Natural birth or c section?

[travelqueen2000]

Im due in February and terrified of giving birth. Any advice ? Which is better and less painful. My baby is slightly large and I’m unsure what to do!! What are your experiences ? I am aware both are hard, please share

Are you under consultant-led care/ any other risk factors?

Are you getting any help for your fear ("tokophobia")?

Hi, no help and I am current 30 weeks so no birth plan yet! No other risks just the baby is large and I have a high bmi

Definitely pros and cons to both, very individual to each person. I was induced in the end due to things moving slowly and my waters had broken already. I ended up having an epidural due to how long it was going on for and the induction can make contractions more painful, I'm so glad I had an epidural even though it wasn't in my birth plan - thankfully I was very open to things changing. I'd say don't get set on things too much as it can all change. Good luck with it all, it's all worth it to have your baby in your arms 😊

What has been suggested to you? Have you been given a rundown of risk/benefits + recommendation for you from a medical professional?

I would suggest if there is a possibility you want a csection you probably need to request that soon.

I had an elective c section and it went perfectly. No regrets and no issues afterwards.

A family members had an elective c section a year later (same hospital) and had many infections after. Also lost too much blood during the operation.

It’s impossible to predict how a c section will go, same with vaginal birth. Before I would recommend c section because my experience was so good, but now I’ve seen it’s just luck of the draw. I’d say just do your research and then decide what you feel most comfortable with, and remember it’s your choice how you give birth.

Pain-wise my c section was pain-free during the procedure, but a painful recovery (
after (to be expected).

I felt similar and had an ELCS
It was a very positive experience and my second birth was elcs. I didnt even consider VBAC. We had music it was v relaxed i remember both clearly and fondly.

Separately was fascinated by how many people had strong opinions on my elcs. Mostly women.

Nct leader kept asking "why" i was having one amd.was ot foredocal reasons and I kept saying "best i want one". Eventually another nct mum interrupted and said "because she wants one!!!!"

My at the time best friend who was had just had an IMO horrendous natural birth (3rd degree tearing which reopened twice and a hernia) told literally everyone she met i was one having one "just because" (as in she told more than one waitress in cafes and one time i left her alone with a relative of mine and went to the toilet and in the literal 2mins i had gone she announced it despite me explicitly telling her not to tell this relative... it was bizarre)

My mums coworker who had 2 x natural births and was left doubly incontinent and needing surgery felt compelled to print and give my mother "scientific papers" showing "natural birth is better". More bafflingly my mother passed them on...
I literally said "Sue was left doubly incontinent why os she pushing a natural birth so hard on me?"
Dm <takes back papers and bins them>

I could go on...

You need to make an informed choice.
I knew I would find it terrifying and be stressed as i (irrationally) believed i'd be injured or die so even if I could have an uncomplicated natural birth i'd have been so stressed there would likely be complications.
I also didn't want to risk "trying" then switching to c section as I know too many women who were talked into doing that then ending up with inductions / epidurals and 24hr labours ending with an emcs.
Emcs was my last choice and I didn't want to risk it.

As it was in went into labour on the day on my elcs so got to experience first stage labour which 100% confirmed I was making the right choice with an elcs - I couldnt get on the operating table fast enough 😅

My section was hands down the most beautiful experience of my life.

I had 3 normal deliveries and 1 c section and I’d pick a c section again every time, it’s really not as bad as you hear. I had a major pph with mine but regardless it was the best choice I made. My daughter was slightly preterm at 36 weeks and had a few complications, she was in neonatal for 3 days. On day 3 when we were discharged I drove myself home from the hospital. I had no pain whatsoever and the healing was all good too.

It varies-you will get so many different answers, based on each individual's experience! An "easy" natural birth is quick to recover from. It is absolutely true that some people feel very little pain, and are back to normal almost straight away. I don't know anyone who had a CS who has been like that, and you are limited in terms of what you can do for a while. You also have to stay in hospital longer (in my area anyway), so think whether that matters for you. On the other hand, some people do have issues after a natural birth, and some prefer CS. Others feel upset if they don't get to experience labour. But please speak to your own midwife who can give actual medical advice based on your own situation. Also, it's not as simple as a natural birth or CS-there's lots of options for pain relief you can have.
In terms of recovery, a lot of women worry about changes in their body, but a lot of women say they end up feeling tighter (kegels help). Not that I think that should be anyone's first concern, but I know a lot of people who said this was an issue they wanted to know about before birth

I always aimed for as natural as possible. I wanted spontaneous labour so did all the dates, raspberry tea, lots of walking stuff leading up. Hypobirthing and yoga too. Really helped me. I loved my births, I was up straight away, recovered really well. Found the contractions worse than pushing in all 3. Painful but you know it's a limited pain that will end. Midwives we're good, birth units were nice. Never had to be on a ward before, during or after labour which was important for me!

I would always advise aiming for natural but if you need medical help then whatever gets baby out safely.

People will tell your horror stories both ways- there was a lady in my nct whose scar refused to heal , it was an open wound for about 10months and she couldn't drive or even pick up baby too much. And I know plenty of c sec ladies who struggle with incontinence- the most damage done is during pregnancy to your pelvic floor. I'm was lucky- fine that way and get on the trampoline regularly 😁

I've had two so-called natural births and one (emergency) caesarean.

I have to say that I vastly preferred the caesarean and if I could have my time again I would choose to have all three that way.

I had a vaginal delivery for my first and an ELCS for the second . I spent longer in hospital with the natural delivery and it took me far longer to recover from the natural birth , the section was an absolute breeze in comparison .

I've had every kind of birth apart from forceps or ventouse. The elective c section was the worst for me and the delayed induction that wasn't needed in the end was the best one. But that's just my opinion. Lots of people love their elective c-sections. I'm the only person I know who preferred an emergency c-section over an elective one but i'm a bit weird!

Go with whatever your obstetric team advises. The important thing is that you and your baby are OK.

For me, I had three spontaneous vaginal births, the first one with forceps and the other two natural and all went well. If I'd been advised to have a c-section I'd have gone with it, but my births were all just fine. I took whatever pain relief I felt I needed and it wasn't awful. For the record, I had an epidural with my first but didn't need anything other than gas and air with the other two.

I think the key difference here is that the elective c sections are the same, controlled and calm. So no doubt the experience in its self will be fine. Post recovery however will differ woman to woman. It’s a major surgery and the more research you do the better because there are a lot of cons to electives without medical necessity. If you’re worried about pelvic floor health then c section isn’t going to prevent that because it weakens anyway as the babies head sits there. Q

Vaginal births are unpredictable and the NHS is far too interventionist. What often causes issues with VBs is the use of forceps and episiotomy. There’s a lack of patience and knowledge to aid women through natural labour in this country.

The positive vaginal birth stories I have heard are often women who prepare in advance. They will remain fit, do the exercises, advocate for themselves and work with their bodies. They will take classes and try and educate themselves so that when birthing they have some control. The post recovery is the best and natural offers lots of benefits like the microbiome and getting the babies lungs ready. Obviously despite all that you could end up with a EMS and that’s where caesarians should be used ideally.

Given how terrible the NHS maternity care is presently you can understand why women want an elective and that is to control the birth because hospitals are just shit at supporting women with VBs.

I wouldnt even do a birth plan😅

I did my birth plan a week before i was due (still gave birth at 40+4)
I wanted a water birth, wanted it to be as natural as possible, didnt want a csection unless it was an emergency, didnt want the epidural, definitely didnt want diamorphine, just gas and air with water.

My blood pressure was through the roof, babys heart rate was dropping, i went under consultant led care, contractions were painful and i was exhausted which probably exasperated the pain, i was labouring for 33 hours, as you can imagine all the pain was exhausting and literally took it out of me.

I ended up having an epidural in the end just so i could rest for a little bit, however within an hour id gotten to 10cm and was being told i need to push😅

I recovered really quickly considering i had a second degree tear! I was out of the hospital the same day! Baby was born at 4.10am and i was home for 6pm!

Id 10000% recommend the epidural if you're exhausted and been labouring for hours and hours on end.

People chat about the after pain, i never felt it😅

Im 4 weeks PP today and my baby has only just gone to sleep (woohoo day and night confusion is so fun) we are both happy and healthy!

As long as you know roughly what you want and dont want you can voice that to the staff, they never asked me for my birth plan really, they asked me what i preferred and i told them until they had to intervene because of my blood pressure😁

Take paracetamol and have a bath before you even think about ringing the hospital.

I was told paracetamol, a warm bath and my contractions had to be over a minute in length and between 3 to 4 minutes apart before i could go in for more painkillers. In which they only gave me codeine to begin with until they checked me and saw i was 4 - 5cm dilated and then they took me to the labour ward.

There was a lot of swear words used during labour, especially asking for the epidural😅 'i want the f'ing epidural', 'how long does it take for someone to give me the f'ing epidural i cant do this anymore!'

When i finally had the epidural, i then spent the rest of my very quick active labour apologising to the midwife for how i acted😅

Dont be ashamed for how you act in labour and anything thats said in the labour room stays in the labour room.

There are two times which you will say you 'cant do this'. First is when active labour is established at 4cm and again at 10cm when you're fully dilated and ready to push. You can do it.

I had an elective Csec that I chose simply because that's what I wanted to do. I wasnt worried about the experience of natural labour and had no risk factors. I was very lucky that all elements were exactly what I wanted and needed from my experience and delivery. No complications and although the recovery was hard, I got through it with no issues.
I think there's no way around pain and discomfort but rather 2 different experiences with different recoveries. I would talk to your midwives about both options, they can refer you to a surgeon or consultant which can give you more details on both routes that are personal to you.
Congratulations on your pregnancy, I hope you have the delivery that you wish for!!

I've had a natural birth (with induction and episiotomy, no epidural) and an emergency c-section. So possibly a bad experience of both!

In the moment, obviously the section was not painful, while the natural birth was, however I'd pick the natural birth every time - the recovery was so much easier and breastfeeding was so much less painful and difficult. I found it so hard not to be able to go out for walks straight away with my second. I also took a while to reconcile myself to the scar (although its nearly invisible 2 years on), and the slowness and pain for weeks post section. I appreciate some friends with a planned section didn't feel as upset by it.

I've had friends say they'd prefer a section to avoid pain during birth, but for me this seems so counterproductive, I'd take the limited pain for a short duration over weeks and even months of recovery. And no one warned me how painful contractions would be while breastfeeding post section!!

All I can say is that its a personal choice, I found it helped to remember that you dont really have a choice, the baby needs to come somehow. Talk to your doctor and see what feels safest for you. And if you have a choice, have all the pain medication, there are no awards for suffering.

I've had a vaginal birth and an emergency C-section, both after inductions.

While the C-section recovery was far easier than I had anticipated, it was worlds harder than my vaginal birth. Worst I had to deal with after the vaginal birth was my pee stinging the stitches a bit. Needed painkillers exactly once. While I was OK on just ibuprofen and paracetamol after the C-section I needed a strict regimen (with alarms as reminders) to keep the pain under control, and was still sore for about 10-14 days. Then there were the recurrent wound infections that are all too common when you have a high BMI. It was also far easier to accidentally set recovery back after the C-section.

Personally it was important to me to at least try for a vaginal birth if I could. Whether emergency or elective I would only choose a C-section it were medically indicated and all other options had been exhausted.

You really can’t compare the 2 on which one is less or more painful, you can have a c section with great recovery or a c section with a rough recovery and vaginal birth where you are up and about the next day or be in hospital in pain for days after.

I personally am opting for an elective c with my second baby. I didn’t find recovery too bad.

Most people would say c section is painless during and a harder recovery after. There is pros and cons to both xx

The pain you experience from the section will all be afterwards. It can be quite intense depending on how things go, but because you aren't pregnant or in labour I would say it's a bit easier to manage as long as you have help with the baby. However, there's not the motivation of meeting the baby to get you through the pain.

I had two vaginal births, I don't have a c section to compare it too but I'd do them again.

The first was idyllic. My waters went at home around midnight, contractions started around 4 am, 3 in 10 60s long by 8 am. At 9 I was 2cm went home with some paracetamol. Spent about an hour bhat home and begged to go back. I was accepted in the midwife led unit and I was 10cm and ready to push pretty much as soon as I got into the pool and baby was born soon after. I needed 4 stitches for "cosmetic reasons" what ever that is supposed to mean. I had 2 paracetamol in labour and then has and air for delivery and a diclofenac before having the stitches. I didn't need any further painkillers. Up and mobile immediately.

Second was the best I could imagine given the circumstances. I was induced at 37 weeks due to my declining health - obstetric Cholestasis possibly developing HELLP and had severe and extreme fatigue. I had a sweep at 36+6 which started things going, induced the following evening. I slept through most of labour. Laboured well when on my feet things slowed when I lay down. Eventually got to the point I couldn't stand so the midwives manoeuvred the bed so I could lie down in a fair upright position. Baby went into distress towards the end but was born with the cord wrapped around his neck. I had 2 lots of paracetamol during the induction and gas and air through the labour and delivery. I only had a graze and didn't need any stitches, I was given two paracetamol and two Ibuprofen after birth and didn't need any further pain relief. I was up and mobile straight away. With this birth the plan was to see if my body only needed nudging into labour and I could labour quickly and within my acceptable energy levels with a low threshold for switching to c section. When baby first went into distress they did another exam and the midwife thought birth was imminent other wise I think we would have switched to c section. I couldn't have an epidural due to my health so it would have had to be with a spinal block or general anaesthetic

From talking to lots of mums, quick uncomplicated vaginal births are on par with nice relaxed uncomplicated c sections. Tricky but ok vaginal births and uncomplicated emergency c sections are on par with one another. Might not the ideal scenario but recovery time isn't too bad. Then you have difficult vaginal births with/without emergency c section after and c sections with complications and then you get the scary birth stories.