calling all elective c section people

[hayley2u]

hi. iv just been to see consultant and asked about me wanting a c section on ground of traumatic birth last time. he agreed. but i have to come back to hospital in 3 weeks for yet another growth scan as my baby is measuring too big.when i come then he says i will be given my date for c section. i am 34 weeks now so that will take me to 37 weeks. is it normal to wait that long. and anyone knows what happens from then on

I had mine at the end of 38 weeks.

I had an elective section. I was given a date at 36 weeks at a routine appointment with the consultant.

The night before the section, I had to go in for observation and blood tests. I could then go home and had to be back by 7am. I was also given a time that my baby would be born. Very strange but nice to be in control!

thanks feel bit better now. everything sounds so confusing when your at hospital glad to come on here to get some good advice

yes i thought it was 38 weeks, mine was term due to late breech, still elective, by a week though, rather than emergency that is.

so if ill be 37 weeks when see him to book me in for day how long do you think it will be after that

Hi Hayley. Glad the appointment went well. They made me wait until 36 weeks to even discuss it and I hated waiting so long. And then when we went to book it, all the 39 week dates were full and he wanted to do 40 weeks. I argued and begged and pleaded to do week 38 and got my way but I need to have to lay my case down.

Basically I lived very far from the hospital and could pt rist going into labour with a two year old in tow and getting myself to the hospital if I went into labour. I would have ended up at the nearby crap hospital and that was sooooo not okay with me.

But, if you aren't far from your hospital it might not be any big deal if you do go into labour. If I have beed near by and had had care for DD at short notice, I wouldn't have minded waiting for the 40 week apointment.

Hayley, I think NICE guidelines recommend waiting till 39wks to ensure lung development (I might be wrong), so hospitals will try to push you to at least 39wks. That's what my hosp does anyway.

Yes, that's true Problet. That is why I had to really argue to get the 38 week. (although one day later was classed in 39 weeks but they couldn't understand we were talking about 1 day and not 1 week).

There are some people who really advocate that it's best to have the baby when labour has begun. Not sure why but I think the hormonal balance is best for baby and mother and youknow both are ready for the birth and your body is ready to start producing milk.

so if i do go into labor what will happen will they make me give birth

i was booked in at 39+2 for mine. I wanted to wait as the reason for having mine was to avoid an induction which would have meant a certain c-section anyway. However, hospital policy here is that electives are done during week 39.
If I'd gone into labour spontaneously I would've had the option to proceed to c-section, but would be at the back of the queue after emergencies, which is fair enough.

It seems that different hospitals have slightly different policies.

I hope it works out for you

I have got serious blood problems and last time I had a really bad time giving birth and lost loads of blood (due to blood problem)

As this pregnancy is going i am getting more and more scared that something will go wrong- worse than last time. i am going to talk to my haematologist and obs/gynae about a possible cs as this has been mentioned in the past as they could give me blood clotting drugs a set time before the cs.

So, I would like to know- recovery- how long were you in hospital, how were you when you came home

Hayley, I think if you go into labour sooner you go straight to the hospital and get in the que for the next available section. Just be firm in your request (demand) and you should be okay. I felt so much better when I actually had a date and time.

Pixie, I was in for a couple of days after both sections. My advice is to eat Arnica by the bucket load starting about 24 hours before the section. I healed much faster the second time. That may or may not be due to the arnica, but hey it can't hurt.

Oh and bring your own stash of food to the hospital.

omg thats really scary so if i go into labour and they are too busy i will have to go through with the labour/ thats really scared me. the reason i'm having one is previous traumatic birth and big fears. and i may have to do it al again

Hayley, it might be worth talking to the consultant again sooner and asking to book the section now. Just don't let him say, oh well it's all booked up you'll have to wait when it was he who didn't want to book it yet.

But, if you did go into labour, the wait for a section would probably only be a few hours, and not at the point where they made you actually have a vaginal delivery.

I was booked in for a c/s at 39 weeks when I was 37 weeks as they were busy and couldn't do it sooner.

I went home and that same day after tea my waters broke. So went in that evening, labour didn't start and because I just eaten a big tea, I had the c/s the next morning, 6 years ago tomorrow!

They do if you beg in the appropriate fashion.

I was booked into a hospital that could have been a two hour commute if I went into labour in rush hours. My husband works away and it could take him several hours to home. I had a two year old. I had gone to great lengths to avoid to local (crap) hospital. So I agreed to 39 weeks, but no longer because the consequences of going into labour were much worse then the increased chances of breathing difficulties in my opinion. When I expressed this to the doctor. He said that if I went into labour I could always call an ambulance. I said "But they'll take me to the nearest hospital?" And he said "yes" and I said "THAT's the problem". So, my potential two hour commute probably didn't rank as a medical reason, but I was most certainly not prepared to risk giving birth at crap hospital when I had managed to book myself into the lovely Queen Charlotte.

This is perhaps more thanyou wanted to know, but hey you asked.

I had DD by elective CS at 38 weeks and could have had her a couple of days earlier if I wanted, but I did have medical reasons to get her out I think I knew my date from about 30 weeks.

I got my date when I was 37 weeks - the date was at exactly 39 weeks. I went in the day before for the routine tests and then checked in at 7.30am - DS2 was born at 9.45am. There was another woman checking in at the same time and she didn't get into the theatre until early afternoon - I felt rather sorry for her when she saw me with my baby (and she still couldn't eat). The timing depended on the number of emergency c-sections taking place. I found the whole experience very positive. I was in hospital for two nights, which is the same length of time I was in for DS1, although that was a vaginal birth (incl ventouse, forceps and 3rd degree tear, hence elective c-section 2nd time around). I was driving after 2.5 weeks. Best of luck.

well i asked if he could not give me a date and he said it was too early i'm 34 weeks so i'll be 37 1/2 weeks when i get my appointment.hope it is not booked up i'l cry. my baby is measuring 2 1/2 weeks early as it is and got a sneaky feling she llcome on her own.

hayley - when a decision has been made for elective C/S you will still have it if you go into labour. Only if the baby was actually in the process of delivering would you have a vaginal birth.

You would not be in a cue unless there were other women in need of emergency delivery by C/S at the same time (highly unlikely).

You would be classified as an emergency and theatre would be arranged even if it is the middle of the night.

It is better for C/S not to be done till 39 weeks. Babies born by C/S can have difficulty with fluid on their lungs when they are born earlier than this (transient tachypnoea of the newborn - TTN)and need admitted to special care. That can happen no matter what size the baby is. Bigger babies are more likely to have it in fact.

Best to go for 39 weeks at least. If you go into labour before that it is actually an advantage because you know the baby is actually ready to be born. Less breathing and feeding problems. You would still have C/S. Hope that reassures you.