Planned c section versus vaginal birth

[duckling3]

Hi, has anyone here had both a planned c section and a vaginal birth and happy to share you experiences. Which did you prefer and what was the experience/recovery for both like?

I'm due with my first later in the year and reading up on birth options. I am pretty terrified of birth - all methods - and everything I read online is designed to make you think vaginal birth by far the better option in a low risk pregnancy. Thought it might be interesting to get some real experiences and thoughts to see if that really is the case.

Please no horror stories!

If on a budget, where would the upper class buy a property and what type ? If could not afford SW3 or Cotswolds and did not have the budget for anything posh ?

I am having a debate with a friend about this and we want to settle it 🙂

😳 posted wrong thread and don’t know how to delete.

Good luck with your births ladies.

I would make sure you have good support after a c section/help at home. That’s the only thing I’d change l.

I have a planned cesarian next Wednesday due to baby being breech and big!
I just wondered those that have had an elective cesarian what helped you recover quicker and what made your hospital
Stay shorter? I really don’t want to be in long and I want to heal quickly so any advice would be welcome. I have a massively supportive OH and family round me.

@squashie34 that's fantastic to hear! Great news x

@KittyKat2020 take your own paracetamol incase the hospital are a bit lax with pain relief- every 4 hours - it's key to keep on top of them rather than letting pain come before you take one as it takes ages for the pain to go away.

As soon as your catheter is out, get up and get walking around the ward slowly - the quicker you're up and go for a wee of 250ml, they will let you out all being well with baby.

Have a pillow to hold on your stomach for coughing and sneezing- it really hurts without

When you get home- get someone to wait on your hand and foot 😉

Some trusts just will not grant you a c-section for maternal choice, regardless of NICE guidelines. If you want one on the NHS you’re going to have to fight for it.

A positive recommendation for vaginal birth. I have only one child and she was born naturally, only gas and air used. \I was a little tired but otherwise fit a few hours later. That has to beat dealing with a scar surely.?

I've had an ELCS due to the size of the baby and physical recovery was fine despite it being about as traumatic as an ELCS can get (won't go into details but both DD and I were in danger and I had to have additional surgery which was extremely traumatic). However, I do feel I missed out on the hormonal benefits of a natural birth and this contributed both to my failure to breastfeed and my PND.

If things looked favourable for a future birth I would try for vaginal, but if there was any indication it could go wrong (baby's position, size etc) I would opt for another ELCS.

I just wanted to say I ended up having the most wonderful planned section in the end. Everything was calm and lovely and went so smoothly. I'm now lying looking at my gorgeous baby! Thank you everyone for your advice and for those considering it, please feel that you have the right to have one if you feel it's the right thing for you.