Caesarean/Vbac after a tear

[MinBins]

Hello!

I was after some advice. I had a 3rd degree tear while I gave birth to my first DD. It caused weak sphincter muscles. Now I'm 23 weeks with my second, and the doctors said they'd go for elective caesarean.

I would prefer VBAC as I'm worried caesarean will be painful in the longer term, but would like to find out if anyone had VBAC after a tear, and how it went. And if anyone had caesarean and their experiences.

Thank you for any insights!

Sorry I’m a bit confused, have you had a prior c-section or is VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) a typo and you mean another vaginal delivery?

But regardless doctors (in the UK anyway!) don’t usually rush to suggest sections so I’d be inclined to listen. And I’d take a c section recovery which should be 6 weeks max, and is really only bad for the first week, over risking lifetime of spinchter issues any day.

I had a 3b tear with ds. I didn't go on to have another baby but I went to a gynecology appointment to check on the healing process about 9 months after and it was recommended if I was to have another baby, to have a c section and I would still have a section now if I had to. I need to be in control.

So I had a 3rd degree tear and major pph. Consultant didn't see any reason not to go for vaginal birth 2nd time. Which reading other posts on here I think she was very anti c section. I did go for a vaginal birth 2nd time and ended up with an instrumental delivery and an episiotomy. My previous tear didn't retear in good news.
It depends entirely on how bad the after affects of your tear are, consultant said if you can hold a fart in you're fine basically (again I wonder about this)

Ack yes I mean vaginal delivery not VBAC @FlounderingFruitcake. Thanks for the feedback.

My first was via vaginal delivery and this time they have recommended caesarean. Ive opted for caesarean however I wanted to fully explore the options beforehand to check if others have had a tear and whether these had reopened.

Thanks @Mumof1andacat, I understand what you mean by being in control.

@Likethestarsabove547 my first was like that, instrumental delivery, episiotomy and then a tear. I had some bleeding too, and given drips for a few days.

It's good to hear the tears didn't reopen, that's a fear of mine that it'll do more damage to the muscles that have thinned.

I had a 4th degree tear with my first. The pain after that wasn’t to bad, it was the loss of bladder and bowel control that were horrendous. Fortunately after physio, I recovered after a few months. I was lucky, had I not gained full control of both it could have severely impacted my quality of life.
Had a planned section with my second, the recovery and pain afterwards was worse. But after 2-3 weeks I was back to normal. I’m pleased I went for the section, the potential long term/permanent risks of a vaginal birth were not worth it for me.