Elective c-section vs vaginal birth with early epidural

[sjahpeha]

I'm trying to decide what's best for me. I'm frankly quite scared of giving birth vaginally because of the pain (I have a low pain tolerance and health anxiety which caused panic attacks when I was in pain before) and the uncertainty of the whole thing. I'm leaning towards an elective c-section for these reasons, however, it is a major operation.

I see many threads that discuss pros and cons of vaginal birth and c-section, and I wonder why vaginal birth with an early epidural is not a more popular choice. I'm only at the beginning of my research but my thought process is:
I understand that an epidural might lead to further inventions and could end up in a c-section, but for those who considered an elective c-section anyway, that's probably not a reason to not choose it.
If an epidural prolongs the labour, this sounds ok to be as long as it won't be painful? Any further interventions would also be more bearable with epidural.

Rather than going straight for an elective c-section, should I go for an early epidural and in best case scenario, it all goes well, worst case I'll need a c-section which I'd be ok with?

I’m having the same dilemma at the minute! I’ve got really bad PGP so I’m worried that will cause even more pain during a vaginal delivery

I had a review with the anaesthetist last week and he actually recommended an early epidural as once the contractions get close together it’s harder for them to site it in the right place

I can’t speak for your situation of course, but personally, I had faith in my body and thought about how the female body has been doing this for millions of years and was especially made for giving birth. I decided to see how I would go and take pain relief when necessary. Turned out I found the pain pretty manageable and used no epidural. Birth doesn’t have to be hell ;)

For me the epidural worked out really well and I had a good birth experience - as you say I didn’t mind the fact that it was several hours long because it wasn’t painful.

I expect the issue with prolonged labour is more about the baby being able to cope. Also you can still be exhausted but pain free which will make it more difficult for you to push them out if the labour is longer.

Epidural also carries the risk of other interventions like forceps which can cause you damage down there.

Anecdotally I've only heard good things about planned c sections so in your shoes I'd be inclined to go with that 'known risk' and be able to fully prepare for it than the unknowns of going for epidural. Best of luck OP

Well - most pain is related to something being wrong with the body. So fear is the response. Labour pain has a clear (and positive) cause. So it is different.

Being mobile and active during labour can help the baby get into position, which I think might be why women don't tend to have an epidural once the first twitch starts.

It's also a variable experience, a bit like periods - some people have very bad pain, others have less. As all pain relief comes with risks, it makes sense to play it by ear and only use pain relief if you need it.

Re prolonging labour - the longer it goes on, the higher the risk is as you and the baby get tired and the baby can go into distress.

I have had CS and vaginal birth and preferred vaginal birth, even with an episiotomy. I didn't like being stuck in bed and unable to get to my baby after CS, and it made BF harder as my milk took time to come in, baby lost lots of weight etc.

The pain of vaginal birth was bad tbh, but your hormones do crazy things and it's like you sort of forget it soon after it stops. I know how bad it was, but it's different than if I had that level of pain through an injury or something, because it was followed by a massive wave of hormones and finding my baby delicious. I didn't really have the same experience when having CS as I was knackered, shaky and out of it after a long labour leading to the CS, I had to hand the baby over right away as I was scared I'd drop her.

@sjahpeha hi. Hope you don’t mind me messaging you. I’m currently in a similar position. Would you mind sharing what you did in the end and how your experience was? Xx