Can I INSIST on having a caesarian?? also how are caesarian op dates decided?!

[MissDelighted]

I am 5 weeks pg with DC1 and am due to see the doctor next week. I wondered if it is possible to insist on a caesarian (in a normal NHS hospital) or if it is down to the doctors/midwives/hospital/postcode. I am certain I do not want a natural birth and want to make this clear as early as possible to the medics.

I am so set on a caesarian birth I am prepared to use savings to go private as a last resort, although I don't wish to have to do this.

Also, for anyone who has had a Caesarian - do they perform them bang on your due date or is it down to the baby's development nearer the time, or even beds available on particular days? How is it decided?

I would really appreciate any info/advice prior to seeing the doctor as I want to make sure I am armed with enough information not to be swept away with what she thinks should happen. Thanks in advance

PCT?

well, you admitted there yourself, she was being irrational.

And, as I said before, I am not going to pander to this irrationality and encourage someone to make a ridiculous decision. She was presented with some useful facts, and stayed stubborn.

I read the OP and though 'petulant girl, who has no idea what she is talking about'. I presume some other did too, hence she did not necessarily receive sympathy.

Expat, you are entitled to your opinion. Personally, I think that is a misreading of events and if you look back, you will see she got upset after people started shouting, swearing and mocking. (Well, that's a surprise!) I invite people to look back and make up their own minds...

Miss Delighted's last post was at 23.06.

There is only 1 even vaguely 'nasty' post (DMKA's) and even that, she was not being nasty, she was trying to make a point.

There was nothing nasty before that, I don't know why you would say 'there were some really nasty posts early on'. There wasn't.

I've been on this thread from the beginning, Thompson, I don't need to read back to come to the conclusion I have. My response was one of the earliest.

This board is playing host of late to a number of very precious, hypersensitive and quite frankly, rather spoilt and silly people.

And I feel this thread is demonstrative of this in the extreme.

DSM, I said she was possibly being irrational. How can we know? 'Presented with some useful facts'? Couched in the sort of language and tone that many of them were? Honestly, is anyone going to take things on board when spoken to like that?? I appreciate this is an emotive issue. Sometimes posters will irritate certain people. I still think it's no excuse for some of the crap that this girl got, a newly pregnant new poster. There were some terrific threads later on after she'd gone, which is a shame: several disagreeing with her, but explaining kindly why, and trying to give her some things to think about. That's the way to do it.

Leeds.

My midwife is quite militant! She's great!

She said if you want it, they can't say no as it's patient choice.

We shall see...

Where are the nasty posts? Before she left the thread, where are the nasty posts?

Noone is ever chased off a thread. You can fight your corner, or leave. She chose to leave.

FWIW - I think a bit of ing at someone who INSISTS on something they clearly know nothing about it absoloutely justified.

My dear Expat, as I said before, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion. I disagree. I just loathe bullies and people who try to menace others into having the same opinions as them. And DSM, ditto - it's a matter of opinion about the early posts and people should read for themselves.

If you loathe bullying, you may wish to refrain from using patronising language in a vague and rather weak attempt to be condescending.

I care not a jot if you disagree with my opinion, so you have no need to apologise for yours, however meaningless that is.

mm abby, don't know about that one - the latest target HA's have is to reduce the primary and repeat C/S rate - our local hospital has just had an award for getting theirs down to 13% - I've heard bradford and jessop are running at about 33% though . I would say that getting a section for maternal choice if you've never had one is not a given, however your hospital might have a low threshold for going to C/S, most in labour ones are counted as elective if you can sign the consent and it's not a situation where you're down to theatre with a midwife riding your bed

I find it interesting that a woman asking how to get a section has been chalked up as misinformed. If she was on here looking for nature loving home birth then she would be exercising her right and nature's intentions and no one would dare come on and say otherwise -- though I dare say a few would think otherwise.

And why have her concerns of a "funny shape" been labelled as fears. I know someone else, actually, who can not give birth vaginally because of the shape of her pelvis. Perhaps the poster actually has done her homework and this is not the irrational fear it has been labelled since she left. Maybe it runs in the family and she actually knows this from mums and sisters experiences.

Not to mention, she asked for advice on how to get a section. She did not ask for opinions on vaginal birth.

Why is a woman who wants a section regarded as fair game for open fire???? Would any other topic get this kind of response?

Expat, I have no intention of apologising for my opinion and have not done so. Condescension all in your head I'm afraid...Were you saying that my opinion was meaningless? I'm not quite clear. If you are, well, I'm not rising to it and I am not particularly interested either. What I am interested in is constructive debate, which is why I love Mumsnet.

And another point that always comes up on the caesarean threads which I have not yet spotted on this one is the state of the NHS. How many people on this thread actually trust them to do what is medically necessary when they should.

I wouldn't. And that was most certainly a factor when I decided to have an elective with my second baby. I bet we can all think of at least three posters whose babies were damaged or killed by an NHS that didn't perform as it should have. One has already been mentioned on this thread.

Athene.

She said herself that it was not a medical thing, it was her own fear.

Home births and elective c-sections are nowhere alike. Not a very good comparison.

she is making a decision to have a section for reasons that are not valid, and if she has siad in her OP, 'I think I would prefer a section, can someone give me some advice' she would more than likely have been met with better response than 'I will INSIST i have a section because I am scared my baby won't get out as I am a funny shape'.

I think there should be a free choice on this.

However, I think a csection is harder to recover from and more risky for the mother.

The reasons you give for wanting a csection are unusual and I am not sure that they are reasons you would still feel are valid after more detailed research/ discussion with your consultant.

athene, op was talking about the shape of her vagina - which was in the realms of normal,just awkward for smears - there may have been a couple of exasperated posts after she rebuffed replies from genuinely interested posters- a lot of whom had had necessary sections,elective or otherwise and gave her some solid evidence based reasons for why she would not likely be turned down. the point is, 5 weeks pregnant is not the time to be rigidly fixing on something so far ahead - no professional would discuss it at this stage and that was also pointed out - OP may be back after a name change, we'll see shall we?

would likely (obviously)

Jamilia I thought that it was down to patient choice? - a genuine question, not me being funny about it . I realise that consultants may try to persuade you otherwise, but if you stick to your guns then I was under the impression that they couldn't say no?

I actually wanted a vaginal birth with my first, and tried my hardest - the thought of a c-section never even crossed my mind, as I'm sure it doesn't for many people, which is one of the reasons why the experience became difficult to deal with, the feeling of failure. I've given it thought this time, and decided that I would prefer an elective to avoid the same thing happening again. I actually want a normal, straight-foward vaginal delivery but I'm not prepared to risk the hideous mess that became my first laboutr, and that launched me into PND for years afterwards. It was 10 years ago, and it still upsets me now. However, if someone could completely reassure me that it would not happen again, then I would have a bash! I just want to enjoy my baby at the end of it, not be fighting the misery instead.

I also realise that things could go wrong with an elective. I could just be very unlucky in the whole birthing business. Time will tell. But it's in there now, and some time, in approximately 29 weeks, it will be making its way out, one way or another!