Elective caesarean date

[lucasnorth]

I am having an el cs this time round, because of a difficult birth last time round. When I saw the registrar to book in for the section she said it should be 38-39 weeks. I went for 38+5 which was the latest they could do.
Then the week after, when I saw the midwife, she said no no no, must be after 39 weeks, and booked me in for 39+4.

I know that the NICE guidance is for el cs after 39 weeks; the closest options I have are 38+5 and 39+2 (don't know why mw went for 39+4).

Does anyone know how the likelihood of going into labour changes between 38+5 and 39+2 and 39+4? Any advice?

Thanks

I would go for 39+2.

When I was expected to have one they went for 39 weeks exactly. I had to spend 2 weeks in the ante-natal ward and despite my begging they would not do it earlier.

When did you go into labour last time? Early or late? If late I'd leave it as long as poss to give baby as much womb time as possible, if early you might not want to risk it.

I'm no expert though - go with the recommendations of your medical team. They know your circumstances.

I'd go for the later date personally.

If you start having contractions beforehand they'll just do the section earlier - they did this with me at ds2 as went into labour at 37 weeks.

However he was one of the unlucky ones who did have breathing difficulties and spent a week in NICU.

Am currently 33wks and hoping i get to post-39 weeks although unlikely as have been early with first 2 pregnancies.

I'm going in on Monday - 39 weeks exaclty. Bring it on, I can't handle anymore heartburns or Braxton Hicks.

Do it as late as poss. I'm having an elective at 39+2 and wish they could give irt a few more days.

DD2 was also elective and, despite being done at 39+4, was quite sleepy, jaundiced and erm, hairy. I think she could have done with a bit longer inside.

Don't know if this is of any help, but the risks of breathing difficulties drop dramatically for c-section babies after 39 weeks. the risk is 5 times higher at 38 weeks, and much higher still earlier than that. all the info about what risks there are at what stage can be found in a summary paper on the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists website. i'd agree with the general principle that the later the better unless there are medical reasons for either you or the baby to give birth sooner.

Thanks all.

I went to 40+5 with DD1, but there seem to be plenty of rumours that second babies are a bit more prompt, hence my concerns. I had also heard that it's much better to go beyond 39 weeks...

Problem really is that I've been told several times that as the elective is at my request, if I do go into labour it's extremely unlikely they'd go ahead with a section. So it's a judgement of when is late 'enough', but still giving me a good chance of having the section.

I've looked online and can't find any stats for likelihood to give birth by day (just some stats by week, dating back to the 80s). Does anyone know of any?

Thanks again all for your advice.

Not sure about stats but when i went into labour early - i just phoned the delivery suite told them and went in to be examined.

When they examined me and i explained i was booked in for a section 2 weeks later they just got a registrar to come and take a look and he just said we'll do it now.

There was no discussion really about why i was having a section other than that i'd had one previously.

So hopefully even if you did go into labour earlier you'd still get your section.