Midwife appointment and now worried c section will not be approved

[RJM17]

Hi
I had my 16 week appointment today and mentioned to the midwife I wanted to request a c section and she basically told me I won't be able to have it.
I am asking for it because I suffer from hemiplegic migraine and it is made worse by hormonal changes, stress and a high temperature. So going into labour is a very high risk of causing an attack which would then mean I would struggle to give birth and end up with emergency c section.
All the info I can find on this is from America and people have had c sections because it is deemed to be safer!! But I can't find anything from the uk.
And now I am stressing that they aren't going to give me one because if what the midwife said!! But the fact that I am stressing out about it is making me feel sick and giving me more migraines!!
Sorry about the moaning I am just feeling so rubbish today!!

It;s not her call. You need to speak to a consultant. Hope you get what you want :)

If you speak to a consultant, calmly showing that you have thought through the various issues and risks and you believe an ELCS is the right thing for you, then consultant will almost certainly agree (and if they don't you have the right to ask for a second opinion too).

What the midwife wants is irrelevant. Keep cool and confident and stick to your guns.

Thanks. I just came away so worried and upset by it all. She was quite rude with it to be honest and just said 'you don't just get to choose to have surgery on the nhs for no reason you know' But I don't feel it is for no reason.
I will be seeing consultant at 20 weeks so will speak to her then. X

Talk to your GP and ask for a consultant referral. Not to down grade midwives but they are effectively specialist nurses, they aren't qualified to give advice like that and she shouldn't have. My midwife was very cagey about where I woud be allowed to labour (pre existing high blood pressure) as its all up to consultant - and she was right to be as it will be up to the consultant.

I was to suggest what ladtpymedea has suggested.

How dare she!

You absolutely have the right to at least request it and be referred to a consultant. And in theory, even if there's no medical reason, you're entitled to be referred to a consultant who will do it if the first says no, due to the latest NICE guidelines.

I'm 35 weeks and currently having discussions regarding an elcs with my consultant, and it's looking very hopeful. I did loads of research on risks and benefits though, so sounded pretty educated (I hope!) when we discussed it. I have a great book, called choosing caesarean, which I thoroughly recommend. If you can wait a few weeks (for me to hopefully have mine) if you PM me your address I can post it to you to help with your discussions.

Presume you've read the new NICE guidelines?

Good luck.

My GP is great and is the one that told me to think about asking for one as she thought ur would be less stressful and therefore less risky for me and baby. So I think I will go and see her and see what she says. Thanks for the advice xx

Midwife needs to read the current NICE guidelines on this...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15840743

I know puss I was under the impression u could now choose to have a section as I read all tech guidelines before I made my decision but my midwife was adamant that I wouldn't be getting one by my own choice. Will have to see what the doc says xx

She is completely wrong. A consultant will discuss the risks of both c section and vaginal birth with you. They can suggest their preference and try to persuade you to have a vaginal birth but if you still want a caesarean then that is what happens. If they strongly feel it is not in your and baby's interests they can refer you to another consultant. It's your call. Read the nice guidelines, go in prepared and simply state that having considered both options the managed risk of a ceaerean is preferable to you.

Thank you. I will go over the guidelines again and make notes so that I can go in fully prepared.
Really appreciate all your advice and feel a lot better about it all now so thanks again mumsnetters x

Your midwife is a moron. She's commenting on quite a specific medical issue that she is clearly unqualified to discuss - how arrogant!

Your consultant might come up with various different suggestions to manage the situation, but at least he or she will be speaking from appropriate training and experience.

Personally this makes me so angry.

A complaint to her manager advising that she is not working within her competancies or the nice guidelines.

At the next appt, its take no shit time. I am requesting a c-section. End of.
Any crap from her - a polite I'm sorry that is not within the nice guidelines, nor is it your choice to make. I would prefer a midwife to care for me who respects my reasoned choice. End of appt.

You can have the c-section!

Get yourself referred to a consultant, but keep an open mind. Google research is great to try and get informed, but bear in mind that c sections are more common in the US than the UK. I was set on a section due to underlying medical conditions but ended up trying for vbc. We had to change plan due to the baby having complications, not me. I had a second section which I fought for, but ended up having very serious complications. I probably wasn't as open minded as I could have been, and given the outcome, this is something that I seriously regret. However, I still have two beautiful daughters!
But anyway, I don't know anything about your condition, and your midwife is hopelessly out of date. Your fight may be just getting to see a consultant! Despite at least four risk factors, I struggled to get to see one in my second pregnancy.
I wish you lots of luck.

I already have an appointment booked with the consultant in July because of the hemiplegic migraine as it makes my pregnancy high rick for pre eclampsia and other complications so the hospital have said I need to see a consultant.
Thanks again for all the advice xx