Support thread for those of us who are requesting an ELCS after a previous traumatic delivery

[withorwithoutyou]

Hello everyone.

I have noticed a lot of threads regarding requesting ELCS lately, probably because I am in the process of trying to request one myself!

I just wondered if it might be useful for us to have a support thread where we can talk this all through as I know it can be a challenging process to go through.

Can I please also ask in the nicest possible way that anybody contributing to this thread can respect our desire for ELCS over VB? Thank you!

Anyway, I'll start - I have one DD, born 20 months ago by forceps after failed ventouse. She weighed 9 pounds 11 and I am concerned this one will be heavier! I am 30 weeks and have my first consultants appt tomorrow where I will be requesting an ELCS!

Dee yes very relieved - my mum has booked her holiday off to come and help afterwards too! Doctor said that previous experience would have been enough to agree to ELCS but that bowel incontinence issues made it even more definite.

I am just seeing the post natal bit in hospital as hopefully short and necessary and then I can forget about it - last time my spinal block from the forceps procedure had not worn off by the time DH had to leave the ward so I was on my own unable to move well then and it was pretty degrading, the bed was covered in blood etc but fortunately the midwives were lovely and I had no complaints about any of the post natal care.

Hi all, I am new to reading this thread but have just read through pretty much the whole lot in one go! I am now 10 weeks pregnant.

Last time I was induced at 42 weeks after showing no signs of imminent labour or likelihood that induction would work (the head never engaged, no twinges at all). My waters were broken and I was induced and it all dragged on for 18 long painful hours and the babies heart rate kept dipping during contractions. Eventually a consultant came in and recommended an EMCS. He said clearly my body just did not want to go into labour and the baby was distressed. I think I may barely have got to 3cms. I found it all very stressful and was exhausted by the time my daughter was born.

Anyway, now I'm 10 weeks pregnant and have just had my first midwife appointment - but it was with a locum who I won't see again so I didn't think it was worth bringing up the fact I want an ELCS this time. When should I start asking for one? If I bring it up at my next appointment will she just fob me off until my 20 weeks meeting with a consultant (does this appointment always happen automatically or do I have to request one?). The locum midwife did tell me that I would be sent to a VBAC clinic automatically at the hospital - without even asking if I wanted a VBAC.

Hi Lolaclare

Congratulations on pregnancy! I was advised by the other ladies here to bring it up as soon as possible.

Like you, my booking appointment was not with regular midwife so I didn't mention it but I told my midwife at 16 week appointment that I would be requesting a c-section and asked if she could refer me. She called hospital straight away and I got appointment for 23 weeks. At the 16wk check I took along a draft of my notes which I intended to show consultant for midwife to read. She did say that consultant will not usually see you to discuss mode of delivery until 34 weeks but as I was anxious and concerned about it she thought it best to be referred early. Its hard when all the PCTs operate slightly different policies! What area are you in?

I don't know if you automatically get 20 week appointment with consultant for previous c-section so you will have to check you have one or ask for it. I didn't want the 20week scan on same day as consultant appointment as have no childcare for DS and it can take all morning/afternoon if you do both so that is worth considering.

Hi Lolaclare

congratulations also. If you will automatically get a consultant appointment I think you'd know by now. At my booking in appointment they go through a series of questions and if you get yes to certain ones then it automatically triggers a consultant appointment so I got one because I had a 3rd degree tear. The midwives told me about it straight away. However, as crumblequeen says every area does do it differently so I might be wrong.

I think if you are worried it's best to bring it up with them rather than wait and see if you get an appointment as if you're anything like me you're probably worrying about it loads and so at least you'll know for sure what's happening. In our area you can arrange a midwife appointment at any time if you're worried about anything so you might be able to do this rather than wait until your next appointment. I'm pretty sure they have to give you a ELCS if you request one and have had a previous section because of the increased risk of rupture so I'm sure you'll be okay though. Good luck

hi,

just dipped in quick to tell u all that on weds 29th i had a dd lily but elcs.

it all went well altho i was suprised how nervous i was, the recovery is ok, as long as i keep up with tablets, getting there slowly!!

my dd1 is so excited to have a little sister and i always wanting to get nappies and put lilys dirty clothes in wash bin, which has been a big help,dp is going back to work in 1 week,which iam not looking forward to!

just wanted to thank u all for ur support while i was requesting and waiting for my elcs-this thread has really helped.

hope all of u waiting to hear if u get one or waiting for u babies r well and all goes to plan! xx

Hi Lolaclaire,

Congratulations. Like you I'm new on this thread - I'm 25 weeks pregnant with my second child after an EMCS with the first and planning an ELCS this time round. I don't know what area you're in, but procedures seems to vary widely around the country. I'm in Surrey and at my local hospital they do not arrange for you to see a consultant until 32 weeks, but they do send you to VBAC clinic before that. Nobody told me that this was the procedure until I went to see my GP in a total panic because I thought they would force me to VBAC! Worth checking your hospital website because they might have a patient leaflet on their own procedures regarding birth after caesarian - my hospital does but I had to track it down myself - no-one even mentioned it existed!

I haven't had time to read the whole thread, so sorry if this has been said before, but worth arming yourself with the NICE guidelines on caesarian section www.nice.org.uk/cg013 and the RCOG
guidelines on birth after caesarian www.rcog.org.uk/womens-health/clinical-guidance/birth-after-previous-caesarean-birth-green-top-45. This will give you most of the info you need oon the medical aspects, and also on your rights in this situation.

Good luck!

hi there, posted in pregnancy but another mumnetter said i should try here for some well needed advice! ill just copy what i had there

ok, im 22 weeks pregnant now, when i reach 35 (30th december)i have to go speak to a consultant and decide what i want to do about delivery.

I have a ds whos 2. Labour went very badly for me. when my waters broke my hallway was basically flooded with blood. Hospital wouldn't admit me, said it was normal. this was about 7pm. went through contractions etc, at 2am they were about 2 mins apart so rushed up to hospital. was examined, 2cm dilated, also took with me about 7/8 blood soaked mat pads. (i was constantly bleeding). I had an emergency c-section as was told if they didn't act ds would die and i might too.

it was horrible, i had severe pnd/anxiety afterwards and this time i have to make a choice. Do I try for a normal vaginal birth, which i have a 75% chance of doing successfully or go for an elective c-section. Both have their pros and cons and i really cant decide. I thought i would just go for an elective and hadn't really thought of going naturally.the idea makes me feel so scared because of what happened last time. would really love some advice because no one around me seems to have anything useful to say about it all

So glad this thread is here!! I shall be popping back again soon

Hi WitchyWooWoo

Have you spoken to the midwives and gone over your notes from the last delivery? They may be able to explain to you why it went the way it did last time. This may help you to make a decision on the risk of it happening again and the best type of birth to go for.

placenta praevia/suspected undiagnosed pre eclampsia. The midwife i spoke to understood my reasons for wanting a c-section completely, it was the consultant who said i had an option.

tbh its more about my piece of mind. i would like a c-section as i feel i would come out from it more mentally healthy iykwim, she pointed out there were risks for both options soi dont really lose out either way, im just thinking of what would be better for baby and all round

Hi, just wanted to join. Will go back and read the thread in a minute.

I am 5 weeks pregnant with my second and absolutely terrified, crying non-stop and probably driving dh crazy. I think the best option for me is to have a c-section. I had a 42 labour, failed induction after waters had broken, failed epidural, ventouse as baby was in distress and surgical removal of the placenta as tugging it/injection did not work. I didn't want any more children but here we are again.

I haven't even seen the GP yet, I am going to bring up the c-section with her, I suppose I ask her to refer me? I know the midwives will try to talk me out of it. I am seriously considering robbing a bank and going private if they refuse to allow me have an elective cs on the NHS!

42 hour labour, that is!

Hi carfiofi - you can ask your GP to refer you but you can prob get an appt with a consultant if you just go direct to the hospital and ask for one.

I totally understand about not wanting to talk to a m/w. I did not discuss my birth options once with my m/w - just went straight to the consultant and got my ELCS agreed without even informing her.

Hi withorwithoutyou, thanks for the reply. I was a bit worried I'd killed the thread!

I think I will do the same as you. I spoke to the GP today and she was very sympathetic and said that an ELCS is certainly an option.

Great you've got a sympathetic GP carciofi, mine was very unsympathetic.

For me, I felt very letdown by the m/w's in my first birth, and basically don't trust m/w's at all now to go along with my wishes.

At the end of the day, your m/w can't authorise your ELCS anyway so the consultant is the only important person.

Mine was a bit arsey when she saw on my notes at about 37 weeks that I had an ELCS planned but tbh, I didn't give a damn what she thought.

I'm sorry you're finding it so scary at the moment, your first birth sounds horrible. Hope you get it all sorted.

Thanks withorwithoutyou. I have calmed down a bit as I have decided I am having the ELCS, come what may! I have my first hospital appt in a couple of weeks and will be asking to see a consultant at the first opportunity.

How was your ELCS? Have you had your baby? Hope it all went well. I must read back through the thread.

Just read back through the thread. Congrats on your DD and glad you had a better experience this time.

Just thought I'd update everyone on how my appointment with the consultant went. I saw a registrar after my 20 week scan who asked how I'd healed after my 3rd degree tear. I told him I still had faecal incontinence issues and he asked me what I wanted to do but said they would recommend a section. He was lovely, very informative and I didn't have to argue my case at all. I've got to go back at 34 weeks for a scan as I have a low lying placenta which could affect how they do the section and then I go for a booking appointment at 36 weeks.

It seems I was worrying for no reason. I'm meeting with the post natal ward manager next week to go over my notes from my last birth and my aftercare and to reassure me I won't receive the same treatment this time. Hopefully this will be as successful as today was.

Dee78 really glad the consultant was understanding and supportive. I believe the vast majority would recommend an elcs when you still have ongoing incontinence issues - they tend to see the worst cases.

I am now 19 weeks post elcs and feeling really well. A couple of friends have needed forceps for recent births and I am so relieved again that I had an alternative (sunroof) exit to use this time.

Thinking of all of you still arguing your cases.

Hello

Hope it's okay for me to blather on about my experience and wish for ELCS next time here.

I had a beautiful little girl in May by EMCS following a long and, for the last 12 hours, horrendously painful labour. Baby was OP(as far as I know!) and never engaged and everything I have read suggests that this may well be down to my pelvis. I am short, all the women in my family have exaggerated S bend spines, my sister had "back labour" and my gran had two PPHs - all these things seem to be related to contracted pelvis. The CS itself was lovely, very calm and felt very safe, and I recovered very quickly - went home 24 hours later and pretty much went straight back to normal.

I would love a second baby (if I can convince my partner :) ) and would like a small age gap so ideally to conceive next spring/summer if luck is on my side. The thing is, when I think about actually having to deliver another baby I feel quite panicky. I have had a couple of bad dreams "reliving" the first time and really don't want to go through that again.

Perhaps I should arrange a "debrief" with a MW about my first delivery. I'm certain I don't want a VBAC though, my first was a planned homebirth and I was pretty relaxed and just rolled with the punches as it were, but the pain in the last 12 hours was just horrific. The screaming and shouting during contractions probably upset me more than the actual pain, I was mortified and very apologetic in between, but I geniunely did think I was going to die. I don't think it's a pain threshold thing as I have had other things done/happen and needed less analgesia than average (I only took about 8 paracetamol after my section, partly cos the MWs in hospital forgot to give me anything else :o )

So yeah, I want another baby but I want ELCS! And I hope all you ladies get one too. A friend of mine who had a CS a few weeks after me really wants to experience a VB, but I just don't! I did, but not now.

Sorry for going on, but haven't really said this before to anyone. I'm going to read the whole thread and see what approach is best to take, I really don't want to even consider a VBAC and would have a sh**y pregnancy if I have to stress about that until 30odd weeks.

Evening all, just a quick note to say that saw the consultant on Tues and now have ELCS date of 5th Nov (as baby is breech and massive!).

Will report back on my experience.

Congrats to all those who have new arrivals since I last posted and good luck to those who are due soon.

So, finally saw the consultant today and got a big fat no to my request for an elcs.

Apparently a massive pph, manual removal of placenta, 3rd degree tear, instrumental delivery and no pain relief available due to no staff, apparently none of this means that i should have an elcs

She says its classed as "maternal request" which they never agree to (this is addenbrookes in cambridge)

Her attitude was very dismissive and when i said i was not happy with this decision apparently i now have to see the head midwife "but she won't agree to one either". My next option once the head midwife declines my request is "well you can go to another hospital"

I am furious as i was led to believe by the registrar i saw in sept that it was basically my decision. Athough he didn't write this in my notes so clearly i'm lying

I feel like i should complain (again) but i'm so tired of this now.

sorry just needed to vent.

Nan Bullen that's dreadful! Which cons did you see? I'd certainly ask for a second opinion. Hannah Misfelder Lobos is very nice and sensible I've found, so guessing it's not her, and it might be worth asking to see her.

I saw a Miss Heveda (sp?) She just treated me as if i couldn't be bothered to go through labour again and as if i was a silly little girl. I'm still fuming!

Can i just call the hospital and rearrange a second opinion or do i have to go through my gp again? It seems such a faff each time just to see a consultant!

Thanks BagofHolly, if i can get another app with a consultant i'll see if i can get to see her.

Just call the hospital and ask for the secretary to Ms Missfelder-Lobos and take it from there. You won't need a GP referral. I had to see the midwife-consultant too, and found her very nice and she didn't argue with my request for CS. They make everyone see her to ensure you're making an informed choice. (in my case it was all academic because I ended up with placenta previa and transferred privately at 36 weeks but I'd already had a CS agreed beforehand.) In any case you should be treated respectfully even if their professional opinion is different.
Don't give up, best of luck! X