3rd Degree Tear or C Section

[Rollypops]

Hello all,

Just wondering if there are any mummies out there who have had a 3rd degree tear and a c section and which they thought was better?

Plus do they have any long term complications of either?

Asking as I've had a 3rd degree tear and wondering what to do for my 2nd.

Thanks so much! X

I had trouble with milk supply after my C-section and none after the VBAC but that may just have been coincidence.

I had a 3b tear followed by another 3b tear. Healed fine with no long term issues.

I have had both and would take a c section over a 3d tear any day. I only have 2 dc as I was told after ds1 the next birth should be a csection. I took a long time to recover from the tear, had to have further surgery 2 years after the birth so I think my experience was pretty bad. It's good to hear some more positive recovery stories.

Because I wanted a bigger family and knew I could have a c section. When pregnant with my third I was worried I was going to die during the birth, wrote letters to my kids etc, but didn’t realise I was traumatised from my other deliveries to that extent until I was already pregnant 😄definitely done now!

"She now also has a horrendous scar across her tummy."

🙄 What a way to talk about your own sister's body when it has just produced your niece/nephew.

Can't believe women who talk about other women like that.

I had a 3c tear with my second child. The recovery was awful and when I had my third child two years later I really struggled with what to do. From what they said I wasn't any more at risk from it happening again but if it did it could be worse. I wasn't willing to take that chance, I couldn't handle the uncertainty of it. I had a planned c section and found the recovery from it so much better to handle. I healed much easier than with the tear. They were very encouraging about it being my choice. I hardly notice the tear, people do have varying degrees of numbness after but I have been fine and can hardly see the scar.

Insurance won't care when you drive. But it's your internal organs you damage if you have to do an emergency stop before it's healed.
Best not to drive for 6 weeks instead.

C section.

Took me around 18months to recover from my year. Around 3 weeks with my c section.

C section all the way! Best experience of my life. Was walking around in three days, even had a pub lunch with the baby. A year later and I can’t even see my scar, it’s so low, under my pant line.

I had a 3b tear with DC1 then an elective c-section for DC2. Midwives were all supportive of my decision. DC1 was over 9lb and in an awkward position and knowing that DC2 was likely to be similar weight I didn’t want to do any more damage than had already happened to my pelvic floor.

Healing from the C-section was uncomfortable, but no worse than healing from the tear, and at least I didn’t have to sit on a donut cushion for weeks because of my poor tender bits.

Interesting to read these. I had a 3rd degree tear and it's healed really well, fully recovered now at 4 months postpartum. But.... I'm still not sure I want to go through it again. I was in surgery for 2.5 hours afterwards so separated from baby for a long time and I couldn't really hold him properly for days. It really mucked up our breastfeeding plans.

I had a homebirth which I loved and it's such a leap to a C-section so hard to imagine, but these comments have all given me a lot of food for thought.