Women that had elective C-sections. Any regrets?

[BellaRosex]

Hi all,

Currently 30 weeks pregnant and trying to decide whether to give birth naturally or have an elective C-section.

Curious to hear of other women's experiences of elective C sections - positive and negative!

TIA x

@LuckyMamma84 I agree with the above. I've never fully recovered from my NHS vaginal birth and months later I was still unable to walk or toilet without pain and had to go on 4 weeks of strong antibiotics to help my birth injuries heal to the best extent they could. (No compensation claimed and follow up care was private.)

2 (private) planned c-sections followed and the healing was a breeze in comparison. After the second I was even driving within 10 days, cleared by my doctor.

I was able to fully care for my c-section babies better and sooner than I could my vaginal birth baby, so no, no regrets in having c-sections.

Two electives, although I was in early labour with the second so technically it was an emergency one - not quite as well-prepared but still very civilised.

No regrets at all. Babies were born healthy and happy.

Pain is manageable, recovery a hell of a lot quicker than an emergency section. My first baby was very big and would have struggled to be born vaginally, so I felt like it was safer for him as well and that helped put my mind at ease that I was doing the right thing.

I have the usual scar and pouch on my stomach but I had that anyway from being fat. I don't have any pelvic floor, continence or sexual issues that sometimes happen after a vaginal birth though.

No, I don't regret it for a minute. For a start I had a live baby. It turned out that he had a prolapsed cord and would likely have died or been brain damaged in a natural birth. I didn't want to run the risk of rupturing my c-section scar so had a second c-section. Also, unlike my mum who had one vaginal delivery and had to have a hysterectomy years later when she had a prolapse, my pelvic floor is in great shape. Quite a lot of women pushing out a large baby for an extended period can't say the same. Both times I was back at work within six weeks. (Yes, I had a lot of help and a nanny.)

I was just giving my experience of a natural v C-section birth, for myself personally a natural birth was quicker, just a few hours, I was home the same day & healed well - all 3 times. My C-section was a totally different experience.

Oh bless you that sounds awful, I'm glad that a C-section was better for you the second time around & healing was better.

Absolutely the same here. Two dreamy, calm experiences, with an easy peasy recovery. Just awesome.

We’d a meeting with consultant during 2nd pregnancy after a fairly hairy labour with 1st where I took quite poorly. I was prep’d for emergency section but they gave me one last attempt with forceps & I gave birth. I requested an elective for my 2nd but was encouraged to try natural again. I really wanted to avoid the trauma of my 1st labour - as did my partner who was left holding the baby while I received medical attention. My complications in my 1st labour was explained fully to me & that it was due to being left too long between water breaking & giving birth, leading to me developing an infection. I probably could’ve been more insistent about requesting an elective but I was spoken out of it, being reassured the complications wouldn’t allowed to happen 2nd time round. My 2nd birth story was so different from my 1st - likely due to remaining at home as long as possible. I gave birth within 15mins of arriving at hospital, with a single puff of gas&air. I was home within 12hrs.

Had 3 elective c sections all fantastic experiences and did not have any issues with the recovery. I never wanted to experience a vaginal delivery especially after speaking to friends who had children before me so insisted at first booking appointment that an elective c section was the only option that I would consider and made sure that this was noted clearly on all my notes. The midwife did try to brush my request off initially but you just need to be persistent and cite your choice as a patient and the fact that it is your right to have a delivery if your choice probably also helped that DH was at the time a registrar at the same hospital although not in that department.

I had a planned section. I have a hip joint mobility congenital defect and my child had an extremely large head circumference and my consultant said it was up to me, but it might be simpler to go for a section.

It was an absolutely amazing birth. My child was crying before they were even lifted out, everyone was so nice and I healed quite easily and went home ASAP.

I’m still pleased although a small part of me is sad I didn’t get to try vaginal birth. However, in my NCT group of 10, only one person had a straight forward vaginal birth. The vast majority ended up with EMCS including one under GA. When we did a post birth reflections chat, it felt like I was the only person not utterly traumatised and in ongoing pain.

No bulletproof vest needed - it's not a controversial/offensive comment, just plain wrong. C sections are cheaper once you take all the consequences of both types of birth into account.

If saving the NHS money is your priority (it shouldn't be!) then it should be c sections all round!

Planned c-section with my third as he was breech and couldn’t be turned. Calm, efficient process but I absolutely hated the recovery - injections into my stomach, constant pain, developed Phlebitis in my leg from the awful compression socks (which absolutely stink after a couple of days), could barely walk and DH had to take an extra week off work to do the school run as I couldn’t walk properly for 3 weeks, pain in scar for a year, left with a horrible ridge where the scar is with fat shelf hanging over it.

Compared with 2 straightforward vaginal births that took days not months to recover from.

Just make sure you’re fully aware of the implication if you choose a c-section - for me, it was definitely not the easy option!

I had one due to my baby being breech. No regrets whatsoever! If I had another baby I’d do the same. Make no mistake, it’s invasive surgery, but if you are otherwise fit and well leading up to it you should recover well.

Maybe I am wrong. Just my opinion.

Maybe I am wrong. Just my opinion.

How much do C-sections cost the NHS?

A CS costs hospitals an average £1,701 while a vaginal delivery costs an average £749. The Audit Commission has estimated that a 1% rise in CS rates costs the NHS an extra £5million/year4.

As quite a few people have pointed out to you now, that’s the sticker price. It doesn’t include the ongoing cost of birth injuries from vaginal births to the NHS, which needs to be considered as part of the cost of giving birth.

I've had one of each. Labour was pretty rough and difficult but the recovery was comfortable and progressed quickly even with my complications. Then had an elective c section to avoid complications (I was told I was a suitable for both and would go with my preference). I opted for a section. C section itself was fine, but I'm not squeamish about the surgery aspect. Recovery was horrific though and the prolonged stint on maternity ward hellish (baby bliss aside). If I could chose again, based of both my experiences, I would attempt a vaginal delivery with my second. It is not the easy way out some make it out to be. The scarring and overhang also are worse than any 'damage' to your nether regions.

I did have a PPH after my elective caesarean, but that could have happened regardless. It was swiftly and professionally dealt with; I had several blood transfusions (eternally grateful for those that donate blood) and was fine after that. Up until that point, the elective section had been far less stressful or traumatic as my unsuccessful natural delivery, and subsequent emergency c-section.
Were I to have had a 3rd child I would have opted for another elective.

Zero regrets. To be honest I can't understand why anyone would go through the uncertainty and unpredictability of labour when you can have a calm and controlled c-section, but I've always known I never wanted to go through labour.
In both cases baby came ahead of scheduled C-section date but still came by c-section and everything was still calm despite being out of schedule.
Constipation can be bad after. Best tip is to raise your feet on a small stool or bin so you're more in a squat position. Otherwise recovery was smooth. Was playing gentle pickleball at 8 weeks postpartum with number two and swimming at 6 weeks pp.

Sorry to hear that. What were the injections in your stomach for?
I didn't wear compression socks. Was made to get up and about within 24 hours once the catheter was removed.

Had an elective, ended up with a pretty savage post dural headache due to shocking aftercare. Please try to lay as flat as possible after your surgery, they sat me up and I had a fluid leak at my epidural site. There were other examples of poor aftercare but that was the worst part.

It is major surgery so please don't underestimate the recovery. 6 weeks is a conservative estimate, it can take much longer.

That being said, I don't regret it. It was the safest way to get my baby out, and he is perfect.

You are choosing to ignore what myself and several others have told you to suit your own agenda 🤔🤷🏻‍♀️

@thatsthatsaidthemayor The NHS’s own figures show that if every woman had an elective, it would actually cost the NHS less overall than the current situation. This is due to litigation for when vaginal births go sadly wrong, the cost of having mothers in hospital for a number of nights when being induced, the longer-term impact of treating birth injuries with ongoing operations / physio (for both mother and child), etc. You can google it to read more. 😊

If you read through the last couple of pages, other posters have explained and linked to the study with the exact data, but basically, c sections are more expensive themselves, but have a lower chance of going wrong and incurring massive ongoing costs themselves, which means vaginal births work out on average costing the NHS more. It's costs at the time of birth versus total costs related to the birth.

Sorry to focus on one of the milder parts of your horrid recovery experience, but did you not have anyone that could pop to a pharmacy or supermarket to get you a second pair of compression socks, so you could wash one, wear one?

It's horrendous that you were in stinking ones for days, but I'm also curious about what caused such an awful stink in just a few days. Was it from the phlebitis, sweaty feet, or perhaps walking on a dirty bathroom floor without slippers?

I just know that I still have mine from a c/s and have reused them on a long flight.

2 natural and 2 elective c sections. Best decisions of my life. I had severe tokophobia after my first 2 and then an unexpected pregnancy. Causing me to go into full pregnancy meltdown over the fear of giving birth again. They wanted to induce me and I refused. And it was agreed I could have elective. The most lovely experience. Even in covid times.

I did however have a complication with my last baby and i had a spinal puncture which meant I had 2 weeks of not being able to sit up without a horrendous headache so I needed help more. Saying that I would choose it again over natural.