Elective c section - positive experiences?

[JT287]

hi,

been given my section date which I thought would get me geared up and ready for the big day, but it’s done the complete opposite.

could anyone please share their positive elected section stories and any words of advice on what to expect/how to prepare to somewhat put my mind at ease please?

I’ve had 2. I don’t have experience of a vaginal birth, but given friends experience of the “care” and the trauma they went through, honestly it was calm, safe and I’d do it again in a second. I vomited a lot from the drugs which was uncomfortable and the recovery is harder. Just follow the rules and no heavy lifting! If it helps all my IVF doctors were very open that they had sections too as they felt it was safer, so that says a lot! Good luck xx

I've had 3 c-sections, one emergency and two elective. I'm in Ireland rather than the UK so procedures etc may be different but overall I had extremely positive experiences. Recovery was really quick. In terms of recovery I would say just keep on top of pain management, take everything offered! Don't overdo it with lifting when you get home. Rest as much as possible but also don't get too stagnant as can be harder to recover if you're not mobile.

Very positive experience - I recovered really quickly. Scar is almost invisible, no overhang. Best decision ever.

I was ‘high risk’ and had an elective section. Didn’t love the cannula and spinal going in but closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing. All very quick. Operation itself was absolutely fine. I didn’t notice when they started. Anaesthetist and her assistant were lovely and talked through everything they were doing and monitoring as I was interested and it was a good distraction! The surgeon was also really nice. Happy healthy baby who is now four and thriving! X

I had one elective section, first birth and a vaginal delivery with my second. Can honestly say there were pros for both. I was worried with the section that I wouldn’t be able to do much and that the recovery would be tough. My son was born on a Tuesday morning and by Saturday I was able to push the pram into town. I’m no super woman. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad.

2 great elcs experiences here, would do it again for sure! No regrets whatsoever

Thanks all for your responses and support, really appreciate it! I’m more worried given my first labour (induction and vaginal birth) I lost 3L of blood, borderline transfusion and my biggest fear is with the surgery, is losing more blood this time round. Anyone experienced high blood loss with an elective?

I know this isn’t quite what you’re looking for but there were some risk factors for me that meant I was at increased risk of haemorrhaging. I was told before that they had plenty of blood ready just in case I needed it. Afterwards I was told that I lost quite a lot of blood but it wasn’t enough to warrant a transfusion. I found it all really well planned, calm and controlled.

I had 2 EMCS and 2 elective all under spinal. I had no choice with the last two but they really could not have gone better. Staff were super supportive and reassuring and I was given my babies to hold and put to the breast whilst in recovery. There were serious concerns about my fourth baby all the way through the pregnancy (we declined additional testing) but the second she was delivered they told me that she was fine and healthy. The anaesthetist who told me he was from Sri Lanka was singing quietly during the delivery, I asked jokingly if he was serenading me and he said that he was singing to keep the evil spirits away and although I guess it was an odd thing, I could never thank him or the other staff enough for my healthy daughter. I was also sterilised during the operation, so although I was in slightly more pain than I had been after the others, she was born in the morning and by early afternoon visiting I was up and about in the shower. Home and vacuuming the lounge 5 days later when the midwife visited much to her horror. I told her that I could not possibly have her visit and have bits on the carpet! I hope that you have a lovely experience with your beautiful baby and that you have a fast recovery 😊

No personal experience here OP but I’m also having a c-section next week at 39 weeks so solidarity over here! My 3rd dc but they were both very easy vaginal births; this baby is footling breech so c-section it is!
Very scared but trying to remain positive- won’t be long until we have our little ones safe with us!

Hello!!

i had an emergency section with my first baby after a looonnggg 30 hour plus obstructed labour.
I vowed I would never have this happen to me again.
im booked in for my elective section in October and love the peace of mind, the control and the hopefully calm and easy birth unlike my previous one.
statistically an elective section is very safe and well controlled / minimal blood loss. Long labour tends to equal more PPH.

(I know VB can also be calm / lovely experience as well)

Emergency with my first - nightmare. Long recovery.

Elective with my 2nd - in and out in 25 hours, back doing the school run by week 2.

I had a section with my DD. I had a real fear of natural birth and I couldn't do it from word go it was my choice to do elective and I wouldn't be persuaded otherwise I won't be having more children but if I did I would so happily have another section. Does help I had a massively positive experience and it all went very well (apart from going into natural labour which was one of my biggest fears).

Calm, positive experience. Baby came out in 15 minutes. I was breastfeeding within the hour.

Difficult walking for 3 days. By 10 days I could go for a walk around the block with the pram.

Keep on top of the pain meds!!! Very important. You always want to be ahead of the pain.

I had an elective c section in July as my baby was breech and it couldn't have went any better! I was a bit upset as this is my first baby and I wanted to deliver vaginally but I 100% would have a c section again. I had an extremely positive experience.
Everything was so calm and straight forward, I just kept my eyes closed while they were doing the spinal etc so that I wouldn't see anything that would make me panic.

Recovery was so good for me, I know not everyone is the same but my pain afterwards was relatively low (I kept on top of my pain meds everyday so that helped) and I felt my usual self after a few days so was skipping about as normal (I don't recommend this, definitely take it easy! It was just very easy for me to forget that I had major abdominal surgery!). Take it easy getting in and out of bed, sleep on your back and generally be mindful that you need to heal no matter how well you feel.

I didn't particularly enjoy walking about afterwards for a few weeks but this was because my clothes would rub my incision. Make sure you have plenty of big pants to come up over your belly and loose clothes to wear.

In short if I have any more babies in the future I would 100% have an elective again. Obviously a section is major abdominal surgery and everyone recovers differently, but please do not worry about it. You will be in good hands.

If you have questions on something specific just let me know!

Thank you for this ☺️ thanks to everyone who has been so kind to share their experience! For me it’s the idea on blood loss. as mentioned I had such a big unexpected blood loss with no reason uncovered from my first vaginal delivery after being induced, which just makes me panic so much about a big bleed during surgery too. They do say you can actually bleed more during surgery but that it’s handled better… this is somewhat reassuring but also scary as hell too. It’s not the pain or anything on that level what scares me this time round, it’s the thought of something not going right and the blood loss is on a similar scale or worse 😞

Hi, I had a c section 2 weeks ago and it was moved sooner and I freaked out. I was physically shaking until I went in. I was also really worried about bleeding, I told the surgeon beforehand and she gave me the odds (very low) and said if you bleed we have about 10 different medicines we use and don't start getting excited until medicine number 5. They also have blood ready in theatre.
You have to trust your surgeon and anaesthetist.
My experience was amazing and I will definitely book again for any subsequent births!
I didn't feel the spinal block and just a slight tugging sensation whilst they got baby out. It was so quick!!
I felt unwell during the procedure and told anaesthetist straight away. They are like magicians and fix it immediately. I can't tell you how amazing the doctors were. Please don't worry you will be safe. I completely get it though, I genuinely cried and thought I was going to die beforehand but it was the best day of my life.
Good luck and you'll soon have your baby and be reading Mumsnet at 5am whilst feeding them 😆

Hi ladies, I’ve just come across this thread and I’m currently on the fence between an elective section or vaginal delivery again for baby no.2 due in November. I have a birth choices appointment on the 12th Sept.

Hope it’s not rude to ask but any of you who had a section do you have a high BMI?

My main concern is risk of blood clots although I’m on thinning injections already. A “helpful” consultant (not my usual one) words on Wednesday were “I’d recommend vaginal delivery again as blood clots are the most common cause of death in pregnant and postpartum women” which has scared me slightly I obviously knew this was a risk and is more common due to a higher BMI but I’m trying to do some research for actual facts and stats into it. I really don’t know what to do. I know he has to warn me of the risk but his language was a bit scary and he did say ultimately it is my choice.

I’m also worried about vaginal delivery again though as 4 years ago when I had baby no.1 labour was very fast, instrumental, I had a PPH and have been left with a birth injury which cannot be corrected until I’ve done having children. It’s still impacting me 4 years later and don’t know how it will behave during delivery.

I’m just feeling a bit lost and confused. I know my appt on the 12th will help but just some real life experiences would be great to hear too!

I had an emergency caesarean with higher BMI and blood thinners nearly two years ago and it was fine. They gave me compression stockings and encouraged getting up and about, plus I was on the blood thinners until six weeks postpartum.

I’m pregnant again and now over forty still with a higher BMI (plus both pregnancies via IVF which is apparently an additional risk factor for blood clots) and the consultant was quite happy to book me in for a planned caesarean this time. I’m ideally hoping to go into spontaneous labour before the due date but if not I’ve chosen a planned caesarean over induction (I could wait and see but they strongly advise not going past the due date in my case). The consultant obviously mentioned the different risks associated with caesarean and induction but she didn’t make a recommendation either way. What you were told sounds quite scary, especially as it doesn’t sound like they gave the actual chances of a blood clot happening (which I believe is very, very small).

Good luck with everything

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it and it’s comforting to hear! I’m very much the same I am adamant I do not want to be induced so if they won’t let me go over due which is unlikely, I’d rather go down the planned section route.

I’m also going to ask again about stats etc as would there be the same concern if I ended up needing an emergency section. 🤔 I’d much rather try me planned and if I go into labour spontaneously before section date we go with the flow. That’s where my head is at currently!

My First birth was natural and so traumatic that it took us 6 years to feel “ready” to try for our 2nd child. My Second birth was an elective c section and was the best experience. I felt very nervous on the morning but as soon as I was at hospital I was taken care of, everything was explained to me and it felt so calm and like everything was in control. The recovery is different and can take a little longer but if I was to have another child I would insist on a c section again. A colleague recently had an elective c section and said it was amazing. Good luck OP! X

If it helps OP, my 1st birth sounds similar to yours, huge blood loss following emergency forceps delivery and needed a blood transfusion. I was told immediately that any future pregnancies would require C sec births due to the extent of the damage/repair to me externally and internally. My next pregnancy was consultant led as a result and planned c-section delivery. It was a fabulous experience, so much better than the trauma of birth one. No unusual bleeding. And I was able to enjoy my baby and bond immediately unlike with my previous vaginal delivery. Best of luck to you.