Forced Elective c section for low lying placenta

[PoorniUk]

Hi All, need suggestions i had my 36 weeks 5 scan for low lying placenta found 1.4 cm away from internal os. I am terrified and consultant booked elective c section and got consent form signature scheduled on 15.01.2020..( 38 weeks 6 days) Really i want to try natural birth. I do not have any bleeding throught pregancy and other than no complications in my pregnancy. consultznt never given chance to speak and said no way for vaginal birth. How can i stop this i dont want to do surgery by forced..

Read the last chapter of Adam Kay's book This Is Going To Hurt. It explains what made him leave medicine. (Undiagnosed placenta praevia where the woman tried to give birth vaginally. Baby died and the woman ended up gravely ill, possibly died too, after severe blood loss). A c-section is safest for you and baby.

you don't really sound well informed at all about the mechanisms of the cervix, and how it's "taken up" during the labor process.
brain damage occurs within 3 minutes, and you could bleed to death in less than that.

I had different circumstances to you OP but was also very against a c-section which was recommended.

I discussed this at length with my consultant and midwife. Have you properly voiced your fears to your midwife?
If not then you need to. You need to discuss exactly what’s holding you back from the section and they need to come up with a plan to make it easy for you. If that’s knocking you out completely then that’s what they have to do.
At the end of the day their job is to see both you and the baby well, that’s all that matters.

Why are you terrified? What are you afraid of?
This is a very serious situation. The consultant didn't give you much of a choice because this is a life or death situation. If you try to labour naturally there is a very good chance your baby will die and you will bleed out. The risks are very high and not worth taking.
My situation was almost the same as yours with my second pregnancy. I has a C-section at 38 weeks, baby was fine but even though I'd had no bleeding during pregnancy I still hemorrhaged and lost over a liter of blood.
Please listen to the consultant. They are trying to save your baby's life.

@GrumpyHoonMain
That's not helpful, and quite racist!

It's true of some cultures though, sadly. And my friends in those cultures will say the same as @GrumpyHoonMain
I've spent much of my career trying to support women whose families (usually the in-laws) blame them for giving birth to disabled children.

It might be that OP is so anxious because family will criticise her for not being capable of giving birth naturally. So it's worth giving her an opening to say if that's the case.

38 week is considered full term, there is nothing to worry about not waiting until 40 weeks. They will want to make sure they deliver your baby before you naturally go into labour.

They would not be saying a c section is necessarily unless it was. Listen to your doctors.

Well, I mean, it's only your babies' life, and your own. As long as you get the birth you want, hun. You know your body best.

I wonder whether English isn't your first language. If so, please ask for an interpreter for the next appointment as something may be lost on translation.

I felt consultant wants c section . i do not know if they get more money out c section

All they get out of a c section is more work and more paperwork. Your consultant is not doing this to benefit themselves.

I understand that you are scared. But you are incredibly lucky to be getting a section. Thousands of women across the globe with this condition are not in that position.

Listen to your consultant.

NHS doctors don't give c sections for nothing. They are reluctant to do them. They are trying to save yours and your babies life. I don't think you're understanding that. What happens if you go into labour naturally and the worst happens? You'll regret it for life. Just take the MEDICALLY TRAINED people's advise!

Sounds like you're being pretty selfish

I don't know why you would even question this. The doctors get nothing out of performing a c section, there are a lot of risks of course but there are obviously a lot more and far graver risks with allowing you to labour naturally. Just because you have had a normal first labour that means nothing. This is a completely different pregnancy with a whole new issue which has a high risk of massive haemorrhage and potentially death for baby and you.

Why would you not go with the medical professionals? They have trained for a long time to make these decisions and have probably lost other mums and babies before so don't take any risks.

Have the section. 38 weeks is full term.

I had a ELCS with my first because of his positioning (transverse) and the dangers a going into labour could bring (umbilical prolapse). I didn't want a CS at all and was one of those mad things who was looking forward to labour and my planned water birth! But I never went against what I was told by my consultants because I knew my baby came first.
Second pregnancy now and she's small, so they may want to deliver early. Previous CS means they won't be able to induce me for early delivery so it's poss another CS. Again, not what I was hoping for, but my children come first. I know it's hard, and you may beat yourself up over it, but please consider your baby's safety. God forbid something go wrong.

This is parenthood though isn't it? All the best laid plans and all that 🙈

You do know that the NHS doesn't tend to 'make money' out of anything? They're given a budget from the government and have to try to stick to it...doctors are paid a wage like everyone else, this isn't the US.

Your 'natural birth' is very unlikely to be straight forward and natural as you want it to be. More likely situation is you haemorrhage, baby nearly or does die and you end up with an emergency section anyway. Why are you vilifying a c section anyway? Just as valid way to give birth.

@LemonPrism 🙌🏼🙌🏼

I'm sorry the consultant didn't take more time with you to explain and to help you understand. If you don't show up for the c-section you do risk your own life and that of your baby. The bleed has a high chance of being catastrophic and too fast for anyone to do anything to help either of you.

Another haemorrhager here and it’s terrifying. I was very lucky that mine was a PPH so it was just me at risk and not my daughter, but still utterly terrible. Waking up on ICU and being told you’ve lost 6L of blood and need four transfusions is shit. If you can avoid that then you must (and I can’t see why you wouldn’t!)

Ffs who deleted my post? Us Asian and South Asian women are more likely to get a PPH (that’s why we have the concept of confinement) and unfortunately are more likely to be abandoned by families or even honour killed by families for making the wrong decisions around childbirth - even if we were pressurized into them. The person who reported me has a lot to answer for

When you go into labour you will almost certainly start to haemorrhage which may kill your baby before there is time to section. I haemottaged in labour and my placenta was not as low as yours. Please think of the seriousness of this. If you are being advised a section have one

Most of placenta in Left uterine wall and only leading edge in 1.4 cm. So in this case i should have been bleeding in second trimester but i have no bleeding at all

No you shouldn’t necessarily have been bleeding in the second trimester. Just because you haven’t bled, it doesn’t mean they’ve either got the distance of the leading edge wrong or that it would be wise to try a vaginal birth.

A c section is the ONLY safe option for you and your baby. They want you to have it at 38 weeks as they want to avoid you going into labour as this could well be dangerous for both you and the baby.

This is NOT a situation where trying a vaginal birth and then if it isn’t successful progressing to a c section is a safe option. In your case if an attempted vaginal delivery is unsuccessful (which is very likely), it’s likely to result in massive blood loss, possibly an emergency hysterectomy and possibly be fatal for both you and the baby. This would all happen much too quickly for anyone to be able to stop it.

The people who have said this on your thread aren’t scaremongers or trying to frighten you, it is the reality and a very real possibility.

Hi - can you perhaps express what your concerns are specifically. I'm going in this week at 39 weeks for c section due to low lying placenta about the same distance as you. Doctor explained due to the position it is unlikely to move out of the way and the risk of bleeding and harming baby are much significant compared to risk/recovery from c section. It doesnt sound like anyone has explained to you properly the seriousness of placenta previa. As pp it's not to scaremonger you, doctors wouldn't reccomend c section unless they felt it was necessary. They are generally always trying to encourage people to go natural unless medical reason. A planned c section recovery is considered to be so much easier than an emergency. Feel free to PM if you want to talk. I know it's hard and scary when the option of natural birth is taking away from you.

I had issues with my placenta too and was told c section was the safest way to deliver baby. I was terrified as I didn’t want surgery, I didn’t want to be in recovery for weeks, I didn’t want to have an incision. My anxiety is still in overdrive as I heal.

But I’m healthy, and more importantly so is my baby. Because I did as I was told was the safest option.

Why would you risk the health of your baby and yourself?

I won’t sugar coat it, c section for me has been nerve wracking. But I’m sat at home feeding my week old baby as I type this. Going against medical advice might mean you don’t get to be so lucky.

Your doctors are trying to ensure that you and your baby don't die. That's the long and short of it. If you go into labour, you both could. Sorry to be blunt but that's how it is. No one makes money from a CS or any birth on the NHS.

Placenta praevia is nothing to mess about with. You have this then you need a CS.

I had a huge haemorrhage after my first (instrumental) birth and thank god I was in theatre when it happened with experts to help me. I'd have died otherwise. It was utterly terrifying for me and DH. Thankfully no risk to DD as she was born but I'd have done anything to keep her safe.

I had a planned, elective CS for my second birth (because of how wrong the first one went!) and to be honest it was a lovely and calm experience. I still had a haemorrhage after that one too, but much smaller and again I was in expert hands who fixed me up so I was fine. Thank you NHS. I can understand that you're frightened of surgery but truly it is nothing to be scared of.

No one is trying to force you into anything. You are being advised, correctly, that this is the safest, the only safe way, to deliver your baby. In the nicest possible way, take a deep breath, give your head a good old wobble and book the date. Spend the time between now and then learning some relaxation techniques to help you remain calm when the day comes.

When you're holding your baby in your arms all of this will seem like a big fuss over nothing.