Anyone regret an elective C section?

[Gracebaker]

This may be a bit of an unusual post but I just wondered if any other mums in the same boat.

I requested a c section for the birth of my first baby 18 months ago. I was so certain it was what I wanted at the time (I work in healthcare and have seen VB go wrong many times plus seem a lot of the after effects of VB). No one could have talkEd me out of it.

So it was super easy to get an elective c section booked, however i went into labour a few days before it was scheduled. As it happens I progressed very quickly and on arriving at the hospital two hours after waters broke I was already 8cm dilated! As I was booked for c sec they took me for the elective c section but as an ‘emergency’.

It was all fine and recovery no problem . Everything was fine. I’ve had zero issues post partum, breastfeeding was good, DS has always been healthy and happy. But I can’t help but feel disappointed about my birth story. I feel disappointed in myself that I didn’t birth him naturally when I feel like that’s what my body wanted to do.

Obviously I don’t know what would have happened for sure but after the csec the midwife said he would have been born within 30mins if I’d carried on, and I often think back to the birth and wish I’d said I didn’t want the c section.

Weirdly I feel like I wasn’t given much of an option to try to birth naturally at the time as he was coming so quickly I think they just wanted to get me to theatre asap.

Anyway I don’t really know what the point of this thread is. Just that I feel disappointed with my perfectly fine and non traumatic birth. I think about the two hours I had in (quite intense) labour as the best parts of my birth experience, and feel I let myself down by having the c section.

Whenever anyone talks about their VB - whether it was a horrible one or not - I always feel quite triggered, jealous even, and it brings these feelings back of not being good enough and just generally being a bit lame.

Anyone out there experience something similar or am I just being crazy?!

if I get pregnant again I’m thinking I’ll try for VBAC.

That was poor wording on her behalf. She may have said it to make you feel better if you want a vbac next time as it means you have more chance of success.
A lot of the ‘issues’ happens towards the end. It is really hard to feel ok about it, I agree. For me it was missing out on the experience and feeling ‘womanly’ (ridiculous I know). I don’t care what others do, it was purely something I wanted to feel for myself. When you hear all the incredible birth stories and do all your pregnancy yoga and hypnobirthing it always seems amazing. But it’s a risk and is it necessary?

Mine ended in a c section which I basically pushed for after 5 day in labour and things being absolutely horrendous. They acted resentful and annoyed at me for asking, I felt like such a failure. I did birth reflections more recently and they told me I’d basically made the right decision. Of course they only really know after. I’ll never forget the very young, male surgeon’s disgruntled face not getting why I wasnt coping. He just couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t keep going even though baby was back to back and had strong chance of needing forceps and emcs if it didn’t work.

Honestly, I feel like the hospital can make it all so much worse. You’re very vulnerable to how you’re treated and made to feel. Every labour is so different and they can never know how it felt and how it was going to end up.