Question for any midwives out there, about going into labour before scheduled cs....

[Tinkjon]

I'm scheduled for an elective c-section next week. If my waters break, or I go into labour beforehand, I will still be given a cs, but could there be any reason why I would have to have an internal beforehand? I know you can refuse them in normal labour, but I'm wondering about in this situ. I'm thinking of something like maybe they'd need to make sure that I really was in labour before they'd go ahead with the section and maybe an internal is the only way they could tell? It sounds a silly worry, I know, but I simply can't tolerate internals and am planning to refuse any, but if there's a situation where they say it's really important then I won't really be able to refuse, so I'm getting myself in a right old panic about it... grateful for any advice!!

if your waters break, it will be fairly obvious to you and you can refuse an internal .. you will know if it happens. if you are contracting regularly, then they can pick that up with monitoring.. does your birth plan state your fear of internals?

Thanks, lulu, that does make me feel better! Can the monitor tell the difference between proper contractions and Braxton Hicks?

Oh, and yes I've written it into my birth plan but not sure anybody actually reads them...?!

the regularity, the length and intensity of real contractions does differ to BH

you or DH can make sure someone reads the plan

if you have a genuine fear of something, you can state it in big red letters!

Hi Tinkjon - If your waters break and its obvious, they will probably not want to do a VE, however if you are contracting and in labour, they might suggest a VE to see how quickly they need to get your C/S started.

The m/w will be able to tell the difference between BH and real contractions.

If you are not happy to have VEs then tell them that you don't want any, its your body after all, they wont do anything without consent nad there are very very few situations where you will really need a VE.

But most likely nothing will happen and everything will go according to plan, so relax and dont worry.

Good Luck

Thanks so much everyone, that really helps! I appreciate your advice.