Planned C-Section Vs Vaginally Delivery

[MumLifeUnfiltered]

Looking for some advice from people who have had a vaginal delivery and a planned c section.

When I had my daughter I had a very traumatic labour and birth. I was in labour for around 80 hours, I was dilating very very slowly however my contractions were very much progressing. I was admitted into hospital at 2cm dilated(50 hours into labour) as they were worried about how quickly my contractions were coming and how strong they were. I had a ruptured membrane from too many stretch and sweeps. The midwife had to call in a registrar at one point as I was bleeding very heavily, she popped my waters to try and progress things a bit further. Once I finally reached 10cm and could push, I was pushing for 2 hours. My daughter got stuck in the birth canal, I was in stirrups, the bottom of the bed was removed and I had like 4 people in the room. They had to get the registrar back in, they tried the ventouse(vaccum) however that didn't work, they then tried forceps. I ended up with an episiotomy which then progressed into a deep third degree tear. After my daughter was delivered I was then taken into theatre to be stitched up and sorted out because it was too bad for them to do in the room. When my daughter was 5 days old I was admitted back into hospital as I had a severe infection which needed IV antibiotics 4 times a day. I was in hospital for 4 days.

So moving on to the actual question now 😂, me and my partner are currently trying for a baby and have been told due to everything I went through I can definitely request to have a planned C Section. I know C sections are by no means easy and it's major surgery. Has anyone had both vaginal births and planned C Sections? What would you suggest? I honestly don't know what I would want. I'm petrified of giving birth again.

My first birth (vaginal) was nowhere near as traumatic as yours and I requested an elective c section for my 2nd. Everyone is different but for me it was straight forward, recovery fine, breastfeeding fine and no regrets. If I could have chosen a straight forward natural birth then I would absolutely have done that. But I just didnt want to take my chances.

Bless you op it sounds like you really went through it! I've had 3 vaginal births and 1 planned c section. I haemorrhaged badly for 2 of the vaginal births and when I fell pregnant with my 4th dc I decided to go for a Cs the experience was so much better it was calm I was surrounded by a team of people rather than one over stretched midwife. I recovered really quickly much quicker than I did with a forceps and episiotomy. Pain for me was minimal.

I've had both. But my vaginal births were very straightforward. In your situation I would probably choose an elective c-section.

I had an induction with my first child which I struggled to overcome mentally, it was nowhere near as traumatic as yours but I couldn’t talk about it without crying. I had a lovely birth trauma midwife with second DC who told me I could have an elective c section so I went for that, it ended up being an emergency c section but the difference was incredible. It was a much calmer experience and I felt in control, all the hospital staff knew what I’d been through and were so reassuring and made sure I knew everything that was happening etc, it was a very peaceful experience. The recovery was much harder but I’m now pregnant with DC3 and think I’ll go for a c section again!

Sorry for your first experience OP. I had a traumatic first birth which resulted in a 3b tear and PTSD. It took a long long time to mentally and physically recover. I had EMDR therapy and would really recommend it if you wanted to address the birth trauma.

I reluctantly chose a c section second time round and am SO glad I did - the difference was massive! Everything was planned and calm and genuinely enjoyable. I had an entire team of people looking after me (instead of DP having to search round corridors looking for a midwife like first time) and I wasn’t absolutely exhausted afterwards when then looking after a newborn.

What put me off the idea of a c section was the fear of losing my independence during the recovery, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Yes, it hurts, yes it’s really hard to get up for a few days and you really can’t lift anything more than your baby for a while, but for me I felt much better after 4 weeks. And tbf I could barely sit for 2 weeks after my vaginal birth and couldn’t walk without prolapse, so that recovery wasn’t smooth either.

8 months later I still have zero core muscles and my scar is itchy, but I’d 100% take that over all the prolapse, fissures, piles etc I had for so long after the first one 😖

I hope you recovered well and haven’t had lingering issues.

my first birth was vaginal and wasn’t as traumatic as yours, was 4 days induction. I recovered poorly from a tear and it was very difficult time. Having surgical repair years later.

I had a planned c section for my second birth and it was a walk in the park in comparison. In for 24 hours, ngl very slow walk out of hospital, first few days were tough but did a county walk 5 days later, school run 8 days later, driving after two weeks.

after everything you went through I would 100% not risk that and keep vagina intact to avoid any issues.

I’m so sorry to hear you had such a horrible time! had a difficult first birth (failed ventouse, forceps, 3rd degree tear, episiotomy, PPH) followed by 2 ELCS. The ELCSs were so, so much better!

I've had a vaginal birth and 2 elcs. The vaginal birth was fairly easy for me, but I had a medical recommendation for the elcs and I was pretty glad to have the excuse for it. Both elcs went smoothly and I was able to have skin to skin and bf. Personally I am really glad my private parts are fairly unscathed after having 3 dcs. I have a scar and there was a longer recovery time but it's over pretty quickly tbh, and I was lucky that my DH was around to help every day.