Planned c section vs vaginal birth?

[anxiousmum28]

Has anyone had a planned section due to extreme anxiety ?
Ive given birth before with only a little pethidine at the beginning for pain releif. Baby was back to back and was ALMOST a section but managed to get them out with no tearing.
This pregnancy has been rather rough. Ive got pelvic girdle and just feel like ive been constant pain for months and im now im abs terrified of giving birth again! Im not sure what the best option is whether to plan a section to ease the anxiety or risk giving birth but push for the epidural this time.

What are your main concerns making your anxiety so bad? Just remember recovery from a section can be hard, and if you already have a child you need to factor that in. Things like you won't be able to drive, will that be a problem with your other child?

I had a planned c section 15 days ago as I had extreme anxiety re natural births and the fact they can’t be controlled/so many things could go wrong. I have a few friends and family who opted for elective sections and they all had very positive experiences and would opt for them again. For me, it was the most terrifying experience of my life - I have very little experience of hospitals, never had an operation, only been to A&E twice in my life etc so when I had the cannula inserted and began the walk down to theatre, panic set in. It was much more “major” than I anticipated and I was in hospital for 2 nights. Unfortunately for me, going naturally would still have been a terrifying experience and so there was no easy way out for me. I’m not sure how I’ll ever be able to have a second child as now I know how much I hated delivery.

This is not completely relevant but I'm surprised all you had was a bit of pethidine at the start because it can make the baby drowsy and therefore isn't the best painkiller. I was given it before but that was during a M/C and it was a great painkiller I have to say. For my babies' births I had gas and air and found it fine.

So maybe your choice isn't a little bit of pethidine Vs C-section but rather enquire about a different painkiller ? Is there someone you could talk to at a hospital/midwife appointment?

Pethidine has been used completely safely as labour analgesia for decades. If labour is very advanced then it’s normally avoided because of the chance of neonatal respiratory depression, but in earlier labour it’s fine. On the odd occasion that a baby makes a rapid appearance after a dose of pethidine there’s an antidote that can be used.

I’d have a proper chat with your midwife about what your specific worries are, chat about pain relief options and go from there.

I was induced with my daughter and although I did manage a vaginal delivery in the end pretty much everything that could go wrong did, currently pregnant with #2 and was asked if I’d prefer a planned c section due to my previous experience. I really thought about it, some of my close friends had planned sections recently and said it was an amazing and calm experience- not at all how I’d describe my first birth- but I’ve decided to try for another vaginal delivery. My main reasons being that while a planned section is the “easier” and more predictable birth, it is by far the harder recovery. I had an episiotomy, tears, pph the lot with DD but my recovery was really quick and smooth, I would rather that than voluntarily put myself through recovery from major surgery personally.

Oh this sounds awful. I was never this anxious about a second but I have anxiety in general which has worsened over the years. I dont think people realise how scary anxiety and your own mind can be! How did you find the recovery ? Tbh my pregnancy has been so rough with pelvic girdle im not worried about recovering from surgery as im already in so much pain! X

My anxiety really kicked off from maybe around 30 weeks or just after. I realised I had no way out of the situation (lol) and both delivery options really frightened me. I made my mind up on a c section because a natural delivery just had too many unknowns for me. I also struggled with serious pain during those last 10 weeks which really didn’t help.

I felt like I’d been hit by a bus after the c section - I honestly couldn’t understand how so many people I knew raved about them but I think a lot of my problems came from the mental side which eventually impacted the physical side due to sheer exhaustion. If you don’t have anxiety in a hospital/clinical setting, then you may be fine. This is where my fear stemmed from, as in my mind, hospitals for me are where people go when they’re sick or dying.

Ahh no I completely understand. Ive given birth before ive had a d&c in hospital before and never had any anxiety relating to the medical side of things themselves. I did recently lose my nan in the same hospital im due to give birth in and I was there when she passed so I think maybe its a little ptsd from that ? Im the same though this pregnancy was 100% planned after a few miscarriages i was over the moon but got to 20 weeks and bam im terrified of him coming out either way 🙈😂 the truth is there's just no easy option but the anxiety of the unknown is just crippling so I think the planned section is the way to go just so I know to expect surgery and recovery etc 🙈 I know suffering with anxiety there's nothing anyone can say to make you feel better but I hope youre well and feeling better now youve got through it ♡

2 c sections here, 1 emergency 1 planned

Is one of your main concerns lack of pain management during birth? If so, please discuss with your midwife.

C sections can be a good experience but the issue I found was extreme lack of care and help on the postnatal wards afterwards. What is the policy at your hospital regarding allowing a partner or someone else to help you overnight for example?

No easy option and I didn’t realise this before I got pregnant - I naively thought it would be a really holistic experience and actually it was a lot of hard work and pain.
My anxiety has definitely increased since birth and I’m getting help from the mental health specialist in the GP surgery thankfully. I left it too late before birth to seek help, I only mentioned my worries to the midwives the week before my section and by then it was too late to be referred to the specialist antenatal mental health team.

Your section will hopefully be a breeze. It didn’t affect my colostrum or milk coming in so that was a bonus. Baby also only had one bought of mucus whereas my niece born vaginally suffered terribly with mucus for weeks (they seem to bang on about how much better vaginal delivery is for clearing mucus!)

I had two planned sections after my first, vaginal, birth and much preferred them. I found the c section recoveries a thousand times easier. With the vaginal birth I had an episiotomy, 3B tear, 2.9l PPH and my bladder was bruised. The recovery was horrible and took months.

My baby was also back to back during the vaginal birth and I had pethidine and then an epidural. I found the pethidine really unpleasant. It did nothing for the pain, but made me really out of it, so I was in agony as well as feeling very woozy. I hadn’t actually wanted to have it in the first place, but got desperate waiting for the epidural.

The epidural on the other hand was amazing. I went from a screaming wreck curled up in a heap, to chatting with the midwives eating Haribo. I have quite fond memories of those few hours, and I was in a much better frame of mind to meet my baby.

Yes! The pethidine just made me sleepy for a few hours then once it wore off I felt exhausted! Oh god a bruised bladder sounds brutal 🙈 i think people take a really negative veiw on planned sections as if vaginal births are a breeze 🙈 they're absolutely not for everybody 🙈 x

Slightly off topic but have you talked to your midwife about how serious your anxiety is around birth and asked for help with the mental health aspects? Depending on your trust you might be able to be referred for counselling or other help.
Unfortunately it might just be CBT on offer because that's the evidence based approach at the minute. It works on average but in my experience it doesn't address the problem, just helps manage the symptoms. Could still be worth a go though.

I desperately wanted an elective c-section and was incredibly relieved when it became clear that I would need one. It went well, I was out of hospital 24 hours later. Recovery was completely manageable with regular paracetamol and ibuprofen. If I was going to have another, I would be very clear early on that I want another c-section.

You had a straightforward birth first time, have you thought about going completely the other way and having a homebirth? My first was back to back as well, I had her at home and I have just had my second at home too. Even if you just plan a homebirth but it doesn’t happen/you change your mind, statistically there are better outcomes for mum and baby.

Whatever you decide, there’s an amazing page called Birth Ed that’s on instagram and her podcast is bloody brilliant, she has 2 episodes on there about having a c-section which you might find insightful to help you advocate for yourself to get one and so you can get exactly what you want out of it.

Absolutely go for a planned section if you feel it would help with your anxiety. But id ask for a "birth options" meeting with a consultant midwife first. I had one and it was super helpful. She told me if you have a first vaginal birth, the second one is often much easier and more straightforward.

I had a c section booked as DD2 was breech but I went into labour before the section date. On arrival at triage, she had turned so I decided to proceed with a vaginal birth. I was absolutely adamant that I wanted no pethidine and I did want an epidural. DD2 was born in less than an hour whilst the anesthesiologist was still still setting up her equipment with just gas and air. 🙈 But 1 push and she was born. No burning crowning pain. Contractions manageable with gas and air. It was so straightforward compared to my first labour.

So I totally understand where you are coming from and you should have the section if you really feel that way, but I think talk through all your options first because its not a case of pethidine or nothing. My experience was the midwives were quite pushy about it but I just told them I wasnt interested in it.

I had an ELCS on mental health grounds. I found it an absolute breeze but I also was adamant that it was the only way that I was going to give birth (I acknowledge that there’s a small chance of not having one if labour starts and is too far gone but my ELCS was scheduled as early as allowed to prevent that). Any type of birth can go wrong obviously but it was noticeable how much more quickly I recovered than friends who had vaginal births. I remember being at a friend’s party when DS was about 5 weeks old and running around the garden with some of the other kids whereas a friend who had had a vaginal birth about 6 months earlier was still struggling with her mobility.

The position of your baby, being back to back, was likely the cause of the extreme pain. That and inappropriate pain relief. Despite all that, you birthed your baby and had (I assume?) a straightforward recovery. This is awesome and you should focus on how you overcame those challenges.

There is no guarantee that your baby will be in the same position this time, so it could be much smoother. Personally, I'd opt for a late scan to check position of the baby then make a decision. C sections can have all sorts of complications and not something to take lightly.

Good luck OP