECV at 39 weeks as my dd was breech. I wish I had just opted for the elective section I was offered. I found ECV much more painful than labour and I know from speaking to a counsellor that this is a common thing. So do not take it as read that ECV is painfree or "mildly uncomfortable".

Oh and I had no trouble breastfeeding, just rested dd on a pillow on my lap...

Hopefully you wont need it, there is plenty of time for baby to turn. My twins didn't turn until after 34 weeks.

I haven't read all the thread neither, but during labour with ds1 I wanted to jump out the window. I never experienced anything near that with a section. I had morphine afterwards for a bit, but then the drip can out so I jsut had co-proxomol instead. That made me sleepy, so by day 3 I was jsut on paracetamol. Before and during, I felt nothing, really. A slight twinge because I felt the epidural going in, but I told them and they used the anaesthetic spray again and got it properly numbed up.

Good luck

I've had both, one CS under epidural (DC2), VB with DC1 and VBAC with DC3. CS is definitely easier in terms of pain - there was no real pain, just strange sensation of pulling, and feeling nauseous during the op. Certainly nothing compared to labour and pushing a baby out! Having said that, I did VBs on gas and air, so it might be useful for you to get the view from someone who's had CS and VB both with epidural, because I guess they would both be fairly pain free so a better comparison. Downside of CS is recovery - you can't lift or carry. I was offered a choice of CS or VB for number 3. If it had been a case of what's least painful, I'd have definitely gone for CS, but because i had 2 toddlers and no relatives nearby to help during the post op time, I opted for VBAC.

hmmmmmm

i think dejags.....the question should be , what is more painful, an elective or an emergency c.s...

with an elective, you are not in labour, you have not experienced contractions, when you are given the epidural or spinal , you are not waiting between contractions, so that is less stressful, there is no urgency, so less stress...also, you can make a c.s birth plan, to make it more personal....

having had one em. c. s and one VB. would always pick vb, but if you don;t have the option of VB, it is not worth comparing..

if you do have the c.s , you will know in advance and can hopefully get some help organised

and make sure you have lots of arnica !

depend on how straigtforward the VB is.

I had two sections one emergency, one planned. the planned one was a doddle, since I didn't spend the two previous days in labour.

after both I was walking better than the ladies who'd had difficult VBs (forceps etc)

If you have a fairly natural VB, then great.

But a good cs is also great

Dejags... email me and I'll call on all my contacts and see what I can find out for you.
Can't make promises but will give it a blardy good try.

Acupuncture very good. You have time for the baby to turn.

i've never had a vb so can't compare but have had 2 c/s.

1st c/s was emergency and recovery was surprisingly quick, no pain in actual op, for the first day after I'd decribe it as severe discomfort but not actually painful. But by day 5 I was walking to the pub, pushing the pram.

2nd c/s planned and much, much better. No pain whatsoever, out of bed and hopping around like a spring chicken less than 24hrs later, out of hospital less than 48hrs after the op.

I can honestly say that it hurt more after having a vaginal birth. Oooh those stitches. I had an emergency c-section 4 months ago and was up and about in no time, although I know that I am lucky and it isn't always the case. By the time I had the c-section I was glad of it, I had had 3 failed epis during labour! I was awake but couldn't feel a thing. It did take me a while to get my around it afterwards but having had one vaginal birth, I consoled myself with that. I wouldn't chose to have another one, not because of the pain, just would rather do it vaginally.

No experience of vb but caesar was a dream. I found the effects of the epidural a bit strange (like having a fat lip after you go to the dentist but in your legs which feel as they don't belong to you.) It hurts when you cough or move afterwards but I didn't even need paracetomol to control the pain. Felt fine after four days.

Hava had 2 cs - DD was a section as she was breech and stuck and I can say that the section was a doddle in comparison to the ECV!!! That was awful.

Second section was a failure to progress after 72 hours and scar tennderness so DS ended up a section too. Recovered freom them both well but I didn't have any infectiosn etc which I know isn't the case for everyone!

Pruni (not sure if it's already been answered) but the reason they deliver a breech baby at 38 weeks is so that you don't go into labour and end up having an emergency section.

I had emergency cs with ds after 9 hours labour he was distressed. I'd already had epidural before i knew i needed a cs so that was topped up and i was took to theatre.
During cs all you can feel is a lot of pulling and tugging but i think this only lasted a few minutes and certainly didnt hurt just felt weird.
Once epidural wore off i was out of bed, shuffling a bit as my tummy just felt like jelly but it was fine. Mw's kept bring painkillers and i was only in 1 night then asked to come home which i did.
The only thing was when you laughed or sneezed it was uncomfortable but as long as you rest and take painkillers you'd be fine.
we are ttc #2 and i'd definatley ask for cs next time

I have had 4 vaginal births abd 2 c-sections.

Baby no.1 happened naturally, had gas and air and stitches after. Stitches were a bit sore for a couple of days after.

Baby no.2 i was induced, had gas and air, it was a lot quicker, but more intense pain.

Baby no.3 was induced 2 weeks early at 10lb...gas and air, hurt even more than baby 2.

Baby 4...was the most horrendous pain in all my life! He was induced, went on for hours, had gas and air, pethidine and epidural..

C-section 1 with twins was the easiest , most unpainful thing ever...

C-section 2 with another set of twins was fine also-i was sterilised though and this caused some discomfort....

If i had the choice i would go with c-section!....it worked best for me that is for sure...but of course everyones opinions will be different!x

Dejags, think of it this way: how will you feel emotionally after an elCS? Never mind about the pain with either kind of birth, how will you feel emotionally regarding each.

If it doesn't matter to you then you might be happy to consider planning your best CS. If it does matter then you can be pro-active by checking out the links that Babedia posted. Mind you, even during an elective it is best to try to have baby in best position possible as scalpel can still cut baby.

You also do NOT need to have a CS at 38wks, you can decide to wait till labour starts and then go in for CS, allowing baby to be born when she is ready and giving her more time to mature her lungs.

This is your Body, your Baby, your Birth. I would suggest asking HCPs for evidence based research for any procedures they 'advise' as they very often seem to omit giving ALL the pros and cons. You need to be able to make informed decisions about something that affects you and your baby.

Sorry, I seem to be in militant mode today.

Actually remember less pain from after the CS than the VB (7 stitches).. think this was due to the amount of paracetemol/codeine etc I was prescribed (both breastfed but chickened out of too many painkillers with DS1).

The worst (as in weird) bit was the numbness - I remember looking up at the operating lights and seeing a reflection of myself "what's that yellow thing?" I wondered. Then realised they'd inserted a catheter without my knowing it!

Also - I think you should be treated as a patient after a CS - and not just a mother. - ie I always had to ask for help in looking after the baby. Remember stupidly trying to change DS2's nappy when I really wasn't up to it. I got "stuck" (couldn't move cos of pain) and had to shout for help. Some midwives were much more willing to help than others who would happily make you do everything for your newborn, despite recovering from major surgery. How daft is that? I'm not bitter, obviously. Just made sure the thank you choccies got aimed at the other ones.

Oh, and in answer the OP's question:

During 1 day after week after
VB - 9 8 3
CS - 1 7 5
(just weird tugging)

If I were to have another, I would still prefer a natural delivery, although it was great with a subsequent child, to have everyone do the running around for me after the CS!

mmm .. that was a nice chart, when I typed it out!

I've had 3 sections. The worse was the middle (planned- elective) one- the best was the in-labour one following going into labour naturally (the 3rd) whilst the section following long labour and induction was inbetween.

DS2's (elective) section was at 38 weeks and he had breathing problems- I heard afterwards that NICE guidelines are now for 39 weeks (because of that) so in your shoes I'd be asking why 38 weeks.

C-section was was quite easy to recover from, cs 2 was bloody awful (that planned one again) and c-section 3 was inbetween. Which I think suggests your experience will be individual. I understand that first sections are much more straightforward than subsequent ones.

I have had 2 normal births followed by an emergency section. Giving birth naturally was far, far more painful than a cs. However the recovery period was much more physically and emotionally challenging after a cs, although recovering from an episiotomy isn't exactly pleasant is it?