Poll - How many first time mothers had c/s or instrumental deliveries

[Rochwen]

Just asking around my circle of friends and acquaintances it seems that a lot of first time mothers ended up with either a c/s or and instrumental delivery.

So, just out of interest I'd like to know whether your first baby arrived with c/s, instruments or without such intervention. Also, how many of you first timers had an epidural.

I know this is not going to be a very representative poll but perhaps we can establish a general trend.

Thanks, Rochwen

emergency c section at 31 weeks - baby and me fine....

Waterbirth using gas and air. Very interesting this. The c/section statistics at the hospital I am due to deliver at in Cyprus is over 50% . I am so glad it is my second baby due there.

Normal delivery, no pain relief in labour (arrived at hospital too late for that). Episiostomy at the end and DS popped out with his hands on his face.

spontaneous labour, pethidine, epidural, non-instrumental delivery.

tens, pethadine, entinox, epidural, ventouse, forceps, emergency c section (no screen DH saw everything ha ha)

TENS, paracetamol (wtf?), pethidine, birthing pool, gas and air, epidural, ventouse, episiotomy.

Of all my 1st time mum friends, most had some form of intervention and several had caesarians.

Hi there
I had an epidural first time round, then an emergency c-section. Think now that I should have held out - the baby wasn't distressed and I wasn't too tired to continue. Just wasn't progressing 'fast enough'. Second time round had normal birth - very much better experience. Can never believe anyone thinks a c-section is the easy option!

Quick poll of friends and family:

1 induction - natural delivery no interventions apart from unwanted constant monitoring. (too fast) (me)
1 natural delivery resulting in 3rd degree tear (18yr old cousin)
1 failed ventouse and forcep delivery
3 emergency cs, 1 after failed ventouse and failed forceps.

Induced and fully dilated in 4 hours. Had diamorphine for pain relief. Moved onto gas and air when I started pushing but ds was on his side and didn't want to budge so it was theatre, spinal block, forceps and episiotomy. I think I had the spinal instead of epidural in case they had to do a section.

No epidural (hospital didn't do elctive epidurals! ) but my first was born via a forceps delivery.

The other three were totally natural IYSWIM.

No epidural.
Ventouse didn't work so forceps assisted delivery....and to go with it the mother of all episiotomies

my ds was born through emergency c-section - cord around neck, suffocating him, heartbeat stopped. I had had a few contracitons, nothing regular or very painful, was 4cm dilated, then was whisked to theatre when they heard his heartbeat stop during monitoring.
All came out fine - no regrets (no time!!) just EXTREMELY grateful for my healthy baby!

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Emergency c-section after 14 hours in labour, very distressed baby and I had only dilated 1cm.
I had gas and air, then injection to speed up contractions, then another injection to speed up dilation, then pethadine, then finally..... epidural and c-section.

To any soon to be new mothers out there it sounds horrendous but none of it was that painful TBH and I don't think I have a particularly high pain threshold. I missed out on the painful bit

water birth with gas and air but pulled out for last hour as baby stuck, eventually born with no instruments but 2nd degree tear, ouch!

after 30 hours got epidural with failed ventouse and then forceps. i collapsed when they took the epidural out and i remember opening my eyes seeing about ten doctors and nurses around me and dh being in tears while holding newborn dd :/

Pethidine, then epidural with a posterior baby. I don't remember but apparently 'they' were preparing for an instrument delivery but I managed without intervention, in the end.

I had an emergency c/s 40 hours after my waters broke. DS was a big baby and had never engaged and although we tried for spontaneous delivery and got to fully dilated he just didn't seem to fit out. They were going to try a vntouse but after re-assessing decided that given his size and position it would be safer for him and me just to go straight for the c/s. I had an epidural once it was looking like a c/s was a likelihood.

Out of my NCT class of 6 first-timers we had one no instruments, one ventouse, two c-sections for breech babies (one planned, one emergency when they realised part way through labour that the baby was breech), two emergency c-sections for faiure to progress (mine and another woman who hadn't dilated fully after two days of active labour and the baby was in distress).

I had an elective c/s because of breach baby (diagnosed at 41 weeks!!.

My NCT class had

1 elective c/s for medical reasons (bad back/knees)
1 elective c/s for transverse lying baby
1 elective c/s for breach (me)
1 emergancy c/s after baby refused to come out
2 naturals with just gas and air
2 naturals with ventouse

had emergency c-section as was in labour for 17 hours and realised that baba was back to back, facing the wrong way and too high up.

had a big baba too

plus i was fully dilated but baba did not want to come out ( iwas 12 days late)

epidural followed by venthouse delivery for both dds. I hardly know anyone who had a straightforward vaginal birth with no intervention!