Please tell me about your app with the consultant after previous third degree tear...

[BabyBooDueNov21]

As the title says!

Suffered a 3b tear with DC1 (unpleasant 😬.) Thankfully, in time, I healed and have no lasting issues from it.

I'm pregnant again, and when I told the MW about my previous tear she said I'd have a meeting with a consultant re my next delivery.

I've been giving it some thought, and I'm 90% sure I'll opt for ELCS, but I'm just wondering whether the consultant is likely to try and convince me to have a vaginal birth or if it's completely my choice?

I'm a bit nervous for the appointment so any advice would be appreciated.

I had a 3C tear, they said I could have opted for vaginal if i wanted to but they completely supported my choice for ELCS. I went into labour before my date and they asked me if i was sure i still wanted the CS because they had to do it as an emergency. I am glad I stuck to my choice!

@Catawaul thanks so much for replying!

So the consultant never tried to sway you either way, and was fully supportive? That's a relief

If you don't mind me asking, was your recovery easier from the section than the tear? Or just as hard but at least you were prepared and didn't have to have your neither regions all stitched back together

No they didn't try to sway me, in a way I was hoping they would make the choice for me but they wouldn't be drawn! They told me about the chance of a serious tear happening again, I think it was 4%. I'd had a blood transfusion too. I didn't particularly want a CS but I'm glad I did, yes the recovery was very much quicker. After the tear it took months, most of my year of mat leave to recover as I couldn't walk very far, couldn't kneel down with one knee etc. The only complication with the CS was that I had a catheter in for 2 weeks, which was awkward to deal with a newborn and a toddler. But nothing like the long term impact the tear had. The main reason I chose CS was the risk of incontinence not necessarily immediately but upon menopause, so I feel like I've done what I can to safeguard that.

I had a 3b tear and a pph and the consultant refused to let me have a csection.
I ended up going to see 2 different people, all who refused.

I even started having panic attacks at the thought of it happening again.

40 weeks tomorrow and being induced on Tuesday as that's the only compromise so baby hopefully isn't too big.

I know they say anyone is allowed a csection, but I just didn't have the confidence to argue against them all and fight for it.

Lots of others have been accepted straight away though. It all depends on the consultant.

@SnooperTrooper12345 I'm really sorry that the choice was taken away from you, and best wishes for your next delivery  this is my concern, that I'll be fobbed off and really have to argue my case, so I'll do some reading between now and then to be more prepared. Will speak to my MW at my next appointment too I think, see if they have any idea what consultant is like and if I'll have some convincing to do.

@Catawaul thanks so much again, a better recovery and no incontinence is what I'm hoping for. I wasn't sure if I'd have another baby for a long time because it all just felt so hard! But here I go again. Fingers crossed my consultant will be like yours and happy for me to make my own decision 🤞🏻

The consultant I saw while pregnant with my second child was somewhat reluctant to agree to a C-section (she said the incontinence and discomfort I experienced following my 3a tear were "just a normal part of childbirth).

When I pointed out that I was examined by a gynaecology consultant and a colorectal consultant in the months following my first labour and they both said a vaginal birth should be avoided she signed off on the c-section.

So although she did try to fight me over it she was easily won over, but only after I name dropped her two colleagues

@TheLesserOfTwoWeevils that's interesting! Maybe they need to be seen to be putting up a little fight so c-sections are not perceived to be the 'easy option.'

I am concerned that I'll be refused it, if they say no I think my anxiety would be through the roof for the rest of my pregnancy 😕

[quote BabyBooDueNov21]@TheLesserOfTwoWeevils that's interesting! Maybe they need to be seen to be putting up a little fight so c-sections are not perceived to be the 'easy option.'

I am concerned that I'll be refused it, if they say no I think my anxiety would be through the roof for the rest of my pregnancy 😕[/quote]
This has been my problem!
It's made my anxiety so bad!

I hope you get the results you want ❤️

What appointment? . I had a 3b tear with my first and like you, healed well from it.
I was never offered a consultant appointment with my second or even mentioned it as a possibility.
My midwife was fab and gave me confidence that there was no reason for the same thing to happen again. I was quite laid back about it all but If I'd have pushed for a consultant appointment or to discuss c section then I'm sure she'd have tried to support me.
Her approach worked perfectly for me but I can imagine if i was more anxious about it I'd have wanted more discussion about my options.

As it turned out Baby number 2 was a lovely waterbirth - longer than number 1 but much more of a pleasant experience. I had a second degree tear but again have healed brilliantly from it so recognise I've been fortunate.

For me it was the right choice to not consider a c section but we're all different. Hope you're able to come to an informed decision about what you think is best

@Jsh125 that surprises me, I was under the impression it was common practice to have an appointment with a consultant after a previous third/fourth degree tear to discuss your next delivery.

That's good that your next birth went smoothly my first delivery was a water birth and then a mad rush to get me to theatre after. I'm not sure I'd risk another water birth as I don't feel like the midwives were able to fully see what was going on and support me through the delivery (whether this contributed to the tear I've no idea, but I do feel like I was left to crack on and push with no guidance.)

The thought of another vaginal birth does make me anxious, more so than a section. I'll just have to see what the consultant recommends.

@SnooperTrooper12345 is it today you're being induced?!

Best of luck to you! I hope everything goes smoothly do come back and update us if you feel you'd like to, I'll be thinking of you today

My experience is 13 years ago so things might have changed. My recovery from 3rd degree tear was pretty good though not 100%. I got a small amount of push back from the consultant but he did agree to my request to a cs happily enough.
However i went into labour a month early and due to the emergency of another patient my cs wasnt priority and i had to give birth vaginally. The birth went really well, i had a 2nd degree tear but that was absolutely nothing compared to the 3rd degree, so actually in hindsight i am glad i didnt have the cs, but there is no way of knowing that beforehand. In your position I would definitely push for a cs.

I had a third degree tear. Followed by a second degree tear. No consultant appointment but I didn't consider a c section and while I would say the second degree tear was worse, it was the right decision for me. And that's what it should be. Your decision. I have seen women have a planned c section and it went perfectly with excellent recovery. Hope all goes well.

I had a consultant appointment when I was pregnant with my second child.

He was very supportive. I had originally wanted to try another natural birth as I felt I had recovered well from the 3rd degree tear.

It turns out that although I haven't had any problems from the tear it hadn't healed as well as I thought it had. He recommended a csection. He also said he would support whatever decision I made but if I was his wife, sister, daughter etc he would want me to have a csection.

I took his advice and the csection was a very calm and positive experience.

Normally he would encourage a natural birth if it was suitable so it does make me a little concerned about how much damage I actually have but hopefully by having had my second baby by csection I haven't made things worse.

My consultant tried to convince me to have another vaginal birth and assured me that the second one 'just pops right out'.

I stuck to my guns and she signed off the elcs easily enough. I had complications with the c-section so half regretted my choice but will never know what would have happened if I had gone with a vb. the complications weren't long-term so overall I'm happy with my choice.

@Lindy2 that's reassuring that your consultant was so supportive

If you don't mind me asking, were you given a physical examination? Just with you saying that the consultant determined that you hadn't healed as well as you thought you had.

BabyBooDueNov21 About 6 months after my first baby arrived I did have an examination. I'd also had a few appointments with a physio and given some exercises to do to strengthen muscles.

I won't go into too much detail but the examination measured the strength of the muscles that had torn. Apparently the results weren't all that good although my daughter is nearly 13 now and I thankfully haven't had any problems despite things not having healed as well as they should.

The consultant didn't do any examinations on me but had my details from the previous results. He was worried that although I was ok if there were any other problems at all with a second birth the muscles simply wouldn't be strong enough to recover and it could cause a lot of problems. He didn't want me to take that risk.