C Section at 37 weeks ?

[Itsnevertheend]

I am just wondering if anyone has had a elective c section at 37 weeks and what were the reasons behind it.

Brief reason, second preg currently 20 weeks and already feeling I am struggling. First preg I become very ill and in and out of hospital end of second trimester all way to 37 weeks induction. I had a lot of preg issues (severe weight gain, GD, boderline pre eclampsia, edema , baby growing to fast... almost everything was going wrong and was kept in hospital for weeks/ days at different times because i was to high risk to send home). Then I had the induction at 37 weeks which was horrific for three days of messing about and ended in being cut with emergancy forceps. Baby was perfect no issues but I had post natal depression for about a year after.

I just have this massive fear of being forced into an induction and it all going wrong again. It took me nearly 5 years to overcome the trauma of it. I know C sections carry there own risks. I havent carried past 37 weeks and if I get all the same issues I wondered if they would do a c section earlier.

My placenta in this pregnancy is in my low right hand side and has been uncomfortable so not sure if thats normal or not either.

Thanks :)

They won't usually do an ELCS before 39 weeks unless it's more dangerous for the baby to stay in. This is because the baby's lungs don't get 'squeezed' the way they do in a vaginally delivery so can be subject to breathing difficulties if born pre 39 weeks. I however did have a section at 37 weeks due to placenta problems and it being dangerous to keep baby in. I had steroid injections for babies lungs and all was OK. So I suppose it depends on your medical situation at the time.

Hey, thanks for replying!

What placenta problems did you have? I guess its a waiting game to see what happens,

:)

Hi @Itsnevertheend , I had my first via planned caesarian at 37+2 in 2019. It was breech presentation and I'd been leaking a trickle of waters since just before 35 weeks (PPROM) which was the indication for the early section. I didn't have steroids for lung development - and I understand that there's actually a move away from doing so if the gestation is after 36 weeks now as although definitely beneficial for properly pre-term babies, the evidence is less strong as you approach term (which is 37+). We didn't have any breathing issues at all with our baby.

I obviously couldn't be induced with a breech presentation, and they couldn't do an ECV as I'd got ruptured membranes, so ELCS was the only option. However, I had already decided that I wasn't going to consent to either of those procedures and told them so re: induction before we'd had the breech presentation confirmed. You can't be forced into another induction - if they think the baby needs to come out, then they will agree with your preference for ELCS.

PS: for a good guide on caesarians I'd highly recommend the book 'Why caesarian matters' published by Pinter and Martin - factual and covers all aspects and all reasons why someone might have one, including discussion different feelings towards them.