Just been given my c-section date and now terrified of complications!

[JennaRainbow]

So excited that I finally know when we're going to meet our first baby, but I'm so scared of having a section now. I need one due to complications, and however we can get them out the safest is all I care about. However, I've obviously been reading up a lot about sections which is making me panic. Doubles the chance of maternal death and blood loss, wound infections, problems breastfeeding, higher rates of bowel problems, higher rates of infertility, miscarriage and ectopic future pregnancies, uterine rupture etc etc.

Please can someone put my mind at ease?! We would love 2 or 3 children and now I'm so worried it won't be as simple as we thought.

Thanks for listening to me wittering on!

I had a c section with dc1 and it went fine, I was put to sleep as labour didn't progress and problems with ds heart rate dropping, id had epidural already which stung but it was not too bad, when I came round id had catheter put in which I didn't even notice at first, my scar was sore but manageable it took me 2 weeks to fully recover which was quite fast and my scar didn't get infected. A friend of mines scar was infected but it didn't cause her too much problems, I can't really comment on bf coz I ff, my scar is big from one hip to the other but it's neat and under bikini line, the only downside I got from having c section is iv since put on quite a bit of weight and have got the overhanging stomach but that's it. You should stop googling coz it's usually worst case scenarios that you find.

I felt exactly the same when I got given my date and I went into complete panic mode! I have now stopped looking at things and watching programmes on tv as I think they only ever show or tell you the bad stories! Thousands of women have c sections every week and are fine!
When are u having your section? Mine is in 3 weeks so very excited!!
I'm sure u will be fine and as long as you don't do too much too soon the recovery should be quite simple x

Hi Jenna, I'm currently pregnant with my third and have had two (emergency) caesareans.
Even though the risks increase compared to a VB, they are still minimal. For a good start to breastfeeding, get skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible - the stitching up after baby is born usually takes 30-45 minutes; but you can already have baby on you under your gown when they roll you over to the ward. And don't be afraid to ask for help with latching on etc!
I think the recommendation is to wait for a year after a c-section before trying to get pregnant again, to allow your body to heal and decrease the risk of the scar rupturing. But I can't say my fertility has decreased!
I tried for a VBAC with my second, which didn't work out, so now I'm having a scheduled c/s with my third. I know someone who's had 4 children via c/s, so don't think you'll be restricted in how many babies you can have.

Hope this helps a bit!

Thank you all so much, you wouldn't know it but I'm usually a very rational calm person that knows how much rubbish there is on Google! I've never had an operation at all so that's probably a part of the worry too. It was thankfully so easy to get pregnant this time, and I don't cope well when things go wrong (who does though!), so it's so reassuring to hear that having sections didn't effect your future pregnancies GreatJoanUmber. How long did you leave it before trying again?

Excited2meetmyprincess I'm just under 3 weeks and can't wait, will definitely try to ignore the TV and internet now! Is this your first too?

Thank you all again, I've calmed down already :)

Forgot to say, I fell pg straight away after ds was born, dd was born 10.5 months after c sec no problems at all and vbac. I'm currently pg with dc5 so it hasn't effected my fertility at all.

Hi I had my 3rd c-section last week and have never encountered any problems, even had dissolvable stitches this time as well so haven't got to have them out :) I was up the next day and even though I still have to be very careful I'm fine pottering around the house doing bits and pieces and hopefully my doctor will sign me safe to drive after 2 weeks like my last section!

That's so good to hear terilou87, and great news that you didn't have to have another section again! I'd hopefully want the choice next time.

I contributed to this thread a couple of weeks ago and it has a lot of info about sections in it.

I think when you're planning a cs, you tend to focus the anxiety somewhere and you're projecting it onto the complications but what you then do is get an inflated sense of the reality. Say the chance of uterine rupture is doubled? Well yes this may be true, but if the risk of uterine rupture is actually only 0.07% (first study thrown up by google), doubling it still means it's a very rare complication, for which you'd be well monitored in subsequent labours. And how many thousands of women have a cs every week? How many cases of maternal death do you hear about? You're thinking about rare complications here. Chances are if you were planning a vaginal birth, you could do the same thing and focus on the complications. Chances of prolapse? Tears? Retained placenta? Infections? Continence issues? You could list hundreds of risks for every way of giving birth and at least with a cs you know what birth will bring in general terms. You could look at the chances of being hit by a car every time you cross a road? There are risks everywhere, your anxiety is making this something much bigger than it needs to be.

Perhaps a more realistic way of looking at it is to think that you're having a cs because of complications and to avoid problems from them. A cs is a very safe procedure. I've had 2 with no problems whatsoever.

But I understand. It's nerves. Find out exactly what a cs entails and look for the positive in it all. Choices within the choice. What music? Will you have skin to skin straight away? Will you discover the sex yourself/do you already know? What snacks will you have on the ward for afterwards? You can enjoy meeting your baby in a calm, positive, pain free, planned moment. Hang onto that.

Don't let fear take away from the brilliant, magical thing that is about to happen.

Yes Jenna it is my first and I am going in on the 12th for my section!
I have been terrified and have gone back and forth with having c section or natural birth but in the end I have to do what's safest. I just can't wait for it to be over now and have baby here! Would be sooo happy if it happened earlier! Lol x

That's how I'm feeling Excited2meetmyprincess! I'm having my section on the 11th! Can't believe how soon it is, I've been pregnant all year! It hasn't been the easiest pregnancy and I just can't wait to meet her now

jenna I feel like you are writing about my pregnancy!! I have not had the best time and to be honest have not enjoyed being pregnant at all!! I just want her here now so I can enjoy being a mum!!
Been the midwife today and she said I am showing signs of pre eclampsia so I have to be monitored and watch out for any more signs and straight to hospital if I get any!! Just to make me feel better on top of everything else!! Sorry for the moan!! Hehe.
How are u feeling about everything now? Xx

Honestly the things you read are worst case scenarios. All the straight forward ones don't make for juicy reading.

I had an ectopic before - never had one since a section. I've had 2 sections. Fell pregnant naturally when my twins (delivered by section) were one despite being told I'd be unlikely to ever have kids naturally. I did suffer complications with the second op (as a result of pre-existing issues as a result of the ectopic) and you know what, they dealt with it, fixed me up, kept me in a few days extra but all is fine.

Hope everything goes smoothly for you

Hey,

I just wanted to write to let you know that i had a section with my DD, all was fine until they realised she had actually been breach the entire time, so i was given a date for a section 1 week from the day we had this confirmed. I was upset and scared, it wasn't what i wanted. But having everything planned made for a really calm experience, the staff were amazing, they obviously knew we were coming and explained everything really well. I was fortunate that I didn't have complications, so I can't comment on that but was a really good experience and not at all what i expected it to be. I was also advised that if i fell pregnant again it does not mean i have to have section. The procedure itself was calm and my recovery was good. DH had to go back to work day after DD was born so my DM came to help me for first week and a half after i got home and then had to go to work. And i felt OK to manage myself after this time, but still took it easy.

Good Luck

I understand how you feel. I had an elcs with dd as she was breech and can honestly say I've never been so terrified (I'd never been in hospital or even had a local anaesthetic before, not even any dental treatment.. Yes I'm lucky!) It's completely natural to be scared, surgery is something that's very routine now but is still a big thing to get your head around. For me the anticipation of it was by far the worst bit, once it was under way it was surprisingly ok and when dd arrived I forgot about everything else. I breastfed dd for over 2 years, milk came in fine, I did get a wound infection but no lasting problems (and am now pregnant with dc2 and hoping for a vbac). The scarring is all low down on the uterus, the bit where an embryo would implant is unaffected. I worried a lot about fertility but it took less time up conceive second time round.
If I have any regrets it's that I allowed my fear to overshadow dd's birth, and just wanted to get it over with - if I could go back in time I would ask to have the screen lowered for delivery, for example, and would have spent more time preparing for the baby and less on YouTube watching videos of caesareans that gave me nightmares ... Oh yes, not a good idea! All the best.

I had a EMCS with my first and am due ELCS next tuesday with number two. I totally understand how you feel - I'm nervous again although last time was textbook recovery.

All I'd say is that there is no guaranteed safe exit strategy for babies. Yeah, compare a VBAC with no complications to CS and the VBAC looks statistically better, but once you get into instrumental delivery/complicated VBAC that isn't the case as far as I can tell. The only completely safe way to have your own children delivered is to be a man, and we've messed that one up, haven't we ladies? :)

Flippancy aside, we all run so many risks in our everyday lives, and this is one that we're naturally focusing on but isn't perhaps as major as it seems xx