Experiences of asking for a section

[Emmyhm]

Hello!
I am 5 weeks pregnant and although very early days I am plagued with the thought of having to give birth. I have a 4 year old, and her labour was very difficult, very long, I had a 3rd degree tear and such bad piles at the time it never was the same! I had surgery a year later (as they wouldn’t do it in the “post partum” period which they classed as a year!!)

I did not progress past 4cm and bled with contractions. To this day.. I don’t really remember what happened and nobody explained what was happening. She was not assisted but as she was back to back and large, the consultant turned her with her hand. I begged for them not to give a section, as I was on my own with her. It turns out, the injuries I sustained from this labour rendered it impossible to pick my daughter up anyway and needed a lot of help from my Mum for the first 2 weeks.
I don’t remember the first hold, the first breastfeed, the labour itself.. I spent 3 days awake, I was stuck to a monitor the whole time due to her being in distress. The thought of my second and final labour being this way makes me so anxious, I truly believe I would be better off with a section and wish I agreed to it with my first. I am a nurse, so understand the risks, but also aware NICE guidelines do suggest the right to choose.
Does anyone have any similar experience of having a section approved based on past labours? It seems some do not consider it a traumatic labour if it wasn’t “assisted” which is a real shame and really makes me feel as though my experiences are invalidated.

I asked for one due to having an emergency c section first time round. It was quite straightforward they said yes.

I had a traumatic first birth, when I was pregnant with baby 2 I opted for an elective section, I had a few hoops to jump through first such as a birth debrief for my first birth (which was actually really helpful) but consultant then supported my decision for a section (albeit saying he'd rather I went naturally due to easier recovery etc but until he can birth a baby I didn't feel like his opinion was valid)
As it happened I went into labour the morning of my section, arrived at the hospital at only 2cm, someone else was already in theatre so I agreed to labour for a bit until theatre was free then make a decision on what I wanted, and ended up with a water birth 2 hours after arriving at the hospital! It was a shock, but a very straight forward birth in the end x

My first birth was very traumatic and ended in an emergency c-section. I had my first consultant appointment this week (now 26 weeks) and said there and then that vbac or elective is my choice and if we went for elective route, he'd book it there and then. I found the consultant to be very supportive.

I am a FTM and for various reasons am requesting a ELCS for my first, with no medical reason. I had my booking in appointment yesterday and mentioned it to the midwife, she was 100% supportive, said it was my right to choose and noted it down. She didn’t even ask me why. You are absolutely entitled to choose a section.

Anyone can request a section, even if you get some resistance can just keep reiterating that yes you're aware of the risks and want one. They won't confirm until much much later in pregnancy though.

I had a section (first baby), no bad experience to go off, just terrified that would all happen to me and had worried about it my whole life to the point I didn’t want to even have a baby for a while. I’m in Scotland, it seems to be a postcode lottery in uk. Birth rights has a bit where you can look up your hospital to see what colour they’re rated and how many maternal request c-sections they’ve performed. In my experience as long as you’re very set on the fact you want a section and don’t fancy hypnobirthing or some other course they’ll throw at you, you’ll get one fine. I think some people must go in on the fence about it and they manage to sway them back into a vaginal birth. That was absolutely not me 😂 The section was the best day ever and the recovery really wasn’t that bad at all, the first 5 days you feel pathetic but after that it’s much better

A third degree tear is reason by itself to be considered for a caesarean. You should be referred to a consultant to talk about your options. I was told that it would be my choice and I said I wanted a caesarean and she said fine we can get it booked at the next appointment. It couldn’t have been a bigger change for my first pregnancy.

Hi OP, my first birth wasn't as bad as yours but I also got "injured" :( and requested ELCS for the 2nd for that reason.

I mentioned it whenever anyone asked/ or it seemed relevant, and I was booked in for a phone consult (because Covid) with an obstetric consultant at 28 weeks.

He was quite old-school and did give me a few lines of spin as to how I might "really enjoy" a positive vaginal birth experience (!) but I just stuck to my guns and said thanks for your input, but I'm really sure I want the c-section.

After about 20 mins chat he said "well it's certainly your right to choose so I'll make sure you are booked in for 39 weeks" and that was that. Got my date booked in pretty quickly after that, and it was a very nice birth experience - zero regrets.

So YES, you can get this and I wish you all the best!

How large was baby? I’ve just had an ELCS as my baby was measuring very big (ended up 9lb 15oz!) and whilst induction was offered twice I was also offered c-section too which I took.

Have you had any growth scans for baby number 2? If they’re measuring on the larger side and baby number 1 was also large they might approve it based solely on this. Saying that, a traumatic first birth should be reason enough to request a c-section second time around and I’ve had friends have this approved based on their first experiences.