has anyone had an elec c section purely because you were too unwell to go through labour?

[NatalieJaneIsPregnantAgain]

sorry for crappy typing and what will be slow posts, am on shitty patient line thing, the keyboard is..... lucky i've not chucked it out of the window!

am in hospital, i have some sort of infection, they are waiting for blood cultures to come back to find out exactly what infection, but they are fairly sure it's not the baby, but he is being effected by my high temp, rapid pulse, stress etc.

blood tests since friday have shown the infection is getting worse despite iv ab's so it seems we are in for the long haul. tbh i don't have enough energy to do even the simplest things let alone give birth, and with my recent history of no fetal movements, low waters, then kidney infection, then a viral thing and now this, which is going to take a good long while to recover fully from, and thats if i don't pick anything else up in the mean time, i really don't think i'd get through labour without it leading to emcs anyway, surely a planned one has to be better? even if even the thought of a cs scares me half to death.

i know there could be issues re a cs with this infection, but i can't help thinking that with everything that has gone on this last 6 weeks, that my body has basically had enough, and that the baby will soon be at the point where he's better out than in.

is the cons just going to laugh at me if i ask him about this?

I think it's a very valid question.

Not at all, I had a caesarian under these circumstances in July. I had pre-eclampsia (confirmed) but I also had some quite bad liver problems caused by the start of an infection. The baby had to be born and I said 'well the induction last time failed so let's go for caesarian again'.

It is easier if you've had one before but if you do talk to the consultants and say 'we need to plan for how and when this baby is born' they will probably be very amenable.

You WILL have to stay in hospital for at least five days afterwards though and don't expect the infection to disappear. It may well get worse and you will be coping with a newborn. However if the pregnancy is putting a lot of pressure on your already stressed internal organs, early delivery may be required.

How pregnant are you?

BTW YES PATIENTLINE IS THE DEVILS WORK!!!! It sucks

I would suspect, but I am by no means knowledgable on this kind of stuff, that if you have some kind of nasty infection and are generally ill, that they would not be keen to do surgery on you tbh.

when are you due?

Your consultant will no doubt turn up tomorrow morning. Just say, 'I'd like to consider caesarian delivery so I know the baby is safe and well and I can concentrate on recovering from this infection'.

It's perfectly reasonable in the circumstances. They can only say no, in which case, ask again in two days time. Having a planned caesarian is much lower risk than them having to perform and emergency one because your condition or that of your baby has deteriorated suddenly.

sorry i am 36 +1

thanks for replies its good to know its at least worth asking.

yuo see I am proved wrong before I even posted! lol

this is yesterday, fwiw i agree with you, i can see the infection itself being enough to make them not do it, but i just can't help but think this is not going to get any or much better till hes born, and there is no way on this earth i could labour with how i'm feeling.

sodding keyboard!

Actually there is a more pertinent worry which is that the infection will spread to your uterus and you will develop childbed fever post partum. I did and it is horrible. I also got an incisional hernia and needed another op a month after birth but it was nothing to the childbed fever (which is a killer).

What you would need is a large bolus of antibiotics during surgery to really whack your system. They won't harm the baby if you are breastfeeding, but they will give you a fighting chance of overcoming the infection.

What sort of infection is it anyway...ie where did it start and under what circumstances. I'm not (entirely) just being nosey, I'd have septacemia four times now so I learned a lot about infections in general and how they are treated in pregnancy.

I developed a condition called obstetric cholestasis,which affects liver function, towards the end of my pregnancy.
I had had a very rough pregnancy already - hypermesis at the beginning, SPD throughout, plus repeated bouts of flu / tonsilitis. I was also suffering from insomnia related to the OC, which meant I was feeling incredibly weak, and my immune system was shot to pieces. When the consultant said he thought it would be too much for my body to go through the 'trial of labour' I was almost relieved (I think he was quicker to say that because I had had a previous section, though).

I had my daughter by c-section 3 weeks ago, and although I have recovered brilliantly from the actual operation, my immune system is still crappy. I've got another chest infection .

Still, I totally relate with how you feel and think you have to listen to your gut and (hopefully) your doctor will be supportive.

Good luck!

I hope they will be able to knock whatever it is on the head for you very soon, and you will start to feel stronger again. I would imagine whether they are willing to do a CS would depend on where the infection is. Agree with the others that a planned calm CS always better than an emergency one. Defo ask consultant about it.

The other thing to do is set a deadline. Say a week from now. If your condition is no better, ask if you could have a caesarian then.

The thing is....if you develop full blown sepsis and your major organs fail or you have a heart attack, your son will die and you probably will too. Whereas, if he is delivered and you can be given a intensive course of IV meds and the stress on your body (of supporting another life) be removed, you have more chance of recovering.

From what you've said about his state from tests, it's likely you will have to deliver him fairly soon anyway. They like to get you to 38 weeks if poss. but it's by no means necessary once you are past 36 weeks.

they don't know what or where the infection is, but i have very similar to 'flu like symptoms. they've done tests to test the level of infection, they only take a couple of hours to come back, tha's how we know the infection is getting worse (on friday it was 60 something, today well over 100 if that means anything to anyone) but the blood cultures that will tell us where it is take 72 hours so they should be in tomorow.

cor even led here mn'ing is exhausting! i am going to try a sleep, thanks for all of the replies, and i'll check back in in the morning.

Hmm, you need to know what your white cell count is.

It sort of doesn't matter if it's a systemic infection, unless there is a site where it started which is getting reinfected all the time - my first septacaemia was caused by - of all things - a blister on my heel. Within twelve hours I was terrifically ill - which is bloody ridiculous. Luckily I'd noticed the veins tracking and had part of my heel excavated and packed with gauze to get rid of the infection site because otherwise it would have just got worse and worse.

If it's just for example, something you've picked up but your immune system is buggered because of the pregnancy (can happen) then obviously getting the baby out is paramount.

Try not to worry, you'll no doubt see your consultant tomorrow. He or she wants a good outcome for you and will listen to your request without laughing! Good luck, sleep well, hope the midwives shut up long enough for you to get some sleep.