Why did you have a C section?

[Awkwardusername]

Recovering from an emergency c section for “failure to progress” (my waters went, I got induced and made it to 7cm and couldn’t get any further) and curious about others.
Struggling to come to terms with it so hoping this might help!

So if you had a c section, was it emergency or elective?
If an emergency, what was the reason?
If elective, what made you choose a section?

2nd baby, (first was back to back VB) Was in labour for about 8 hours, at the hospital midwife unit, went in 5cm and was still 5cm 8 hours later. Suddenly was in terrible pain (more painful than the contractions) ended up being rushed up to the labour ward for an emergency crash C-section due to a placental abruption. I was so shocked it happened I couldn’t stop talking about for about 6 months. I wish I’d had the opportunity to discuss it with a professional. hope you are ok OP, and be kind to yourself, you did a great job, you and your baby are here and safe.

Vaginal birth first time, planned c-section second time due to contracting herpes virus. Trust me, you're not missing out with not having a vaginal it's incredibly painful.

I’m sorry you feel disappointed by the birth you had, that must be tough.
I had an elective C-section because I have a connective tissue disorder so there was a real risk giving birth would basically pull apart my hips/pelvis area and do serious damage to my back as well, given my health already and previous injuries/issues. As it happens, when they got me open, they realised my son was a big lad (9lb9) and got himself tangled in the umbilical cord as well so a C-section turned out to be the best option all round!
I am very glad I chose the option I did.

I developed type 1 diabetes while pregnant, my baby measured big and I was over 40. So a section was recommended at 38 weeks. As it happened my waters broke just before I was 37 weeks, had the section and he was already over 10lbs! I'm sure of my dates as I had my period on my honeymoon and then became pregnant.
Second baby they did suggest VBAC but she started to grow big. She was almost 10 lbs at 38 weeks.
I am almost 6ft tall though, and my husband's first two were also over 8lbs and his ex was 5'4", so I wasn't surprised my babies were big, diabetes or not.

I had to die to medical reasons, but I would have elected to anyway. My reasons are that I know of only one person who had a ‘natural’ birth (and even she had years of difficultly vaginally afterwards), everyone else had some sort of intervention (induction, forceps, etc), and I don’t know one person who hasn’t had issues. I had also read it was the safest delivery method for the baby (although not for the mother).

I went into labour before my planned section, so had to wait for a slot to become free. It was a wonderful experience for me, my own music, dad cut the cord, baby fed straight away and we did skin to skin for hours. I was out 15hrs later, no unmanageable pain (I stopped paracetamol after a few days), and two years on I can barely see a scar. I would definitely choose this option again if I had another.

Emergency c-section - meconium in the waters, heart rate dipping and not fully recovering, oxygen levels low. Turns out her head was stuck in a corner of my pelvis (doctor struggled to get her out) with cord round her neck. Had to be resuscitated but made a full recovery.

Had a VBAC second time but that resulted in a major post-partum haemorrhage. With hindsight I wish I had gone for an elective section.

I had an elective and it was perfect,
really good recovery etc, can’t even see the scar now. I wanted a section and pushed for it right through pregnancy.
Im sorry that you are struggling with what happened, definitely go for the talk with them, it must have been very scary.
I hope you don’t feel like I am minimising your feelings or doing whataboutism but you mentioned if you had tried longer, a friend was in a similar position and she got to the point where she wanted a section and they were prepping her and the consultant came and said oh no we can get this baby out, and it was pretty bad and the baby (now 18) has had a lot of problems which stem from the birth. Sometimes sections and just needed to keep mum and baby safe.
Also a friend who gave birth at the same time as me had a much worse recovery from a vaginal delivery so it isn’t always the case that the recovery is easier.

Emergency - placental abruption. Both myself and child lucky to be alive!

I have epilepsy and due to the seizures had to have a c-section. Was going to be at 39 weeks but was moved forward to 38 weeks due to pre-eclampsia.

That's true. I'm sure a c-section is no walk in the park either with the post partum pain during recovery but I had two vaginal births and try my best to forget them rather than wonder in the experience.

It's hard to change the mindset if you'd been imagining a certain birth plan for so long. But give yourself a break, you have to go with the advice of the medical professionals. They've seen it all. If they thought you could safely continue they'd have let you. Try to focus on your baby arriving safely - that's the key thing.

I had two - first emergency one was because the heart rate kept dipping and I was only at 5cm. The second was meant to be planned but I went into labour earlier and so it was an emergency one.

I've had 3. First very similar to yours. Turned out DC1 was nearly 10lb and properly stuck hence the failure to progress. They had to wrestle him out of my pelvis.

2nd was because I didn't go into spontaneous labour and my hospital would only let me attempt a VbAC if I did.

3rd was because they wouldn't let me attempt VBA2C.

I struggled with it quite a bit for a while. Felt like I'd failed, my body had let me down and I'd missed out etc.

Mine are teens now and honestly I don't care at all. I hardly ever think about it and it's such a tiny part of being a parent. Please try not to let it spoil your early days of being a mum. We are sold such a lie about the wonders of natural birth

Elective for both although I didn't choose either. First baby was big and transverse. They couldn't turn him so c-section was booked in. Second baby I had placenta previa so no chance of a vaginal birth. Both sections were calm, trouble free and recovery was quick and pain free.

Elective preterm section for vasa previa. It’s an elective as it was planned but the choice is between a section and a stillbirth as the baby is born without blood if born vaginally so not much of a choice. I knew about the section from 20w though, so it was easy to adjust to.

First was an emergency after a failed induction - pessary, breaking of waters and drip failed to progress me past 2cm. I struggled emotionally with this for a long time, felt like a failure on some level for not having laboured spontaneously and had “the perfect low intervention water birth”.

In hindsight, I drank the NCT kool-aid and should have been deeply sceptical of anyone who claimed exclusive breastfeeding was 98% effective as a contraceptive. I was also set up to “fail” on some level and I wish I’d better understood that with a Bishops score that low, the odds of induction working were very low. I also wish someone had made me aware of the high c section rate associated with inductions. I made the mistake of thinking if I did things a certain way, I would get the birth I wanted and the two are mainly unrelated.

Second time round, I spent more time agonising over whether to have an elective section than was wise - I think hormones must have been in the mix. Eventually I decided to have a planned section if baby didn’t appear by 41 weeks. He didn’t and I had the section.

This was hugely healing for me as a) it confirmed that my body just doesn’t go into labour for whatever reason and b) that a section if handled well can be a really positive experience. I would definitely choose it again if I were in the same position.

I hope some of what I said above helps - and congratulations on your baby!

Elective- breech. Would do it again.

1. Undiagnosed back to back footling breech
2. Massive haemorrhage (me), baby's heart stopped.

Ah you got further than me. I’m recovering also currently- I only made it to four.
Rest up 🖤

Congratulations on your baby OP, 10 days post birth is a hormone cocktail as well as your body still being in physical recovery- your feelings are absolutely valid and don't want to minimise how you feel, but hoping you feel more at peace with it soon. I'd also recommend birth reflections when you can, I had it 2 years after giving birth and it was really beneficial.

It's impossible to say without knowing all of the facts, but I'd say invariable an emergency C section is a last resort, if deemed safe or there's a chance of success for you and baby then other interventions are the first port of call (its easier for them too so there's no benefit to jumping to a CS).

I have been privileged enough to assist with many C sections over the years, and whilst it is a major operation and for many women it's not what they have planned- giving birth this way is still absolutely beautiful. Bodies, babies and women are amazing, absolutely and without a shadow of a doubt including those who either chose or who have to have C sections. Your body didn't fail, and neither did you.

Be kind to yourself OP.

I'm having one in 4 weeks because I can't go through labour again, I still suffer with birth trauma

Like many others, failure to progress after induction. They said ‘I can stretch you to five’, which to me means max 4cm after 28 hours of contractions. This was with balloon, breaking waters (excruciating) and then drip. Drip sent baby’s heart rate plummeting so they had to turn it off quickly. Had an epidural which only worked on one side. Doctor came round in the morning and gave me the choice of c-section or another attempt at the (very painful, ineffective, dangerous for my son) drip. I bit her hand off for the c-section and was in theatre less than an hour later. So calm and and undistressing compared to induction. I have found recovery very straightforward but I don’t have a comparison. I was pretty much back to normal within a week. He is now seven weeks old and I’m so glad I went for the CS. If I had another I would have an elective with no hesitation.

Dd 1 wasn't progressing so they broke my waters, the second they tinkered she passed meconium so I ended up having an emergency 'c' section with general anesthetic - I was terrified but felt in safe hands they did what they had to to protect us both. Second dd I wanted to try for a natural birth but there was NO WAY anyone was tinkering, after negotiations with my consultation it was agreed I could go 13 days over then if nothing was happening I'd have a planned section, I requested that my consultant did the operation (he'd done my emergency one as well and despite being scared stiff I felt in really safe hands), it was a lovely chilled out affair with an epidural this time and an anaesthetist who told me rude jokes through the whole procedure and tried to convince me Brian was a great baby name - he was brilliant.... in summary dd1 terrifying but safe, dd2 relaxed and secure, what happened, happened I have 2 fabulous dds as a result, without a section I'd have definetely lost dd1 and possibly dd2

I was labour for 5 days and couldn't make it past 3cm. I was admitted to have my waters broken and made it to 4cm after 8hrs. Then had to go on the hormone drip. After 12 hrs I didn't get past 5cm so opted for a c section. I was exhausted and just wanted her out! Her head was in a funny position and I'm glad I made the decision I did and don't regret it. I could have been waiting hours and hours and then god knows what would have happened. I have a healthy baby girl ❤️

First - Breech, resolutely breech, they tried all-sorts to get him turned, but to no avail. The hospital couldn't guarantee that there would be anyone on shift who has previous experience (small hospital)

Second - Placenta Previa, there was a lack of consensus on whether it would effect a vaginal birth, during the last week the consultant decided that on c-section. After the birth the consultant came to see me and told me I would have likely lost pints of blood if i'd tried to given birth naturally, and would have had to do an emergency c-section anyway.

I'm a tiny bit gutted that I wasn't able to birth them naturally, but I'm hugely thankful for modern healthcare as I don't think I would be here otherwise.

Similar to you. I went into labour and waters broke naturally, but 36 hours in with close and intense contractions I was still only 1cm. After another 36 hours on drip I was still only reaching 3-4cm, baby’s heart rate was starting to fluctuate, and I had got a fever from infection where my waters had been broken for so long.
When I had the section the surgeon told me my pelvis isn’t suitable for childbirth, that baby never would have got out that way, and any more children I have should be a planned section. That upsets me as I’d love to try again for a natural birth but as long as baby arrives safely, that’s all that matters.