C section vs natural delivery

[ChildOfTheMoon]

Give me the truth. No matter how wonderful , traumatic or gross it is. I want to know how painful your experiences were and your honest advice
So to have a c section or a natural delivery ( without or without meds)

I had 2 c sections through choice and they were both wonderful. Totally pain free and recovery was fine!
Pelvic floor still in good shape and no long term injuries.

Yep, 100% me too. 100%.

Hope you are ok now @OnceUponAPileOFWashing .

I'm about to have dc2 in a couple of weeks by ELCS.

Every time I tell a doctor or midwife the story of my first birth they say, "YEP elective section sounds like a great idea".

As another pp said upthread, you can't meditate/breathe your way out of complications.

My only advice to op is be very wary if they suggest to induce you by synthetic oxytocin for whatever reason. Ask for the likelihood of success. Ask what alternative options there are. It most definitely did not work for me.

You misunderstand me. I was talking specifically about controlling the type of labour you have. If you choose a CS, you're guaranteed a CS*. If you 'choose' a natural labour you're not guaranteed that's what you'll get.

*except some extraordinary circumstances

Elective section here. It was great. Spinal was a bit painful but after that fine. Recovery wasn’t painless but nothing like what I expected. If I have another I’ll hope for the same. I agree with the poster who said they’ve had more painful dental surgery.

The comment above is why this thread is not going to help.. I work in the NHS and know the statistics. 69% of women have unassisted VB... assisted VB is 11 % so the claim that 1 in 4 VB plans go awry does not stack up.. ( the last 20% is ELCS and ECS) the honest answer is you need to do what's best for you. ELCS as many people have pointed out is major surgery. I had birth anxiety but had 2 children naturally with no problems. I was really glad I chose this option after some initial worry as my family member had ELCS and it caused major issues with thier health for at least a, year. This wasn't great as they didn't get to bond with baby ( due to mobility issues after op and post care )... everyone on here will tell you thier story though .. as previous posters have mentioned taking to family friends, heath Prof can help but you will get different opinions. The comment most nurses also would go for a ELCS I think is not quite right , I think you would get a variety of answers from them too. I'm one and I know all me colleagues think differently as I asked when I was pregnant!

Hmm your own stats don't back up your point at all. If 69% are unassisted VB, 11% are instrumental VB, and ?10% are EMCS (I was told half of CS here are EMCS) then yes, 9 out of 10 women were aiming for VB, 2 out of those 9 end up with instruments or EMCS. That's 2 in 9, near as dammit 1 in 4.

You've forgotten that basically all EMCS were hoping for uneventful vaginal births. Otherwise they'd be ELCS.

Many, maybe nearly all EMCS are part of a traumatic story like mine and @OnceUponAPileOFWashing 's.

Ps @iamsmaller1 I really hope you aren't a nurse as you hint you are, if you talk about giving birth "naturally". I hope you know that many mums find that phrase nonsensical and borderline offensive.

Had 2 vaginal births. They weren't painfree but I was grateful to be able to walk around straight after. When you're in it, it can feel unbearable especially during the transition stage but the recovery wasn't too bad - had 1st degree tears with both. Recovery with 2nd birth was better as I didn't get stitches, recovery with 1st was a little harder

@Mummymummy89 quite. I have a friend who had an ‘EMCS’. But that very same birth was also an induction birth, a prolonged labour birth, a forceps birth, an episiotomy birth and a ventouse birth (all of which, failed). But for her, and women like her, the stats only show the birth as an EMCS and the rest of the picture is erased. The stats really don’t show the reality of the whole birth.

I wonder, how many women are actually going through long, traumatic, instrumental labours, which are not captured in any stats because it ends in a (life saving) EMCS?

And yes ‘natural’ births - how many deliveries are completely natural without any intervention or monitoring? It must be 1%?!

Couldn’t agree more with this

Same here - the epidural was brilliant. Slept most of the day and then watched Wimbledon!

Hi there, I am a midwife working on the high risk (traditional) labour ward so very familiar with all the risky scenarios. Firstly UK is a great place to give birth, it's generally very safe regardless of the mode of delivery. Secondly every childbirth will always have some element of risk but so will a major surgery like an ELCS. Thirdly in the absence of a clear medical indication an ELCS has no benefits for the baby. It has some risks instead like baby being admitted to neonatal unit with respiratory difficulties or developing allergies in later life. Any CS is a risk for future pregnancies too so it's worth thinking how many children you might want to have. Instrumental delivery is generally very safe, just not on any woman's birth plan. It's usually a much better choice than a CS at full dilatation. How long the woman's labour is going to last and labour outcome often depends on a size and position of the baby and size and shape of a woman's pelvis so combinations are endless (it also depends to a degree on a midwife's skill and experience). No one can tell in advance how you labour is going to unfold. You can request a meeting with the Consultant midwife and set up an individualised birth plan with a low threshold for an emergency CS for example. If you are low risk at the end of your pregnancy and when you go on labour you can choose to start your labour at a midwifery led unit. If complications develop or you request an epidural you will be transferred to the traditional labour ward. However a low risk first time mum automatically cuts her risk of an emergency CS and Instrumental birth in half just by choosing to start labour on the midwifery led unit (even if she ends up being transferred). Sensible eating, not putting more than 10-15 kg weight in pregnancy, quitting smoking if necessary and staying as fit as possible (no high risk sports) is also a massive help in labour. I hope it helps

Just another thought on giving birth "naturally" and that nonsensical phrasing - sorry I've got a bit triggered by the HCP above - I'm a fan of extended breastfeeding but I'd be (rightfully) pelted with rotten vegetables on mumsnet if I called that feeding my baby "naturally", implying that bottles are "unnatural". Why is it ok to use that phrase for the birth?!

Do we expect people to do tooth extractions naturally? Heal broken limbs naturally?

Without modern medicine (esp antibiotics) I would have literally died in childbirth, of sepsis. Death is natural. I'd have died, naturally. Orphaned my daughter and widowed my husband. No thanks. Bollocks to "natural".

By all means seek to have an unassisted vaginal birth, I do understand why that's the most desired outcome. But ffs don't use loaded language like "natural".

Rant over...!

I've done both. I'm pretty sure I had ptsd after natural delivery. I couldn't read any of my notes for about two years afterwards. It wasn't a bad experience in terms of complications just so unbelievably painful.

I spent the next two years totally miserable knowing I had to go through it again as I wanted two DC.

DC2 ended up being a section and was a total breeze. I didn't even take the painkillers I was sent home with. Recovered way faster and bonded with baby faster too.

You should always opt for natural as C section is Major abdominal surgery so has all the risks of surgery. Whereas Vaginal birth is natural and your body is made to do that exact thing. A C sectionn is an emergency use only where it is not safe to deliever vaginally for whatever reason.

DS was natural at birthing centre using pool.amd hypnobirthing was not painful just a lot of pressure. Like needing a Massive Poo. I had a small graze as I did all the prep before hand. And my recovery was immediate. No stitches and no stays in hospital. Up and about and able to deal with my baby and not being a burdon to anyone. I bounced right back.
Had I needed major abdominal surgery if unavoidable I probably would have had PTSD from it. Being in pain being useless and needing 24/7 care.

I so no people who had it and all had complications with healing. They had no choice. But they all have PTSD from it.

I think you need to prepare for all events mentally and just go worth the flow.

I really wish I’d had a C Section with my first. Instead I had ventouse and episiotomy and severe incontinence and prolapse which I’ll be suffering with for the rest of my life. Look up the risk of incontinence from a vaginal birth - it’s massive.

@Tiredbehyondbelief

This is what I believed as a mum first time around. Safe to say, that it's absolutely not what I believe after being induced with my first. My experience was that midwives demonised CS and did absolutely everything they could do to push VB even when very unrealistic (I had a very large back to back baby - not even discussed with me in Labour and was taken to the brink without any consideration or discussion as to what was likely to be best, zero triage), without much kindness. Maybe it is different if you are the "ideal" candidate who goes into Labour so the midwives can get to "win" with you, but I felt very disillusioned with it. I'd say that if you're happy with the idea of a VB, do try for it but don't get induced - it's not a great process.

I was treated worse post Labour by the midwives for having a CS both times too though. You deffo need a good partner if you have one.

Two back to back babies - first was induced and rotational forceps, pretty awful. Second was a walk in the park in comparison even though needed ventouse. To be honest the ventouse hardly felt like an intervention at all and recovery was very quick.

Did consider ELCS with second but am glad I went for vaginal delivery, was also very healing as first birth was difficult.

Had epidural both times.

Also agree, the hypobirthing cult probably does as much harm as it does good... Can really make a mum feel like a failure for not magically breathing out a baby in 2 hours in a pool....

I am sorry to hear about your experience. Have you sought specialist help from your hospital? It won't be a cute however it usually brings an improvement

The last post is addressed to WhatshouldIdo155

Thanks. I did try but they were dismissive and didn’t believe the severity of my injuries. I’ve had to pay a significant amount of money privately to have some improvement - I really do feel let down by the NHS.

Had a planned C Section because of a complication. Surgery was fine, recovery was a different story and in my case, something I wanted to avoid second time.

Had a Vbac, and was soooo much better. Better recovery too, no comparison for me. Epidural because it was a hormone induction. It didn't take 100% but the contractions were very manageable.

This is from someone who has feared contractions / birthing from a young age. It was nothing like I thought it would be. It was good.

Trying to give birth when my body was reverting (cervix was fine then started to harden and wouldn't dilate anymore, wtf) was the worst pain I've ever gone through. It was so bad it started to make me hallucinate and I tried to push down through the floor, the water of the bath was like razors slicing my skin, the baby's heart was slowing then stopped. They left me there, on my own, for hours and hours and hours. EMCS, woke up late, traumatised me for life. Elected C-Secs for the births after, best experiences ever. No stress. No worry. Knew what was coming.

Beware of all VBs being lumped together in one camp and CS in the other.
There is a tendency to refer to VB as 'natural'. My VB was induced, ended in rotational forceps which permanently damaged me and my child. There was fuck all natural about it. The recovery was horrific, I had no milk for 6 days and child ended up being tube fed up their nose. I've suffered faecal incontinence and over a decade on still cannot poo without manually assisting by holding up my perineum.
2nd birth was elective CS. Calm, controlled, bf with no problems and completely recovered.
The issue with a VB is that you can go into it with the intention of it being natural and intervention free, but there's no guarantee of that.And those interventions are grim. And damaging.
Try to find data for VB outcomes for 1st births. Subsequent births tend to skew the data as once a baby has smashed its way out, subsequent ones tend to come out much easier.
And I don't agree with pp stating its best that you don't know. I was furious when I realised the likelihood of instrumental intervention and the damage caused by that intervention had been downplayed and skimmed over (in contrast to the 'major abdominal surgery' that's trotted out every time CS is mentioned.)

But ELCS also has almost no risk to the baby either (most of the risk is to the mother from unlikely but measurable surgery complications). Contrast that to the likelihood of oxygen starvation for baby during a VB. Still a rare risk, but much less rare than severe life-long damage being caused to a baby by CS.