Pre eclampsia-elective section? Help?

[jessicaalice]

This is my first pregnancy, I've been in and out of hospital with suspected pre eclampsia. High protein in urine and on labetalol. I have quite bad anxiety and I think this is making it worse. I am 35+2 and I am booked to be induced on the 1st of Dec. My question is would I likely be granted an elective section? I don't want a get out jail free card but I'm on so many different medications and already worrying about my blood pressure during labour. My midwife hasn't even done a birth plan with me yet and I feel so out of my depth.

Hi there, @jessicaalice - we're just bumping this for you and hope that someone will be along soon with advice to help you at such a confusing time. Best of luck with it all.

I also had a Pre Eclempsia when I was 38 weeks pregnant. They decided to induce me an due to my daughter not moving forward I had to do a C section. It wasn't really a great experience for me especially as it was my first. Also the recovery of after C section is very very hard. Not being able to get up an do a lot of stuff. Luckily I had a lot of help around me. Not trying to scare you lol but just want you to know reality of C section.

Nice guidelines say that you can request a c section as a maternal request. Ask your midwife if you can have an appointment with a consultant to discuss this (or speak to your own consultant first if you get a chance). You’ll need to be given steroids and even if your c section isn’t immediately agreed (it will come down to each Trust and often the individual consultant whether it is agreed or not - you can also ask to referred to another consultant if you are told no), you should be able to have an appointment to talk through your worries with someone and find out at what stage of labour you can go ahead with a c section if necessary. Good luck and I hope all goes well.

I had preeclampsia and delivered at 30 weeks. I had a caesarean which was planned but sort of still emergency.

They didn't give me any choice for delivery, but they were contemplating general rather than spinal block at one point.

I guess it depends on whether your blood pressure is under control with medication (mine wasn't and after 2 weeks in hospital my time was up and I was at risk of kidney damage) and how safe letting you labour would be. You need to ask your consultant about your particular circumstances.

C sections are great
I have recovered more quickly then anyone I know who had a natural birth.

Request a c section at next review, are you having monitoring a few times a week?

I was induced due to pre-eclampsia. My BP didn't seem to be a concern during labour, although it was afterwards (only in that they wouldn't discharge me until it had gone down to an acceptable level). No one ever discussed sections with me. I think they'd treat a request for an elective section in the same way as a mum who didn't have pre-eclampsia - they'd rather you give birth vaginally because sections come with increased risks.

I wrote my own birth plan (which never came out of my hospital bag - turns out I was very sensitive to the pessary and gave birth very quickly as a result!)

I was very anxious about the pre-eclampsia, but most women who have it are perfectly fine. In fact I felt better looked after because of it.

I was induced at 36 weeks with pe and ended up with an emergency c section as DD was getting oxygen deprived. The emergency section and general anesthesic wasn't fun to recover from.

Good luck for your birth.

I’m in the exact same boat and on labetalol too! Here is what my team in hospital have been telling me, they basically said that in an ideal world the blood pressure would be controlled by the medication and mum and baby carry on as long as possible. The reality is intervention is often needed. In my case too they are intending on an induction. The reason for this is an induction is apparently safer than a section in this situation, but the section is second choice if the induction is unsuccessful or the baby struggles with labour. With induction they can also apply a shortened second stage(instrumental delivery) if necessary as with other labours to take the pressure off you if needed without a section if it suits your situation at the time! I totally get the anxiety and pre eclampsia sucks! I have been taken in a few times myself and it really is a miserable experience and so frightening and out of your control. The labetalol is great though! They have had to up mine a lot but it has worked pretty well for me! It’s a scary time and in some wars robs you of the joys of pregnancy because there is always a cloud over you, especially when it makes you very ill! But another thing my hospital told me that made me feel better, it’s the ladies walking around undiagnosed that need to be worried about the most, as they know we have an issue and can treat it accordingly, which is true! Your best bet though is to talk to your team about your feelings and your circumstances to see what is best for you and baby, because really at the end of it all that’s what you will be wanting out of their care! It might help you to to hear some of the positive stories from our situation, I worked with a girl that was very severe with it and she actually had an emergency c section, but despite all that she had a lovely recovery, and mum and baby were fine even though it was scary at the time. Just remember that you are your best advocate and you have control over your care, but also that the hospital are well used to this situation! I wish you a lovely birth whatever way you choose and you are so close to meeting your lovely baby now! If you are like me you are probably very excited at the prospect of being weaned off all the medications and also not having to wait anxiously on constant tests for high protein😂😂😂

I think it's reasonable to ask about induction vs c section and the different risks. I'd also ask about the likelihood of needing a section anyway - sometimes pre-eclampsia can increase the success of induction working well but the earlier in pregnancy you are induced the harder it is to get the body going.

I was induced but it didn't progress and ended up with a section (which I personally found fine from a recovery point of view and seem to have recovered better than friends who had complicated VBs).

Do be prepared for a longish stay in hospital after birth - pre-eclampsia can get worse after birth so they should ensure you're carefully monitored afterwards. I don't want to add to your worries but be aware they will probably need to monitor your baby's blood sugar with heel prick tests as labetalol can affect blood sugar in the early days of feeding - nothing in any way serious but something that needs monitoring - I wish someone had warned me about this!

You may want to read up on natural C-sections and see if there are any things you might want to ask for - I wish I'd thought to ask for things like seeing DS as soon as he was out and having him handed to me as soon as medically possible rather than being washed and wrapped up in a towel first.

Sending you warm wishes.

A planned section is much better
I had to have a general with my first baby I should add and it hurt more
But the second one although really scary to be awake was a great experience
First day was unbelievably painful when I had my son but when the second son was born in July it was much better as I had a spinal block

I have had it twice .. first time I was inducted and second I had a c section .

I had severe pe with my first, who was also breech... obvs the combination meant csection was only option for us... recovery was fine though and experience was well managed. If you feel more comfortable with csection, talk to your midwife... and good luck!