C-section or natural birth?

[Patience1990]

I'm 27+2 and have suffered with terrible anxiety all the way through. This is my first pregnancy following a miscarriage and I'm just convinced something is going to go wrong or all is not well. All scans have been fine so far but have t been measured yet.

I made the decision to go through this pregnancy without anti depressants but am having regular counselling. The midwife appointments have been few and far between due to Covid and midwife absences.

I'm just starting to get to the point where I'm thinking about the birth and I just feel that it can't come quick enough. I feel as though when she is finally here everything will be okay.

I was just wondering, if I was to ask for a c-section would I be allowed one as it's my first pregnancy and there are (as far as I know at the moment) no medical reasons?

I'm quite frightened of a natural birth because there's no control over it or when it happens.

Just wondering if anyone has any words of advice or experiences?

I can understand how you are feeling. Early on in my pregnancy I was terrified of giving birth but prrsonally, after giving birth I can honestly say I would pick natural any day over a c-section.

Have you spoken openly to your counsellor about how you're feeling?
Might I recommend hypnobirthing? There's so great courses online or books to use. If you can stretch why not considering working with a hypnobirthing instructor 121?
It allowed me to feel in control the entire time and kept my focus through even the toughest stages. I laboured at home up until the final stage and did my final 3 hours in hospital.

The positive birth book by Milli hill was a game changer for me too.

I’ve had an emcs and a VBAC. The c section was harder to recover from but my recovery was an easy one. The VBAC recovery was very easy but I was lucky and had no interventions. I did have a lot of examinations during labour and delivered in stirrups and I think for some woman the number of examinations would have been too much. Didn’t have much pain relief as I left it too late!
Having done both I think a c section is easier for the actual birth and you know what you’re getting, although some do get infections etc afterwards. Natural birth is a bit of a lottery but I did ok and only had an episiotomy so recovery was very quick. Natural birth is much worse when you’re giving birth but as soon as you’ve got they baby out it’s fine.

A C section is a major surgery so I wouldn’t go into it lightly. I don’t think it’ll cure your anxiety either. I was anxious throughout pregnancy following years of infertility. It did not get better with the birth of my son as I just worried about things like for death or falling over when carrying him etc
I think it’s really good your addressing your actual problem with counselling and would focus on that.

I'm currently 35 weeks pregnant. I spoke to my midwife about my anxiety (probably around 26 weeks) and she was understanding and she gave me the number to a midwife at the hospital who discussed my anxiety with me. She then booked a consultant appointment for me which I had around 32/33 weeks. The consultant asked questions about my reasons for wanting a c section, but she didn't try and talk me out of it. She booked it straight away! Feeling much better knowing it's booked and far more relaxed ☺️