Maternal request for C section

[OrganicAlchemy]

Hi all,

I am a first time mum and I wish to request a C section. I realise this is not a decision everyone agrees with and thats okay but I really feel that it the best decision for me - sorry if this post offends anyone

I am looking to compile a list of reasons or 'justifications' so that I am prepared to answer when the midwife/others ask me why, I am expecting push back to be honest. I would like to be able to eloquently list my reasons and perhaps include statistics that would help support my request.

I thought maybe someone has done the same and might be able to share what info they gave to their midwife or the sources they used?

My main reasons are general aversion to vaginal birth, it has always terrified me and almost 'repulses' me which is illogical I realise but it has troubled me from a young age. I also have had people around me with numerous issues with injuries sustained in birth that either causes lifelong issues or were disregarded for treatment as they are considered a 'normal' part of birth.

Many of these people had a planned section afterwards and highly recommend it to try and hopefully avoid the birth injuries (I realise this is not guaranteed and sections have their own risks)

Thank you for any contributions :D

I think the fact a woman is prepared to go through major surgery to avoid the alternative usually means they have researched it enough to know it’s what they’d prefer and the risk they would rather take. Luckily (for the NHS) the majority of women don’t want a c-section and will do anything possible to avoid it so this balances things out and means they won’t be overrun with people wanting sections.

Out of one group of my friends I was the only one who opted for a csection, for the rest that would be their idea of hell. One wanted a water-birth and got her birth exactly as she wanted. Whereas for an anxious person like me the idea of going into a situation that could go so many different ways and involve so much pain and potentially other complications/surgery, I would far rather choose to go the route I went and I got the birth I absolutely wanted, exactly as I hoped it would be 😊

I’ve got another 3 friends who have all had babies and out of them all had major issues and have since had a section with their second. One ended up having placenta issues after baby was born following an induction so needed put under GA and taken to theatre for hours while her husband held the baby. Another had a vaginal birth but was in so much pain and was too late for an epidural, she said she spent the full next day just shaking in the bed at how traumatised she was and she didn’t even want to pick her baby up, then couldn’t walk or sit properly for months. This friend has since had a section and found the experience amazing in comparison. Another had problems during birth, needed forceps etc and lost so much blood she had to be rushed to theatre again after baby was born.

So there’s no guarantee with birth that it will ever go one way or another but I think that’s why it’s important to do your own research into all options and maybe not base your decision entirely on what a midwife/doctor from a hospital says who is being told to try and keep the c-section numbers down due to cost.

@Soundbathfan @OrganicAlchemy I will PM you both just now with what my notes said. I have taken out the bits about my hospital that I looked up on birth rights but if you find your hospital on there you’ll see what it’s rated and how many maternal request csections they have performed. A lot of it is just quotes I found online from either birth rights or NICE guidelines about what should happen if you request one (to back myself up in case they tried to tell me no but they didn’t)!

Thank you all for your comments, I definitely feel less anxious about requesting one as it seems it is not completely out of the ordinary!

Just wanted to update in case its helpful to anyone!

I had a midwife appointment on 27th July and told her I wanted to request a section. She hardly asked anything to do with why, just said 'is that just what you fancy?' 😅 she then booked me in for a consultation on the 11th Aug with a doctor.

i attended, the poor doctor didn't know what my appointment was for and all she did was cheerfully give me an old sheet about section risks but again didn't really press for any justification/male me feel like I had to defend my choice.

She booked me in with another doctor at the hospital that preforms them, which I attended today - she asked me to give any reasons why I want a C section and to each 'reason' she gave some info about the associated risks/hinted that if I could change my mind after discussing but I just said Ive been set on a section since considering kids and she just got the booking form up and I am now scheduled in for 20th September, two days before my due date!

I am so relieved- the irony is though that baby is breech, has been for weeks and weeks so I may have needed the section anyway 😅

Anyway hopefully this may help anyone else who wants a section and feels nervous about requesting one 😀

Glad you got it all booked in okay 😊 it’s such a relief! You then end up (if you’re like me) starting to worry about something happening before then but I think most would get you straight in anyway!

I had my second csection a few weeks ago and it all went really well, straightforward etc. The only downside is that the consultant came to see me after to tell me that my womb was very very thin. I think it must be the area around my scar. She could see baby before actually cutting into it. So it looks like I’m done at two kids, which is fine, and towards the end of my pregnancy I’d pretty much decided I didn’t want to go through pregnancy again but I spent a few days a bit gutted not to have the choice anymore 😢 It seems maybe I do still have the choice though when I’ve looked into it all but uterine rupture is obviously the major risk and doesn’t have great outcomes for all involved so I’m not sure I could cope with a full pregnancy of worrying.

In hindsight I would still go back to baby #1 and have my sections again though. I’d rather have two births like that than potentially one traumatic one and I’d never have attempted it again to get my second

Congratulations! Sounds pretty much the same as me - only thinking for having 2 anyway so whatever will be will be.

Slightly stressed now at the news of a strike day on my planned date though! 😖 The day before and after were already fully booked so now sure what will happen...

@OrganicAlchemy I was getting the second-hand fear for anyone when I heard about the strike days. Hopefully they are able to squeeze more in before it and you don’t get pushed back a week 🤦🏼‍♀️ I think I would just turn up and cry loudly if they did that to me 😩😂

Im so worried now! I will be 39+5 and likely to still be breech on the 20th so surely it would be brought forward rather than pushed back...

I just called and they said they haven't made any plans yet and I just have yo wait... eek nothing is every straightforward is it!🤪

@OrganicAlchemy I think the more annoying you are the better chance you have.. whoever shouts the loudest and all that 🙈 I’m never like that about anything else but 100% would have been if it had been me. I was made to wait until 39+4 for mine when anyone else I know has been exactly 39 weeks but I was too polite to even ask for it to be a day sooner (despite barely sleeping all week for worrying). It made me think they were hoping I’d go into labour naturally. Then to get there and find out how dangerously thin my womb was, to the point it would most likely have ruptured if I’d gone into labour makes me wish I’d been a bit more forward about it so I definitely would just keep on contacting them and really emphasising how much it’s worrying you. Hopefully there should be enough staff to cover it because it is a time sensitive operation compared with a new knee etc that could wait until the following week

@Itsadogone How scary that could have turned out for you, Jesus! I am not like that at all either, never want to be a pest but you're right I think I will need to keep asking.

My partner has been waiting almost 2 years for a MRI/surgery and he finally got his MRI today so we could do with knowing when I will be in so he can arrange his too. It seems impossible to actually get through to the right department/number at the hospital- passed around about 5 departments all saying 'oh that's not our area' 🤨 Helpful 😁

@OrganicAlchemy thats annoying you can’t get an answer.. there is still the chance the strike could be called off last minute too. Keeping everything crossed that it doesn’t affect yours

Just remember they don’t really mind what you do either way as long as your happy at the end of the day (same with breastfeeding) just from a medico legal and ethical point of view they need to know you understand the risks and benefits (which they will go over with you) and that they have offered you any support they have available if this is an issue that could be resolved with counselling (which you just have to say you want to decline if that is the case)

please don't do it
I had an elective c section,
the procedure was straight forward but the healing was
horrible for me, you need lots of help in recovery
you also stay in the hospital longer

even now 6 years later , when I do something like sneeze that area still feels delicate
and it left me with an apron belly which I cant get rid of without surgery

there is also research that links certain conditions to c sections like eczema, asthma and autism
when my dd was being diagnosed with it, they asked me if I had a c section , as its associated with higher risk for developmental disorders

Even if that's true surely it doesn't follow that the actual act of having a c section necessarily increases the occurrence of those things?

Isn't it more likely that babies with these conditions are more likely to have complications which require a c section? Or even that a third variable increases the likelihood of both c sections and these conditions? I mean, I'm no statistician but I don't buy that it is as simple as that.

At the other end of the scale I wish I had requested an elective.

I very much wanted one all the way through but didn't think they would agree without "good" reason.

I had this feeling all the way through that I'd end up needing one and sure enough had an induction which resulted in an emergency c section.

While I wish none of the stuff leading up to it had happened, the c section itself was the time I finally felt safe and looked after.

My recovery wasn't bad but obviously everyone is different.

I would definitely have an elective for my next child and wouldn't consider VBAC.

It’s definitely a personal choice but I say why go through a surgery when you don’t have to? I really wanted to do it natural but I couldnt

This isn’t what this post was about?

’Please don’t do it’

Jesus Christ

I’m just being honest, I don’t think OPs reasons for having a C-section make any sense
she thinks vaginal births are gross and scary and she doesn’t want her vagina wrecked, it’s just irrational
I just thought I’d step in and let her know that c sections are not all rainbows and sunshine and she can get complications from them too, maybe even worse than vaginal
I had one because I had to but natural is best, unless there is a medical reason

All births pose risks and are painful. I’m not going to give any statistics about c sections or ‘natural’ as I don’t want to sway anyone’s decisions (especially not someone who isn’t asking for advice!) but I had to fill in my second elective c section form last week. The consultant had to go through all the risks - and believe it or not, it’s safer for babies (statistically). Not that ‘natural’ births are unsafe at all.

What matters most is the mother is informed and comfortable with her decision.

No birth is ‘sunshine and rainbows’. But mentally, choosing what you rather is the best bet.

I am very sorry you were not able to choose your birth. But please don’t try to put off another mother.

Stop fear mongering.
I had a "elective" CS (my labour wasn't progressing so choose a CS over manually breaking my waters) on 13th April 2022 - I was out 14th April.
The only reason I was delayed is it took that long for my daughters red book to arrive.

I was showered, catheter removed and walking around by lunchtime the same day.

I was walking around the park 3days pp and at brunch with my husband and newborn 5 days pp.

Just because you struggled years ago doesn't mean everyone/most people will.

Also your research is 🐮 💩.
Right up there with vaccines causing autism 🙄

Bollocks.

I had a C section with my second, and I needed LESS help than I did after my traumatic first episiotomy haemorrhage birth. I don't have an apron, and, while the area around the scar felt odd initially, it's now exactly the same as the skin around it. And my C section baby is fine - she has no problems that couldn't also be explained by pronounced family history (allergies).

Stop scaremongering.

@truthhurts23

Deeply unhelpful. I don't go on birth threads and tell women that the chance of their child having cerebral palsy due to being starved of oxygen at birth are much higher with a vaginal
birth. That one happens to be true. As does increased chance of baby dying.

Yes, an uncomplicated vaginal birth is better than a c section, for mother and baby, but you cannot guarantee the former and this mother to be has decided that she doesn't want to try it.

I wanted a vaginal birth and didn't get one, but honestly my c sections were fine and my kids are healthy. It's not the end of the world to have a c section.

I guess you know better than people more qualified than you 🙄 its 33% more likely for babies born by c-section to develop conitions such as adhd and autism
there is a link

I wasnt being unhelpful, just pointing out that there are risks associated with c-section that could be worse than a vaginal birth

‘Please don’t do it’ was your first line 🤣

OP would have had the risks given to her by her doctor.

I do feel for you though, as you seem like you feel very cheated with the birth of your baby. But Op would feel the same if she was made to give birth in a way that wasn’t her choice. Which is why it’s so important to let women chose, if it is safe to do so…