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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

when do they do planned c-sections?

23 replies

Joseyjo · 13/05/2005 14:08

i have been told that it would be dangerous for me to labour because of the type of scar I have from my previous c-section. does anyone know when they are likely to plan this cs? I am now 19 weeks, but i am not seeing the consultant again until about 24 weeks and i need to plan! i am not good at waiting.
my mw said that 38 weeks was about right, but does anyone else have any experience/insight?
thanks

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flum · 13/05/2005 14:14

oh how scary. what is up with your scar then?

would imagine they would do it around 38-39 weeks. why the urgency to know?

Finbar · 13/05/2005 14:18

I had a planned caesarean and I think I got told at about 20 weeks (ish) The Consultant took outhis diary and said "well, we do them on wednesdays - so that give you the last week in August or the first in september - which do oyu prefer?" !

happymerryberries · 13/05/2005 14:18

Mine was planned for 39 but tey went for 38 in the end because of my pre eclampsia

Magscat · 13/05/2005 14:23

I had a perfectly ordinary scar from a c-section with my first baby but as soon as I saw my consultant when pregnant with baby 2 he said 'we won't let you go overdue & we won't induce because of the risk of the scar rupturing. If you don't have a textbook 'normal' labour we'll section you'.

So, all pregnancy I believed I would not be allowed to go overdue at all and would have a planned section about 39 weeks. The consultant had said this would be the optimum time - no need to do it earlier.

When it came to the appointment at 38 weeks though, a different consultant saw no reason I couldn't go overdue and in the end I had a planned section at 41 weeks.

I don't know about your scar in particular but with a normal section scar I was initially told 39 weeks but then was told there was no reason I couldn't go overdue. (They would even have tried inducing me but I had 4 failed attempts at induction 1st time round so would have been waste of time).

I would ask to see your consultant again to talk about it a bit more or even see a different consultant. Also, if you wanted to try for a vaginal delivery there's loads of advice on VBAC (vaginal birth after ceasarean) from NCT or similar.
Hope this helps.

mancmum · 13/05/2005 14:33

I had planned sections with both mine - one was done at 39+5 weeks and the other at 39 weeks..

Original poster

Joseyjo · 13/05/2005 15:19

thanks for that everyone.
my ds was really small - came out at 1lb at 33 weeks after an emegency cs. because he was so small, my uterus hadn't stretched as it should so they had to cut through what should be the strongest bit of the wall (sorry if tmi - i am squirming as i type!!). they said in normal circumstances, there is no reason why you can't labour (if you want) following a cs, but for me, v bad idea - serious risk of rupture which could endanger baby and me. so not an option as far as i am concerned. i don't mind at all as i am just so desperate for everything to be ok this time.
i wouldn't change my ds for the world and was very lucky to get 3 days with him before he died.

so the general consensus is about 39 weeks then?
the only hurry to know is because work want to know when i am going to start my maternity leave and i don't want to end up with no time to myself b4 the birth.

OP posts:

mancmum · 13/05/2005 15:45

SO sorry to hear about your DS... will be thinking of you...

flum · 13/05/2005 16:02

awwwh bless you. good luck

MrsBigD · 13/05/2005 16:20

sorry to hear about your ds

I had my cs scheduled for 39+4 though they would have let me go overdue to 41 weeks had I wanted. Though my chances of ending up with an emergency cs in the end anyway was 2:3 so I opted not to go overdue. Have to mention I had to have an emergency cs with dd because induction din't really work and I failed to progress and then dd went into distress... all was fine though so I was lucky

Also glad I had ds as a cs... he's a whopper

uwila · 13/05/2005 18:14

I think the current nice guidelines are to waituntil 39 weeks. But, if you beg and plead you might be able to get them to do it earlier. They don't really like to do this though. I have my first child by emergency caesarean (after failed induction / fetal distress due to cord being wrapped around her neck). She's fine. But, I decided I didn;t want another emergency caesarean... AND I think caesareans get a bad wrap. Anyway, I'm have an elective caesarean next week at 38 +4. I had to beg and plead for this date due to concerns of how I would get to the hospital if I went into labour before the planned section. I live quite far from the hospital and it could easily take a couple of hours to get there in rush hour.

I think if you have valid concerns they might do it a bit earlier. But, probably not a lot earlier. If you talk to a consultant who you feel is not being very sympathetic to your worries, then I think you should ask to talk to another one. You might also want to look into what your hospital's policy is.

If you cat me, I'll see if I can find a copy of the current nice guidelines. They are from April 2004, and i THINK they are the current ones.

nutcracker · 13/05/2005 18:17

My first planned one was at 38 weeks, my second was an emergency at 35 weeks and my 3rd was done at 37 weeks but they wanted to do it at 39.

dabihp · 13/05/2005 18:32

Just been booked (reluctantly) for 2nd section, at 39 weeks 6 days! Cos, as someone already said, consultant like to do them on a Wednesday! I personally think they are 'cutiing it a bit fine' and was told if i go in to labour they will do an emergency, which surely defeats the purpose????

Magscat · 13/05/2005 19:52

Joseyjo - just wanted to say good luck. You must be due about the beginning of October - will keep fingers crossed for you .

I'm sure they'll take good care of you - I would just ask for another chat with the consultant if you want to know more.

Surely your employer will be understanding about you not being able to give a date yet?
As far as the law goes you are allowed to change your mind about a start date for mat leave up to 28 days beforehand - dti mat rights leaflet

expatinscotland · 13/05/2005 20:11

i was a planned c-section at 39 weeks, 3 days.

the hospital did them on saturdays, b/c this was back in the days when daddy's didn't get paternity leave.

NotQuiteCockney · 13/05/2005 20:24

The later the better - the bigger they are, the better they are at breastfeeding, and at sleeping!

I had DS1 as an "elective", 39+5, and DS2 as an "emergency", 40+6. There's a sliding scale from "elective" to "crash", and as long as you're not likely to have a very fast labour or problems right away (e.g. placentia prevaria), you can have a very very mellow "emergency" section. They wavered between doing me at 6am and waiting until 9am, but went for 6am. It was very nice - empty hospital, no rush. It went better than my previous "elective" section.

Rainbow · 13/05/2005 20:34

Depends on the size of baby compared to you Josey. 37 weeks + is considered term but they will probably leave it a little later. Good Luck.

Original poster

Joseyjo · 13/05/2005 20:54

i think i am going to have to wait for a definitive answer until i see the consultant again, because if they really really don't want me to labour, then they can't leave it to chance and then do an "emergency" once i have started can they?
It is encouraging to see how many people have already survived the "elective" experience!!
I will let you know once I have spoken to the consultant, but it might be a few weeks if i don't get to see her next friday.
work need to know so that they can sort out cover, but it is more about managing my anxiety levels by being able to plan and write lists about anything and everything!!

thank you all for your support !!

OP posts:

eidsvold · 14/05/2005 10:00

I had an elective at 41+3 weeks. I wanted to try for a vbac and so my consultant let me go that far. When I went for an appt with a consultant at around 22 weeks the registrar wanted to book me in at 38 weeks. Dd2 was a big babe and so they were not going to induce me but I was able to hold out that long. The consultant was happy to let me go to 42 weeks before having an elective caesar but it worked out that 41+3 was best for all concerned.

I think the norm at the hospital in Aus where I had dd2 was 38 weeks.

rodeo1 · 14/05/2005 22:39

So sorry to hear about your ds joseyjo, the same thing happened to me, I was 26 weeks with my first dd (who was 1lb and half an ounce) and they cut my uterus like an upsidedown T to get her out easier. She died too at 3 days.

Have had 2 planned sections since lily, one at 38 weeks (dd2) and one at 37 weeks (ds - was planned for 38 weeks too but sonographer said his growth had slowed - it hadn't). Am pg again (for the last time!!) and expecting it to be about the same.

Best wishes and good luck by the way! x

rodeo1 · 14/05/2005 22:41

BTW, they just squeezed me in to empty spot in their diaries about 2 weeks before!

jane313 · 14/05/2005 22:42

Mine was at 38 weeks due to huge baby cos of gestational diabetes. I was told they don't like to do it before because of the babies lung development.

Original poster

Joseyjo · 17/05/2005 15:31

thanks rodeo - so sorry to hear about Lily. you are the first person to be in the same situation as me. thank you so much for posting. i am trying really hard not to panic, but am finding it all quite stressful. i am a planner through and through so i just want to know what to expect.
jane - i had heard something similar, but if they are worried about mum as well, then they just go ahead. i will probably have to wait and see, which is not my forte.....

OP posts:

Furball · 17/05/2005 15:52

I was booked in two weeks before to be delivered at 39 weeks and they ummed and arred about that due to their full diary. Good job DS sorted them out, that same night my waters broke and I had to be rushed in and had the CS next day at 37 weeks.

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