VBAC or planned Caesarean after previous emergency C?

[Uwila]

Okay Spilla, here's the thread for you.

Spilla comment from previous thread:

Hi
Can anyone help?? I am 5 months pregnant with my second baby. I had an C-Section with my first due the placenta preavia. I now have the choice of what kind of birth I would I like for my second - I had a blood transfusion after the first and did not feel well for at least 3 months even though the pain if the cut seemed to dies down after two weeks.

I honestly don't know what to do - whilst I like the idea of knowing when my baby will come and not risking being an emergency case due to rupture of scar etc I feel quite inclined to try and deliver vaginally.

I can't stop thinking about it all - Anyone got any experiences of this sort of thing I would love to talk to you????

I was lucky, I'd met my obstetrician before and discussed it with her (not quite enough but I didn't really know what to expect, so what to ask for, but hey) and the rest of the team introduced themselves and were nice and friendly. But then it wasn't an emergency and I felt pretty calm. It was a tricky section as it turned out - quite a lot of blood loss due to the placenta being where it was, and ds was transverse with his head firmly wedged into my pelvis, so I know for certain that in another era we would both have been naturally quite dead. I can't say that doesn't colour my views of childbirth, probably more than most. Plus, a close friend of mine's first baby actually died while she was in labour - he had a brain bleed due to the stress of it. Full term, perfectly healthy pregnancy. Unforgettably horrific. I didn't have children at the time, so really didn't fully appreciate just how dreadful it was for her and her dh.

Yes, many people comment on the shock of a c/s, the rush of people etc. I can honestly say that that was totally run of the mill for me. I did notice the rush and I didn't give a damn. I'm not at all fearful of surgery, and I didn't feel overwhelmed or frightened at all by the surgery. First time round I was anxious because ds's heartbeat had dropped to about 50bpm, so it was action stations to save him... But for myself I had no issues, and no unpleasant memories at all in either case about the actual op.

Actually, one thing I do envy about natural childbirth is that the baby comes straight to its mother for a cuddle and isn't whisked away. That's something I shall be talking to the obstetrician about. I hope I can do something more like that this time. I certainly think that if the birth goes well this is a better first five minutes of life than being hauled off, suctioned, weighed and wiped etc.

I'm lucky because I've never had a contraction in my life - emergency c section followed by elective, where we all sang along to Shaggy and they tidied up my scar......

I got to feed both ds's for a few minutes as they were sewing me up, so it certainly can be arranged.

forinterest

that is interesting, thanks