Page 3 | Would you opt for a c section second time around?

cherrycola66 · 2025-05-17T20:34:56+00:00

My birth was relatively quick but extremely painful, I was refused an epidural the entire way through and when they finally agreed I was 9cm so it was too late. I really dread going through that again, would I be silly to ask for a c section?

tinyspiny · 21/05/2025 00:25

SnowFrogJelly · 20/05/2025 11:27

C section is much more painful after and longer recovery

It really wasn’t in my case ,I was out of hospital quicker , pain free much quicker and it was a much better experience .

LilDeVille · 21/05/2025 05:44

SnowFrogJelly · 20/05/2025 11:27

C section is much more painful after and longer recovery

Not definitively. My c section where I lost half of my blood volume was FAR easier to recover from than my VB where I had a 3C tear. My straightforward c section was easier still.

Marmiteontoastgirlie · 21/05/2025 22:22

EarlGreywithLemon · 17/05/2025 22:31

I went for sections for number 2 and number 3. That’s despite being given an epidural at 1cm in the first, vaginal birth (she was back to back, it was extremely painful, and I was not coping). In my case there were other medical reasons, but the pain alone would have been reason enough for me too choose a section. I found labour beyond excruciating. The C sections were sore for the first few days to a week if I forgot to take my painkillers. But they were never for one second as bone crushingly, breath takingly painful as labour.

My view on this is unpalatable to some, but here goes. Labour is sheer luck of the draw, a combination of your own body physiology, the position of the baby, and how they work together on the day. Those who think they aced it because of hypnobirthing/ breathing/ positive thinking / fairy lights / dark rooms/ no doctors around were just lucky on position and body shape. Those like me, who had pain so bad words cannot describe, couldn’t even move and ended up crumpled in a corner screaming in agony were unlucky. Many - most? - are somewhere in between. But it really is down to luck. Even if the additional medical reasons hadn’t been there, I still wouldn’t have rolled the dice again.

Also, for me, c section recovery with one and then with two other children at home was still easier than the vaginal birth recovery with only one newborn.

Totally agree and I am actually gobsmacked at the lack of advice I got during antenatal classes or from midwives when pregnant or during induction about baby position! It’s so important and they just let me labour for three days with no dilation at all because of baby’s position. The spinning babies methods should be what antenatal classes are about - instead you put a nappy on a doll!

Marmiteontoastgirlie · 21/05/2025 22:30

EarlGreywithLemon · 19/05/2025 08:52

To be fair, I couldn’t feel anything when I was pushing, though the midwife said I was doing it correctly. I suppose I could have stopped topping up the epidural and let it wear off a bit for pushing (it had a button I could press to top up), but there was no way I was going back to the kind of pain I’d been in!!

Ultimately, my daughter was in a very awkward position - she half turned to the side from back to back - so I don’t think she was coming out on her own. Her heart rate started to dip, there was some bleeding, they took us to theatre and got her out by forceps after failed ventouse. And just as well that they did because it turns out I was likely having a placental abruption- but that’s a whole other story.

I am in London and had a choice of St George’s and Chelsea and Westminster, and went for Chelsea and Westminster for the reason I mentioned. Not sure what your choices would be?

This was the exact position my daughter was in! I had strong contractions for 36 hours and only 1 cm dilated - they offered to break my waters but I declined and asked for c section instead as I was worried there were red flags that labour wouldn’t be straightforward. I have had a bit of a “what if” about whether that was the right choice so it’s interesting to read about your experience taking the other path.

seasonalexpression · 21/05/2025 22:31

I’ve had 2 c-sections. First one was emergency and very rushed and scary. Second was planned and it was an INCREDIBLE experience.

EarlGreywithLemon · 22/05/2025 03:09

Marmiteontoastgirlie · 21/05/2025 22:30

This was the exact position my daughter was in! I had strong contractions for 36 hours and only 1 cm dilated - they offered to break my waters but I declined and asked for c section instead as I was worried there were red flags that labour wouldn’t be straightforward. I have had a bit of a “what if” about whether that was the right choice so it’s interesting to read about your experience taking the other path.

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I honestly think you made the right call. I always said I’d decline forceps and opt for a C section if things went awry. But by the time her heart rate started going wrong she was very low down the birth canal and pushing her back up for a section would have been risky for both of us. So I consented to forceps after ventouse failed. I had a 3B tear, episiotomy, lost 2.9 litres of blood (likely placental abruption), and my bladder was so bruised it didn’t work for weeks, I had a leg bag catheter and went back and forth to hospital with issues, including a readmission. I was so upset that I couldn’t just get on with enjoying and caring for my baby. I think you were very wise and dodged a bullet there.

Without derailing the thread further, there are a few other things they didn’t tell me in NCT. Forceps is pretty brutal, but ventouse is not particularly gentle. I had two people pulling me back on the operating table as they were trying to pull her out with the ventouse. The doctor told me afterwards I’d already torn by that point, before the forceps. And also, in theory you have a choice of C section vs instrumental delivery throughout labour. But in practice, once the baby is low in the birth canal a C section becomes risky and instrumental delivery is the only real choice. So if you don’t want an instrumental delivery, the time to opt for a section is very early on, as you did, before your waters were broken. I’m so sorry you had a 36 hour labour with no progress though. That can’t have been easy!