Vaginal birth with a history of severe back problems

[Theworldisours]

I slipped a disc in my back several years ago now and my back has never fully recovered. I had months of awful pain and even now it doesn’t take much at all to cause another setback. Sometimes it’s happened for absolutely no reason as far as I can see, other times it’s been coughing, picking up a friends puppy, and even just sitting for a long period is tiring and painful.

I am very worried about contractions causing it to flare up. So wouldn’t an elective c section be a better choice?

That's up to you but I think it would be pretty unlikely to make a medical c section necessary.

My sister had two discs removed and the vertebrae fused together, was in hospital for over a month and still delivered naturally.

It might be worth you talking it through with the medic you see for your back? Or with your midwife?

I was advised to have an elective section for the same reasons - my dodgy disc is L3. It was not without it's own problems, but was definitely the safer option for me.

medic you see for your back ah if only! Staggering around in agony for months and eventually offered an MRI scan, confirmed slipped disc, told it would eventually heal and that was it!

I do accept that isn’t their fault; there’s not much you can do for bad backs but it does mean I’m not exactly inclined to think they have my interests at heart or even take it very seriously. I just don’t want to be in a position where I am semi crippled with a newborn baby.