C section or natural birth

[LisaSs]

Hi,

just from your own experience, what would you pick? what worked better for you?

no negative comments, please :)

Thank you x

Entirely depends on the pregnancy and medical advice. I ended up with an emergency section which was a wonderful experience when my baby was finally delivered. It’s a shame I had a few days of an induction before it which really made my first days as a mum a bad experience as I was so exhausted from it. So I’ll go for an elective if I think it’s unlikely a vaginal birth will happen/progress without an induction. I didn’t see my section as not natural. My baby actually latched on instantly too while I was stitched up. It doesn’t need to be super clinical but I appreciate some emergency caesareans are under a general anaesthetic so things like skin to skin aren’t always possible.

C section. I’ve had 2 vaginal deliveries. Both were beyond agony, medicalised and I was too out of it to really remember being handed my baby which makes me very sad. A calm, planned section for both would’ve been much better.

It really doesn’t matter what any of us did as we’re not you. We don’t have your body or your obstetric and medical history.

I really recommend reading the positive birth book. It goes through both options, talks through the actual risks as you can apply them to you, and takes you through the various decisions to make. I’d also recommend an antenatal course like NCT to go through these sorts of decisions with someone.

Id also look up some positive birth stories. You’ll get everyone trying to tell you about their horrific birth (both section on natural) Women tend to keep quiet about positive births, particularly natural ones, because they get accused of bragging.

FWIW I had two very positive natural deliveries with no long term complications.

I’ve had 2 episiotomies, I can’t imagine dealing with that as well as the c section incision. I always think the attempted instrumental/CS births must be so tough.

Vaginal was the right choice for me, even being on the hormone drip. I'm terrified of the idea of a C-section though. I'd rather tear my vag than have someone sliced through my stomach muscles!

For those speaking of choosing elective c-sections, you absolutely have rights to choose. Years ago it was deemed that you could only choose to have one if there was medical reasons to need one, but that's changed.

Have a read up on this website about it. Helps you be a little more informed when talking through your options, they absolutely cannot refuse you your choice of birth plan and there is no size fits all. I've had friends who've had both, vaginas births which have gone smoothly others that have been awfully traumatic and I've had friends who've had emergency c-sections and elective, the emergency seemed like the recovery was longer but elective all spoke highly positively about the experience and in-fact recommended it. Do what feels right for you.

www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/giving-birth/my-birth-options

2nd ended up being an induction followed by emcs. I wouldn't wish the emcs on anyone. Horrific experience and recovery. It made me really irrational about sections for months afterwards!!

I’m also pregnant OP and was pretty scared of the idea of a vaginal birth (pain/tearing/complications) but having looked into hypnobirthing I’m going to give that a go.

I’ve seen relatives recovering from c sections and it seems as if doing normal day to day things is very difficult for at least a few weeks afterwards. I’d rather be feeling fit and well whilst having that precious newborn time.

Obviously vaginal births don’t always go to plan but I think I’d rather have that as my ideal.

I agree about hearing about positive stories. Of all kinds whether a water birth, birthing centre, Labour ward, section, epidural etc. Mind you OP, I wish I took the positive stories with a pinch of salt as birth can be so different for two different people. I watched and read about fairly straightforward “natural” births where labour started with the typical broken waters. It’s all well and good to want no pain relief but inductions aren’t the same as spontaneous labour. And two births of siblings can be wildly different too of course so it’s worth reconsidering with every pregnancy. As a fit and healthy woman, I envisioned this hypnobirthing inspired intervention free and unmedicated birth after doing all the hypnobirthing courses but my pregnancy towards the end meant that was not to be. So my advice for any mum to be is to keep an open mind. Have preferences rather than a plan then you won’t be disappointed as I was -fleetingly!- before remembering how lucky I was to have a beautiful, healthy baby safely delivered. All the best to any mums to be on this thread. I hope you all have a birth that’s positive and as close to if not exactly how you envisioned.

Not sure I want to be confessing to this but here goes 😂

I had a vaginal birth, I was induced and suffered a 4th degree tear.

Almost 2 years ago now and still suffering the effects unfortunately.

id like to have a child in the future but will most definitely be having a c section.

I can’t blame entirely the choice to have a vaginal though, like anything it’s just luck of the draw and that day I was unfortunate.
Most births women end up with no or minimal tearing.

And on the flip side, I’m sure there are a minority of women who end up with problems after sections.

i think you have to weigh everything up snd make the right decision for you 😊

I had two wonderful vaginal births, first in a MLU, second at home. I was quite afraid of major surgery (never had surgery before) during pregnancy so did my best to prepare for all the options as hated the thought of needing people to do things for me like lift baby etc. And not being able to get up and walk around.

Most helpful things for me were Ina May Gaskin's guide to childbirth and The positive birth book, hypnobirthing classes (mainly for getting into a positive mindset, didn't use the techniques much during actual labour) and trusting my body. Agree with people above that it's hard to talk about positive birth as people think you're bragging, so you maybe don't hear those stories so much.

Loved both of my births and feel sad I'll never get to do it again (don't want a third child). But my risk assessment might be different to yours, and that's ok too, I'd say just do your research and make sure it's an informed decision. Quick recovery and mobility after birth were really important to me and the benefits to baby of passing through the birth canal, but I can understand why women make different choices.

ELCS for me and whilst recovery wasn't as easy as some said it would be, I'd definitely choose it again. Just make sure you've got a lot of support afterwards as you'll need it!

@LisaSs have you done an antenatal course yet? I was similar to you with the fears first time round, did a hypnobirthing online course run by the positive birth company and it made me feel a whole lot better and almost excited to give birth…unfortunately ended in an emergency c section but I got through the contractions and chaos using the breathing techniques- I would have been completely different had I not done it. It definitely put my mind at ease and made it all sound so natural for me (it was a little too on the hippy dippy side as I’m not really into all the affirmation stuff but the science explained behind it all made complete sense)

I’m nearly 39 weeks pregnant with no 2 and have an elected booked- decided on this even though consultant was pushing me towards vbac because Im anxious around risks of scar rupture (which is obviously irrelevant to your situation) and also nice to have date planned for childcare reasons but part of me keeps toying with a vbac if I go into labour naturally!

Also i would say recovery after a section is completely different for everyone! I had a great recovery, obviously felt pain but it was manageable and didn’t particularly need lots of extra help- I know i was lucky but just thought I’d share as I know a lot of people say the complete opposite!

This.

2 x NVD’s, very big babies. My downstairs will never be the same again and sadly my sex life will also never be what it was. Just glad I made the most of it beforehand.

I know some will argue this is selfish and superficial but I really underestimated how much it would affect me long term.

Hello! ^

I decided to aim for a natural birth. I wanted to experience what it feels like, as it's such a significant rite of passage. ^

At around 41 weeks I was booked for an induction due to being "overdue" (which ridiculous/unnecessary but I won't go into that here). As it was a first baby I would have chosen induction over a c section... because^^ I thought if I ever had a second baby it'd be easier to go for a natural birth if I'd had a vaginal delivery first time around.

Happily as it turned out, I went into spontaneous labour on the date my induction was booked, so dodged being induced.

I had a largely unmediated birth and would happily do again if I had access to a birth pool and gas and air again. I had midwife led care but an obstetrician came in an helped with ventouse at the end. 2nd degree little episiotomy didn't bother me at the time, and healing was fine.

For a second baby, I would probably pick a c-section over induction, if for some reason I wasn't able to have a natural birth. For me, I think induction would result in an epidural, and so might as well just have c section. Very personal decision though!
^
Whatever you plan, I hope you have a great experience^

I've had 2 sections and wouldn't wish one on an enemy. Maybe my worst enemy though.

I would add: apparently physiological labour is a little bit better for establishing breastfeeding if that's very important to you. Of course though loads of c section babies breastfeed just fine, though.

I've had 2 vaginal births and would go the same way again. I've never had a c section so obviously can't compare, but personally I wouldn't choose it.

Had an elective C-section due to certain physical health conditions and would absolutely choose that again. Surgery itself was chilled, recovery was a piece of cake, scar is tiny and barely noticeable. As it happened, my son turned out to be pretty big (close to 10lb) and when they did the section, hr had no plans to come out anytime soon.. not sure going overdue would’ve been ideal given her was already so big!
The spinal block was a bit daft, they had to try several times to actually get it in, so I felt a bit like a pin cushion, and my son did struggle to latch to feed immediately but we soon got over that.
DH went back to work when DS was a week old and I was absolutely fine.
Best of luck!

I had two csections, they were amazing and I wouldn’t do anything differently. Really really loved them. I was told after the second thought that it would be risky to have a third as my scar tissue was so thin and could have ruptured with the second baby. I was very lucky it didn’t! This might put some people off but to me if there was no alternative I probably wouldn’t even have had a child at all so two is better than none 😊

I've had a vaginal birth, and an emergency C-section after failure to progress. Both after inductions started at 37 weeks due to pre-eclampsia.

If I were to have a third, even though it is extremely likely I would wind up needing an induction, I would aim for a vaginal birth.

While my C-section recovery (especially initial recovery) was much easier/better/quicker than expected, it still wasn't a patch on how quick/easy/better the vaginal birth was. But then I didn't have any major tearing (i.e. 3rd or 4th) or blood loss which would put me off having another.

I had a vaginal delivery with gas and air for pain relief and I would 100% go for a vaginal birth again.
But really you have to do what is right for you. Birth is a monumental process so it really has to be a decision that you feel comfortable with.

I had an elective section for breech. Found the whole experience totally overwhelming and unpleasant. Hated the spinal and feeling of not being able to move. Loads of people in the room. Hated the catheter. Very difficult, slow, painful recovery, had to inject blood thinners for 10 days. The scar is low but obvious. Still have numbness around the scar (18 months later).

My sister had a waterbirth VBAC last year and was walking around & discharged home within hours. She felt absolutely back to normal within days.

Everyone's experience obviously so different. A complicated vaginal birth would also have problems.

Next time will go for VBAC,

Exactly the same as me