cesareans?????? NHS

[lianne87]

Hi does any1 no if u can choose to have a cesarean on the NHS? i had a horrible birth with my 1st baby an i dont think i could handle a normal birth with my 2nd baby. i dont no if u can just decide to have a cesarean with the NHS or if they only do emergency ones? any1 no or have any info about this?

I don't think you can't just choose. I did have a friend who's consultant agreed a section because she had had a bad experience 1st time.

You need to discuss it with your midwife/consultant. Let them know how stressed you are about it.

I think they will let you decide that you want one if you are really stressed aboutthe delivery. It's in no-one's interests to let you go for a 'normal' delivery if you can't do it.

I had a caesarian because ds was breech. You need to discuss it with your midwife, get their views, if you're still unhappy, then discuss it with your consultant.

Yes in my experience you can choose. I have had 2 c.sections both were maternal request with no medical reason. First strangely was easier to get agreed than the second so I changed consultants with DC2. For me it was a choice to be made and I knew I didn't want a vaginal birth.

It will be a question of you persuading your consultant that that is what you want. Go armed with as much info as possible and be able to repeat to the consultants the risks so they know you have thought about it. If you don't get the answer you want change to a more sympathetic consultant.

Good luck with your decision.

I had a terrible birth the first time round, which ended in an emergency cesarean. I didn't know if I could go through it again. My consultant was not keen for me to have a planned cesarean the second time, but really left it up to me. In the end I went for a natural birth (with an epidural in case I needed a quick c-section,) and the two births couldn't have been more different. I had a lovely experience the second time, and I am so glad I didn't have a cesarean. Have you thought about having some councilling to help you deal with the memories of your bad birth experience?

can you say what was so bad about your first birth - there may be other options for you?

i had every pain releif available and even the epidural which had to be topped up evey 50mins an the pain was still just as bad, its not the actuall pushing which woz horrible it was the contractions which was just constant all the way through, an in the end they did a vontouse delivery. i no every1 has to deal with the pain but i really dont think my body could cope with it again i though i was dying. im only about 6 weeks pregnant with my 2nd an already all i can fink about is the pain when i go into laubour, ive no actually dicussed it with any1 yet just though id get other peoples views 1st

That sounds really hard and scary - I can see why you wouldn't want that again. With a C section though - there is pain afterwards. I always thought of it as being quite fleeting until I had a friend who had one and she was still on heavy duty painkillers 3 weeks later. So in your place I would want to ask about pain relief after a section. If you can find out some more about different techniques for coping with pain it would equip you better as well. Some people find a TENS machine gets then through early labour or you could look into hypnosis and relaxation techniques.

First thing you need to do is speak to your mw.

You may be able to get a CS on the NHS if you explain your fears and worries.

However, even when booked in for an EL CS, you may still go into labour beforehand, so this will not necessarily work, so I suggest speaking to someone about some form of counselling to enable you to feel able to cope with a VB if you do have one.

It sounds like your epidural didn't actually work very well, so that is something you need to discuss.

Your mw may say no you can't have a CS, if she does, ask to be referred to a consultant at the hospital, that is who decides, not the mw.

Ultimately, it is your body and your baby so what you decide should be listened to.

As another poster said though, there is often a lot of pain after a CS so it isn't that you would be without pain, it just comes afterwards with the healing rather than during the labour.

i had the pethadine in the first hour an the epidural an hour later, an the gas just made me sick. also i had alot of problems after the birth with infections, pains an bleeding for weeks an weeks. a c-section doesnt seem to be soundin any better now lol but i fink i can deal with the after pain better than the laubour pains (hmm)

I would seriously suggest speaking to someone about your last birth experience and finding out why the pain was so bad even with epidural.
There are a lot of issues with CS that people don't know as a rule.
For example the baby is more likely to have respiratory problems, and the same issues with scar infections etc, also the risks in future pregnancies of uterine rupture etc.
By all means decide to have a CS and get referred but it's really best to check out all the risks with both types of birth first.
Good Luck.

Yes you can. I did.

It really does sound as if the epidural didn't work properly, I had an epidural and I didn't feel any pain at all. It would be a good idea to discuss all this with the midwife, and ask her to look through your birth notes to find out what was going on.

I think you do have to bear in mind though that the 2nd will most probably be MUCH easier.

im scared of takin the risk knowing my luck it will be alot worse, has any1 had 2 normal births an found the 2nd 1 easier? an has any1 had an epidurl if so how much of the pain did it block out coz its soundin like my epidural didnt work atall the first time round? compared to other people

couple of points - for some people it can be painful post-operatively and for others it is not excessively painful. I had root canal at Christmas that was much worse in terms of pain! I was up and about within hours and driving after a couple of weeks. Everybodies reaction to the pain will be different, you have to be careful and not think you can clean the house from top to toe on your own!

Also I went into Labour with both of my DC before my c-section date at 39 weeks and 3/4 days before c-section was booked,all that happens in that situation is that they get on with the c-section as and when space is available in theatre. I had to wait just over an hour with DS and about 20 minutes with DD.

It sounds like your epidural didnt work. If it isnt well sited then this can happen.
One option for you would be to get an epidural sited early on in labour, as they are easier to get in the right place if you arent in too much pain and can bend and lie still etc as they need you to.
Most people find the second birth much easier. I wasnt able to find out unfortuantly, as I had to have a section the second time, but was all my friends who have had second children have had short labours, pushed the baby out easily and then been home and back to normal really quickly, while I was still in pain for ages (prescription painkillers for 3 weeks).