When to request a c section?

[Missnicolinda96]

Hi guys. I'm currently 30 weeks. I'm under a consultant due to mh issues (anxiety, previous eating disorder) and being born with a heart defect. I see my mw in 9 days, so should I discuss this then? Will it be too late?

I have quite severe anxiety which has been worse during this pregnancy. I know c sections do come with risk, however having weighed it up for some time, I know the risk of going overdue is gone, therefore reducing the likelihood of stillbirth, and certain complications don't arise in a c section birth. I feel like I need to do everything I can to lessen the risk of losing my baby. Yes of course most natural deliveries go just fine, but the fact that trauma and loss does happen even if rare is terrifying to me.

I want to be able to truly enjoy the last bit of my pregnancy without having this part of my brain have to prepare for the possibility of losing my daughter.

If you’re feeling that it would help to put your mind to rest, I would make the request first thing tomorrow morning.

Not too late - but get in touch with your midwife ASAP. They're usually booked for you around 36 weeks, so you've still got time. Well done for making the right decision for you and advocating for yourself.

You can request on in labour. I did and got one. I would have got one a day or two later anyway but they really wanted me to wait

All of this was me last year. Although it has also been me my entire life so as soon as I saw two lines on the test I was basically on the phone trying to get it booked in 😂 Labour/birth is just my biggest fear of earth and I always had this overriding feeling that I should do everything in my power to avoid it because something awful would happen. The biggest ‘fight’ I had was coming up against this attitude from the midwives that I was just a bit scared and I’d get over it near the end and push the baby out. I could emphasise enough to them how much of my life I’d already spent researching it and worrying about it and I would absolutely not change my mind, ever. They sort of kicked the can down the road until I was 20 something weeks and by this point I felt like this birth was now imminent so I was fully panicking. I was waking up during the night having bad dreams about the consultant saying no etc. Everyone I spoke to about it (friends etc) just didn’t understand and would politely laugh like I wouldn’t get a section. I got back in touch with the midwife between appointments at 23ish weeks I think and said basically I need to speak to a consultant now because I can’t go on like this for another however many weeks until they’ll speak to me. That seemed to be the first time they took me seriously and I got a telephone appointment at 27 weeks if I remember rightly. She basically said you’ll die, you’ll lose so much blood etc and read out all these risks that apply to people entering theatre in an already life-threatening situation having spent 36 hours in labour, possibly already losing huge amounts of blood. I was a healthy, straight-forward pregnancy with zero complications so felt really this wasn’t relevant to me as these risks were completely skewed but I’d researched them all on my own so just said nothing and agreed to them all to get it approved. I got it booked in and was told my date at 33 weeks. Had my section at 39+4 and did I die? well I’ll let you figure that one out 🤣

…let’s just say, I will be having another one and doing absolutely every single thing the same because it was the dream day! None of my fears came true and it was just so calm. If you feel the way I felt, do it! Don’t let anyone try to tell you how you feel about it. Your fears are very much justified and you aren’t crazy for thinking them, as so many people do actually have terrible experiences every single day. You’re not too late, just phone tomorrow and say you need to speak to a consultant ASAP! Good luck. Have a look on birth rights for your hospital, look up the nice guidelines and look up the risks on the nhs website so that you can see the odds of each one (most are rare)!

I told my midwife all along that I wanted a c section. At my 28 week appointment she said we would discuss it with a consultant at 34 weeks and get the consent forms signed.
Had the chat a few weeks ago and it was just a formality of making me aware of all the risks.
They were incredibly nice about everything and very honest. Once I had all the information they asked if I wanted time to think about it and discuss with my dh but I knew it was what I wanted so I’m now booked in for 39 weeks and have been told what to do if baby arrives earlier.