so tell me if by 35 weeks you are really sick of pregnancy - is it ACTUALLY possible to

[ButterflyMcQueen]

book yourself in at the Portland - cough up your 5k and have a 36 week section?

A friend told me that a mutual friend did this recently but i cannot believe it..

Kmum I agree with you I had one baby at 37+5 and one at 41+5 and although I hate being pregnant and hated being overdue from her point of view it was the best thing. She was 3lbs heavier than her sister. Fed brilliantly from the off (could have been a more relaxed Mum though) seemed so much more alert, she was 9lbs 3ozs born and 10lbs 7 days later, she could hold her head up straight away and has always been a big healthy girl. I had problems with her sister as she was little and scrawny and struggled to BF her and she had bad jaundice.

I think if you are that worried about how your body is going to look post birth and whether you can get the weight off super quick you have to question whether you should be having a baby in the first place to put their health second to your own needs. I'm sure mums of premmies would have loved to gain a few more pounds and have a few more stretchmarks if it meant not watching their babies in incubators for weeks.

Why do they think a c-section scar and consequent overhang is better than late-pg weight? You can get rid of the weight can't you. Especially if you're not trying to recover from a cs!

I have recent and horrific experience of the knock-on effects of a cs in subsequent pregnancies (hysterectomy, 15-pint transfusion, intensive care). There is no way anyone should go for that first cs unless it is medically necessary! (mine was, but that's not much comfort actually).

And dd (my first) was born at 38.5 weeks, wasn't ready, ended up being tube-fed expressed milk. Leave 'em in as long as you can! (although that was my longest pg so I guess I don't know how awful the last few weeks are).

I had an elective section at 37 weeks on the NHS. It was originally planned for 38 weeks, but they considered bringing it forward at my request and agreed.

(The elective was for valid medical reasons - not a whim - and they wouldn't have brought it forward unless they had been sure it was the right thing to do.)

I'm now pregnant again and the consultant (same one I had last time) has said that they will perform the section any time from 36 weeks onward, depending on my health.

i haven't heard of anyone having an elective csection at 36 weeks unless there's a reason for it.

i do know women who were going to have one anyway - as had two previous sections - and were delivered at 36 weeks for pre-eclampsia and that liver disease you can get whilst pregnant, but not because of weight issues.

i have delivered spontaneously at 38+6 and 38+2 respectively, and as i live quite far from consultant care, i was told that if a csection were required for this birth they would admit me at 37 weeks and do it at 38.

I was wondering along these lines only the other day.

I was thinking specifically about Gwen Steffani - she and I had our first babies at about the same time (though it's possible she isn't aware of this fact). At 40 weeks I didn't have a single stretchmark. My baby was overdue though and by the time she was born my belly was completely covered in a tangle of silver and purple scars. They faded a little in the couple of years since, but really, my bikini wearing days are far behind me now.

So, it doesn't really matter if I can't bare my belly in public ever again, but if that had happened to Gwen Steffani her career would be seriously affected - her job is partly to look beautiful and "perfect".

There must be a way that people like Gwen and Posh Spice and co can be relatively sure that pregnancy and birth aren't likely to bugger up their bodies. A 5k 36 week section would do the job I guess.

think i might just be jealous

I new someone who was induced (Queen Charlotte)to make sure she had the consultant she wanted before he went on holiday.

knew even

lynette - that happens very frequently in Belgium unfortunately.

Why on earth would anyone willfully have their baby 4 weeks prematurely for no other reason than they were too impatient to wait it out? Ridiculous.

I understand why women will do this MrsMattie. WHat I find far harder to understand is why the doctors do it. It all comes down to money I suppose.

Beforesunrise - that doesn't surprise me at all. Has anyone ever given birth "normally" at the Portland (and survived)? From what I've heard (I know a couple of people with experience there) they'll do anything to get the woman into theatre rather than the delivery room.

Allegedly.

It's scandalous that doctors carry out c-sections for such petty reasons.

well- the consultant in question had a massive lawsuit a few years back where he ended up having to fork out millions of pounds in compensation because a baby was born brain damaged after a complicated vb. i found this out later on while googling him. so i think from their point of view it is less risky to do a scheduled c-section than a vb. where risk is to be interpreted purely in a financial/insurance sense.

my friend who sent me to him was evangelical saying she would never have her babies with anyone else. i found him too freaky for words and would never have entrusetd myself in labour to him (still, i reiterate he did a nice job of the repair).

on the topic of op- how can they even be sure that 36 weeks is 36 weeks? i mean even if you are dead sure of conception tc it\s risky...

This whole pregnancy business has gone mad.

I mean it's great that we have choices about the birth we want but TO SOME EXTENT !(home vs hospital/natural VS pain relief).

So many women make these romantic scenarios about what they want to "experience".
Isn't it about delivering a healthy baby first and foremost?

I know two ladies who've had two babies each at the Portland, both normal delivery, not even a ventouse in sight!
I think it's hyped a bit.