How to get an elective c-section?

[islabonita]

Hello there Ladies.
Is it really possible to get an elective c-section without any "medical reasons" such as placenta previa etc. Is total panic towards childbirth good enough reason to get one?
Is there anyone who got a c-section just because they felt like it was right option for them?
How did you get it and how difficult it was to persuade the consultants?
thanks

[Tinkjon]

Kittywits, it's not wrong, it's just something which you personally disagree with.

[lulumama]

islabonita

your experience of birth need not be like that

over medicalised, bright lights & monitors

you have choices and you can make informed decisons

and 4th degree tears are not that common...

i do not know a single woman who has had one, sure i;ve heard of women having them, but don;t know anyone

there are things you can do to prepare, physically and mentally to give birth

if i could live one day of my life again, it would be giving birth to my daughter. yes, tehre was pain, yes, i was scared, but the feeling afterwards of the empowerment and the elation i felt at having birthed her more than made up for it

[ScottishMummy]

to clarify i am not in the business of putting the fear of bejesus into anyone about a CSection - but it is major abdominal sugery with contraindications, and post op wound manangement required. this needs discussed to allow full considertion of all options inc Csection if required

[Flibbertyjibbet]

Islabonita, are you early in Pregnancy? You may feel the fear of it all goes as the pregnancy progresses.
By the end of 9 months I think something mental kicks in and it just becomes another part of the general discomfort and prodding and poking of having babies!

[islabonita]

i know i know.... you are more experienced than i am, i should believe you but still... i do hate this talk about how the loss of control etcall part of it and youll forget the pain ... obviously you dont forget because so many ppl talk about it here! after months and years of giving birth ppl remember their birth experiences meticulously!

and about poking and prodding...then cutting, then stitching, then piles, then incontinence the what more? How much can u take and and is it really necessary to go through all that to be a good mum? does it make you better? I know i sound childish but i cant help it...

[beansprout]

Poking, prodding, cutting, stitching etc pretty much sums up a section. What you are also guaranteed with a section is a bloody great scar, no feeling around it for months or even years to come, an overhang given that your abdominal muscles were sliced through, as well as all of the risks attached to major surgery. You have to spend longer in hospital, breastfeeding can be harder to establish and you will not be able to lift or carry for days, let alone drive or generally make much use of your body.

And I should know, I have had one!!

[Alfie72]

At the end of the day, control is sometimes taken out of your hands. I seriously don't want a c section but it's the safest option for me and my baby. I have had many sleepless nights and it's not an easy way out. I certainly am not too posh to push !! But I think a birth choice is a personal one and it does not make you more or less of a mother if you decide to have a C section or VB.

[fizzbuzz]

Much less prodding and poking with a section than a vaginal birth for me. Much much less, and a lot less painful all round.

Personally, would rather be cut across my abdomen, than deal with the after effects of an episiotomy......

[Flibbertyjibbet]

The prodding and poking depends on the birth. I had much less prodding for the section but the after effects were much worse and my stomach muscles are still not right 15 months on.

[blueshoes]

isla, you are not beng childish. You are realistic. I had an induction and trial of labour before my em cs. I can attest that for what little I experienced of labour (only got to 5 cm), I was poked and invaded far more than I thought was civilised.

Those internals during contractions, OMG! Then doctors trying to break my waters after many attempts. Then doctors trying to get a blood sample from my baby's head. Thankfully {sarcastic emoticon} my baby went into distress - not that the midwife who was with me noticed for 15 minutes despite my being constantly monitored - hence the supercrash cs under GA. I was all for active birth - but I felt there was very little control in a natural birth. And the doctors only have to say my baby is distressed and I would have consented to them cutting me down there to high heaven, with all its consequences.

Give me a cs any day!

With a cs, you are poked and prodded too, but you don't feel or see a thing!

With my first pregnancy, I spent the whole time obsessing about the birth, and reading up on active birth, and optimal fetal positioning and NCT and breathing techniques and birth balls. For my second pregnancy, once I made the decision not to go VBAC but to go elective, I never gave the birth another thought. Enjoyed the second pregnancy much more.

[blueshoes]

isla, you said about people writing about their traumatic experiences of vaginal birth long after the event. EXACTLY!

Because I found mn, and read those accounts, plus anecdotal accounts from RL, it hardened my views that when vaginal birth goes wrong, it can go very wrong with lingering effects down there. And it is not even that uncommon.

[Countingthegreyhairs]

"Poking, prodding, cutting, stitching etc pretty much sums up a section. What you are also guaranteed with a section is a bloody great scar, no feeling around it for months or even years to come, an overhang given that your abdominal muscles were sliced through, as well as all of the risks attached to major surgery. You have to spend longer in hospital, breastfeeding can be harder to establish and you will not be able to lift or carry for days, let alone drive or generally make much use of your body."

I'm truly sorry that this was your experience Beansprout but it is misleading to present it as everyone's.

I didn't feel as though I was being prodded about, I felt the whole procedure was calm and dignified. I didn't need any of the painkillers offered to me after the op - I even handed the paracetemol back.

I had a scar which healed quickly, gave me no pain and no overhang. The area around it isn't numb. I was up and about again quite quickly.

My c-section was carried out because dd was breech and because of the wierd shape of my uterus but I would choose to have another one if I am lucky enough to get pregnant again ...

Islabonita - I'm not advocating c-section for everyone (it is a major op with attendant risks) but am anxious that the other side of the story is represented too

Good luck with whichever route you choose.

[showbiz]

you must speak to your consultant about your fears, most women would opt for natural because of op risks. also to put a positive side to c-sections i have had 4. first one an emergency after very slow labour and 2nd, 3rd and 4th was told had no choice and all of my recoveries were good and no problems but i was very lucky and had lots of help for 4 weeks after. good luck in your decision.

[kittywits]

I'm afraid I think it's wrong and I always will.
An elective section on medical grounds is fine. Having one because you don't want to push a baby out is wrong.
What the op needs is treatment for phsycologial problems (and I mean that in the bluntest way, there is no hidden meaning in that), not an elective section
The nhs cannot spare that sort of money, the pot is not bottomless

[Alfie72]

It is good to hear some positive ECS comments - adding a much more balanced view to the discussion. I am leaving this thread now. All the very best Isla Bonita.

[Tinkjon]

Isla, don't even think about the scar, it's nothing! It's hidden right away in your pubic hair so you don't even see if if you wear a bikini (yeah right, like I'm ever going to wear a bikini again ) and it fades to a faint line anyway so it's no big deal at all.

Also agree with the other posters that you are oblivious to the prodding and poking during a cs - who cares what they do as long as you can't see or feel it?!

[lulumama]

an elective section is not the easy option in my opinion.

i really beleive that especially for a first baby, rather than going straight for an elective, it is important to really address the fear of birth..

birth is normal, unfortunately, due to the prevalence of scare stories, and women competing to outdo each other with longest labour / most tearing/ most stitches, and the overmedicalisation of the process....a lot of women get really scared.

the fact that for a low risk pregnancy, a home birth is just as safe as a hospital birth speaks volumes.

i would suggest that every pregnant women does some reading about birth, authors like Ina May Gaskin, Sheila Kitzinger, Penny Simkin, Janet Balaskas

who remind us that giving birth is normal and part of a woman's life cycle, not a terrible ordeal that can only be endure with massive amounts of drugs and even surgery

[islabonita]

Hello everyone,'
thank you so much for your informed and objective answers. to be honest i was expecting a lot of patronising and judging comments, thanks for proving me wrong!

about that poking and prodding... im not afraid of medical procedures, but in case of a vaginal birth i will be in so much pain that i do not want to be constantly invaded, i dont mind internals etc. in "normal" situation. Its just the birth is so violent anyway , how will i feel like a normal person ever after that?

Funnily enough i dont have negative feelings about cs scars, needles, being opened, it is a major op, i do realize that. and the baby will not be put in risk of oxygen starvation, or her bones wont get broken like sometimes in vb. am i just rambling or is there some truth in this?

[kittywits]

babies born by cs are at FAR greater risk of developing breathing diffiuculties than those born normally.
The risk of broken bones etc is as good as negligable.

I really don't know where you have got your information from but it is seriously misleading. You really need to ,ake sure that you get PROPER statistics and don't listen to people's scare stories about natural birth.

[Bubble99]

Isla. I have had a spontaneous VB, an induced VB and emergency CS and an elective CS.

The spontaneous VB was lovely as the mat unit was fully staffed, the induced was awful (understaffed unit), the emergency CS was traumatic as I had as tillborn twin.

The elective CS was as good an experience as the first VB, TBH. I had wounds with both and TBH I found the CS scar less painful and quicker to heal than the tears I ended up with as a result of my first delivery.

[blueshoes]

Isla, don't listen to people's scare stories about cs.

And the risk of breathing difficulties with an elective cs is also marginal. If it manifests, it is likely to be in the case of a baby who was already compromised by a high risk pregnancy or birth. I cannot even remember any RL or mn stories about fullterm elective cs babies having breathing difficulties in what is otherwise a low-risk pregnancy. Both my cs babies were fine.

As for babies and mum's bits being harmed by traumatic vaginal births and interventions like epis, forceps and ventouse, it is writ large in RL and on here.

[NKF]

You can if you go private. And you probably can on the NHS if you kick up a fuss and beg and plead.

But fear of giving birth is normal and you might have to act mad to persuade them.

[blueshoes]

... or litigious even!

[kittywits]

Let's all have elective sections then... sorted.

[Jo71]

Having had an emergency c-section after 12 hours of labour I felt cheated not being able to have my baby naturally yes labour is scary yes labour hurts but in the scale of things it is a tiny tiny part of being a mother - I now have no other choice but to have a c-section on future pregnancies so will never get to have a baby naturally embrace think of the pain as positive and it is bringing you your baby!!! don't have a c-section the recovery is horrible I was not strong enough to pick up my baby without help for the first 24 hours I had a cafata fitted I swelled up like a ballon it was awful I my tummy was stapled together don't go there through choice