why DON'T people want caesarians?

[HPonEverything]

Apart from the scar and it taking a while to be able to drive and lift things, what are the other reasons?

I really haven't looked into a caesarian but it now seems to be looking like a bit of a possibility, and I know a lot of people are very against it so I just wondered why.

1994girl By classical incision do you mean vertical? I didn't have those. I had standard by the book bikini line jobs. Absolutely no overhang. I think, again, people are blaming a CS scar for something that is nothing to do with it.

The risk of having problems conceiving is related to Ashermans Syndrome, so not an 'old wives tale' unfortunately.

I think a lot of posters have responded to the original question posed, rather than thinking that CSs are bad per se. I would have one in a flash if it was the safest option for me and/or my baby.

managed to BF my 4 no problems after a section. you can have problems with a vaginal birth with regard to feeding.

On a positive note, i have had 2cs. Both saved the babys' in question life and i recovered quickly and breastfed without issue. Driving is a more complicated. I recently read on here that you can get GP's OK to drive earlier. With my first baby i was driving within 10 days as i had to. Second one i was a spoilt cow and got a part time driver.

There are pros and cons obviously. I remember one of my best friends, who had been to an NCT group (i hadn't) getting all upset for me because of the EMCS and genuinely couldn't believe that i was OK because of all that she had 'heard'. I also joke that i'm honeymoon fresh!

I probably still wouldn't opt for one for no good reason but if you have to have one, it most certainly isn't the end of the world.

bagofholly the surgeon touches the baby first before they baby has contact with the outside of the mother's body in a section. In a vaginal delivery, the baby gets the mother's bacteria via the anus. This helps as the mother's breastmilk deals with protecting the baby. There are also other aspects of the vaginal birth such as the pressure on the baby's body which helps to expel mucus that doesn't happen naturally in a section. There are different hormonal reactions for mother and baby too.

BagofHolly, for you there may have been no pain at all, but despite taking every painkiller going, including morphine, I'm afraid i was still in pain, apart from the pain of the scar, i was also in agony from chest pains, caused by trapped wind, and pain in my leg where I developed phlebitis (inflammation of the veins), my leg swelled to twice it's size, and was hot and extremely painful.

The thing is everyone has different experiences and it is completely unpredictable as to how you will recover etc. But I don't think it is bad to read the downsides and negative experiences. I remember thinking that i was insane because i was having such a hard time recovering, whilst other women on the ward seemed to be recovering with relative ease. I had also read a lot of positive experiences on Mumsnet, when I was having to make the decision to have a cs, and in a way i think it would have helped if I had heard the flipside. Not that I would have necessarily made a different decision, but I would have at least been a bit more prepared for what happened.

I was in a lot of pain after my c section too, just something as dimple as trapped wind can be absolute agony. My milk took eight days to come through.

On the 'they won't let you have a subsequent home birth' - nobody can make you do anything. You might find it hard to do on the NHS and so a lot of women use a private midwife to avoid the argument. But I think this perception that you have to be 'allowed' to do something by a doctor is concerning. They can have valid advice, but that's it.

*simple!

Tastymuffins

When I had sections the surgeon wore sterile gloves. The only bacteria on them would have been from me (and I doubt there would have been a lot of that). The baby would not have been colonised by bacteria from the surgeon. Immediately after the baby was pulled from the uterus the surgeon lifted them onto my chest, so presumably they would have got bacteria from me at that point.

Thats not to say that there aren't good reasons for a baby to be born by vb if possible, but I don't think fear of colonisation with the surgeons bacteria is one of them.

Well, I had two cs's, one emergency and one elective. The first one was scary and fast but it saved my life and the life of my baby. the second was calm, happy and actually an amazing experience.

Yes there are risks - all of these have been stated (in some case over-stated), but there are risks in all things. You need to find out what the risks are and weigh them up and make your decision. My recovery was straightforward but I know someone who's scar burst and that wasn't pleasant. But then I know people who's recovery from a vaginal birth wasn't pleasant or straightforward either.

Even having had two cs's, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to somebody. There is pain (although it will be managed), you are restricted in what you can do afterwards so you need to be sure that there is support for you at home, you can't drive so be prepared to lose a little independence.

That said, I'm a full-on advocate for a woman's freedom of choice in childbirth. And I mean full freedom, not the "you're free to choose how you give birth as long as you do it my way" type of freedom but full 100% freedom to choose and if that means some people choose an elective cs then that's fine by me.

However, think very carefully about the choice you make. Do your homework, ask your midwife if you can speak to people who've had a section, had a 'normal' birth and also a vaginal birth with intervention. When you've educated yourself then you'll be in a better position to decide.

In addition to the many good points above, the abdominal muscles support the lower back - I'd prefer not to have them cut through and weakened for a period of time.

The initial question can make the answers a bit misleading because had OP asked why don't people want a VB I could have listed all sorts of terrifying complications of VB. It's more helpful to compare one birth option versus another in specific cases because a) once pregant we all have to give birth in one way or other so some risks will be incurred no matter what, and b) it's problematic to generalise when the risks are so diverse, apply differently to different options (i.e. some types of births are safer for the baby but more risky for the mother, others are safer for the mother but riskier for the baby) and affect different people differently (e.g. age of mother, weight of mother, co-morbidity factors, size of pelvis, size of baby, position of baby, etc.).

It is a very serious abdominal operation. I've had one, I managed to have the subsequent ones "naturally". The CS was medically important, and they are wonderful life savers. But having a baby "naturally" is better if you don't need to have one.

(Actually I was sewn up very neatly BTW, my surgeon was fabulous, but I still wouldn't recommend it.)

I had an emergency section and I would have given anything to have had a vaginal delivery. I found it difficult to bond at first because I never saw her come out of me - I didn't actually see her until nearly 40 min later. My milk came in late and as I had to ff for the first week, it was impossible after that to establish bf - I ended up switching back to ff after trying mixed feeding for 6 weeks.

My DD was taken to NICU after she was born and because I had a spinal, I could not go down to see her and didn't see her for 12 hours. No skin to skin for 2 days.

9 weeks later and my scar is still infected and I'm now taking very strong antibiotics. I lost alot of blood and had to take iron tablets for 6 weeks which made my tummy so upset I could barely eat for the first few weeks. My scar is still really painful, itchy and uncomfortable. I have no sensation left under my scar as my nerves were damaged. I can't even attempt to do any proper exercise until 12 weeks post delivery - my doctor says longer for me since I'm having problems with infection.

My scar hurts enough that I still wear giant pants and any clothes that rub against it hurt.

My friend tells me 2 years on and she still has regular pain ocurring in her scar and after a hectic day feels tremendous pain.

I have known a number of people who have had c-sections and they have ALL had problems / lingering pain. So unless you absolutely need one, I would steer clear. Remember as others have said here, it is major abdominal surgery - I'd take pushing and a tear down below any day over what I went through.

"Then there's the fact that the baby gets colonised with the surgeon's bacteria first and all those other problems which interfere with the natural process."
Oh come on! That has to be bollocks! If the baby is colonized with the surgeon's bacteria then so is your abdominal cavity- which would be even more of a worry!

It's very important to compare like with like. A planned, elective ( for whatever reason) is completely different from a crash, emergency one. Just as a straightforward vaginal birth is very different from a complicated traumatic one.

For me, being told I was going to have an emcs was frightening - it means things are going wrong, terrifyingly quickly. You and/or your baby will die if they do not operate. Of course nobody wants that.

When you come out the other side of an emcs - you realise that it doesn't matter and that you would do anything to have you both safe.

In my case they were still deciding when wheeling me in to theatre whether to go for a spinal block or the GA. I am very lucky they went for the block because of 5 GA's I've had, 3 have nearly killed me - it's not something which is good for me.

As far as recovery went - an absolute piece of piss in comparison to the tummy tuck I'd had 2 years previously.

I had an emcs under general in march, baby was in nicu and it was 9 hours before I could see him and then only for 20 mins

It was painful after especially when having to go down to nicu and back up to the ward several times a day

I had to take oramorph to be able To walk down to nicu and felt out of it

I had difficulty sleeping because I couldn't get comfortable

It got infected which was bloody sore for weeks

However it was the only way to get the baby out alive so I'm grateful for that! My fertility hasn't been affected 8 weeks later I was pregnant again. I'm not a candidate for vbac due to the length of my cut and how high internally they had to cut

I also react badly to GA so was on oxygen for 5 hours after

moomin I suppose (unforatunately) the level of care varies too because for me, the nurses pushed by bed up to NICU any time day or night that I wanted/needed to see my son - and when we got up there, someone would lift him from the incubator in to my arms. I am very grateful!

Omg this has scared the hell out of me. I have got to have a c-section with my twins and am petrified. And now even worse my goodness.

I've just been on a course and natural births give the baby good bugs that a c- section will never give a child and will never be able to get

katy Please don't be - there are horror stories to be read about any type of birth - riven's story is pretty grim and there are entire threads devoted to 4th degree tears and the like. Unfortunately birthing a baby does tend to lend itself to the drama (as it should) - but we do go in to this whole thing with at least a nod towards the "oh fuck, this is going to hurt/be horrible" stuff. There can't be a single woman on this planet who thinks every single birth is attended to by rose-petal scattering cupids and angels on harps!

I have never read such unmitigated bs in all my life! xkatyx Please don't be scared. I'm sure you will be fine.