I had an Unnecessary C-Section

[JaneSharon86]

HI Guys

I’m currently pregnant with my second baby and have been placed under consultant care due to have an emergency c-section with my first baby due to failure to progress (FTP).
The link to the story is here…. https://babyandbump.momtastic.com/b...rms-my-home-water-birth-turned-c-section.html

In short, my waters broke and contractions started. I was last checked after 39 hours of labour and told I was still only 3-4 cm, so after a two hour wait (the operating theatre was in constant use that night, so there was a wait) I had my c-section due to FTP.

It took me a long time to come to terms with my c-section. I know some women don’t care about how their babies come into the world, only that they are healthy etc (obviously) but for me I really wanted to experience the entire journey. To feel what it was like to reach down and pick up this child that I had grown and pushed out like millions of women before me. I had a home birth booked, which was taken away last minute, then a MLU birth planned, which finally ended in a hospital ward and ultimately a c-section. It couldn’t have been further from what I wanted and the feelings of failure that I experienced afterwards really floored me. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t my body do what it was designed to do? Etc etc.

(I don’t mean to offend anyone who’s had a c section, this is just how I felt about myself after mine.)

Anyways…

So whilst at my first consultant appointment I was asked if there was anything I would like to know about my first labour experience. I hesitated at first; I had thought in the past about booking an appointment to go through the notes as I’d heard this helps when you’ve been so traumatised by what happened to, but felt so emotional about the whole thing I never booked the appointment and tried to forget the whole upsetting experience. But she was there and I was there, so I eventually asked what the reason was that I didn’t progress past 4 cm even after all that time in labour and being on a Syntocin drip (ouch) for over 8 hours.

The consultant was understanding and lovely and spent a long time looking through my birthing notes only to say to me,

“But you did fully dilate?”

What?

And there, in black and white on the page in the green notes where the birth is described, it clearly says “Dilated: FULLY” at point of surgery.
Obviously my next question was, so can you tell me why I had a c section then please?

The consultant was completely honest and said that nowhere in the notes did it indicate a reason that she could find as to why the c section had gone ahead.

The reason I was taken for surgery was because at 8.30pm, I was checked and found to be 3-4cm. However, during the 2 hour delay between that point and my surgery, I had dilated to the full 10cm, which wasn’t discovered until I was on the operating table with a spinal block in my back, being prepped for surgery as I wasn’t checked when they came to collect me for the c section – if they had of checked me, I wouldn’t have been taken to theatre, but told to push. The consultant advised that at the point that they realised I was fully dilated, even in theatre, they should have told me to push. In the theatre, they could have used ventose, or forceps if I needed help, but all other options should have been tried before major surgery was resorted to.

The consultant suggested that it may have been that once the entire clinical team were in there ready to go, it would have been ‘difficult to change their mindset’ (her words). She could offer no other explanation and apologised for the upset it caused me.

I came out of that meeting in utter shock. All these negative feelings I’d harboured about my body etc and none of it was true?

I don’t really know what to do with information now. I know I could complain, but the surgeon wouldn’t remember me. I was one of more than 5 woman that night who ended up having a c section and it wouldn’t change anything anyway. What’s happened as happened.
I feel shook up. Happy and sad. I can get to 10cm, I have hope for this VBAC, but at the same time I spent weeks recovering in pain from something that was unnecessary.

Such a bizarre situation.

 

[BunnyN]

What a story, I can see how it must be a strange mixture of feelings for you. It really does seem like you were let down by the medical team. Maybe it would be worth to lodge some kind of official complaint for the sake of other mothers in your position in the future, if they have done it to you, they have probably done it to others. It is good for the hospital to be aware it is happening. On the other hand it is understandable if you just want to get on with planning for your next birth.

I hope you have a better experience this time.

 

[AerisandAlex]

I'm so sorry hun, I had a very similar experience with my c-section and I've always felt like the doctor pushed for it and it didn't need to be done...

Granted, I was much earlier, I was only 33 weeks along with my son when my water broke (and they were able to keep labor at bay for an additional 5 days before it started again full force) but I only dilated 3-4cm and my doctor did the same thing 'One hour and if it doesn't change we're doing a c-section' I about broke down and cried, I did not want one. I had a natural birth with my daughter and was in 12 hours of labor with her before I fully dilated, this time around I barely was granted 3 hours to try!

I argued with my doctors and with other doctors when I switched about the whole process, turns out I'm not the only one around here who felt that hospital rushed things (I didn't even get my OB to deliver my child, she couldn't do it because my son was so early so I had to be shipped off to a different hospital with a different doctor and I hated him, he was a total jerk to me along with the nurses!)

Although I still gripe about the whole experience to anyone who will listen, there was nothing I could do, no one I could punish, the standards and practices board basically said, he did what he 'felt' was necessary... although I do take a small bit of comfort knowing now that this year, that hospital's entire maternity ward and NICU were closed down and moved to a completely different hospital with new doctors and nurses.... at least no other woman will have to experience that... and I guess people are cracking down on the medical field against 'unnecessary c-sections' also... I've been fighting for a VBAC with our second son now, and although the doctors are worried about my old c-section scar, they are following my wishes so far.... although they keep saying because my son was so early the last time and he was so little that my scar might make uterus weak and they 'might' still have to do another c-section, I feel at least a little bit better about the new procedures of it being done, should it need to be done...


It is awful when you feel that the doctors didn't truly have your best interests at heart and I know there are plenty of ladies who want c-sections, but in reverse it'd be like the doctors telling them that they can't have c-sections, they 'have' to deliver naturally, it just doesn't seem fair

 

[JaneSharon86]

That you for your kind comment The consultant I saw is really high up, so I take comfort in knowing that she will be raising this with her colleagues and almost exactly the same as AerisandAlex, the maternity ward at my local hospital is shutting this year so I won’t be having baby 2 there.

It is a strange mixture of feelings. I didn’t know whether to smile or cry when I came out of the appointment. Initially I felt relieved that there was nothing wrong with my body and I was capable of dilating because I was focussed that day on baby 2 and the birth plans for that baby. But the more I thought about it, and the more horrid supressed memories that came back, the surgery, feeling out of control, the pain afterwards, having to inject myself for 7 days afterwards, feeling disconnected after 9 months of being in tune with everything, how hard I found it to bond with this little baby I had been handed…I got more and more upset about what I had had taken from me for no medical reason.

I’m trying to focus on the good aspects. I can dilate to 10cm. I know what to look out for this time with my body. For example, after they told me I was having a c section, they took the drip out and I was dilating naturally again. I kept feeling this almighty urge to push and told my husband such. He asked the midwife who told me not to push, that I wasn’t dilated and could hurt the baby. Well I obviously was fully dilated which is why I felt the need. I’ll be able to trust my body this time I guess.


AerisandAlex – thanks for sharing your story with me, sorry you had such a rubbish experience too. I really hope you get to try for VBAC too.
3 hours of labouring is nothing; did they give you a reason why there was such a rush to get baby out? I know they were premature, but if the baby wasn’t in distress?

I do think on the whole there is a crack down on the c section rates. When I went for my consultant appointment I was fully prepped with literature etc ready to fight my case for a VBAC and I didn’t even have to bother. The consultant straight away said to me, “Well I’m not booking you in for a section just because you’ve had one before. I want you to treat this pregnancy as if it was your first.” I could have hugged her.

On saying that, she’s not going to be there when I give birth; it’s the midwives and OBs on the day/night who end up influencing you the most, when you’re not really in the right state of mind to think about things.

For example, the consultant at my appointment said “oh I see you wanted an active stage 3 last time and didn’t get one. Well you will this time, we won’t have you strapped to a bed on a monitor.” All well and good, but that was in my birth plan last time and was ignored; every time I tried to sway or move with a contraction, I had a midwife rush in to tell me to stop moving as I was making the monitor lose the reading. This was on a baby who wasn’t in any way distressed; not even up to 41 hours of labour.

I spoke to the consultant about the risks of uterine rupture and she said it’s less than 1%. Increases to 1.5% or something if you’re overdue. I didn’t realise it was so slow; gives me more hope. Not sure whether this is different for you with your baby being premature?

 

[AerisandAlex]

That you for your kind comment The consultant I saw is really high up, so I take comfort in knowing that she will be raising this with her colleagues and almost exactly the same as AerisandAlex, the maternity ward at my local hospital is shutting this year so I won’t be having baby 2 there.

It is a strange mixture of feelings. I didn’t know whether to smile or cry when I came out of the appointment. Initially I felt relieved that there was nothing wrong with my body and I was capable of dilating because I was focussed that day on baby 2 and the birth plans for that baby. But the more I thought about it, and the more horrid supressed memories that came back, the surgery, feeling out of control, the pain afterwards, having to inject myself for 7 days afterwards, feeling disconnected after 9 months of being in tune with everything, how hard I found it to bond with this little baby I had been handed…I got more and more upset about what I had had taken from me for no medical reason.

I’m trying to focus on the good aspects. I can dilate to 10cm. I know what to look out for this time with my body. For example, after they told me I was having a c section, they took the drip out and I was dilating naturally again. I kept feeling this almighty urge to push and told my husband such. He asked the midwife who told me not to push, that I wasn’t dilated and could hurt the baby. Well I obviously was fully dilated which is why I felt the need. I’ll be able to trust my body this time I guess.


AerisandAlex – thanks for sharing your story with me, sorry you had such a rubbish experience too. I really hope you get to try for VBAC too.
3 hours of labouring is nothing; did they give you a reason why there was such a rush to get baby out? I know they were premature, but if the baby wasn’t in distress?

I do think on the whole there is a crack down on the c section rates. When I went for my consultant appointment I was fully prepped with literature etc ready to fight my case for a VBAC and I didn’t even have to bother. The consultant straight away said to me, “Well I’m not booking you in for a section just because you’ve had one before. I want you to treat this pregnancy as if it was your first.” I could have hugged her.

On saying that, she’s not going to be there when I give birth; it’s the midwives and OBs on the day/night who end up influencing you the most, when you’re not really in the right state of mind to think about things.

For example, the consultant at my appointment said “oh I see you wanted an active stage 3 last time and didn’t get one. Well you will this time, we won’t have you strapped to a bed on a monitor.” All well and good, but that was in my birth plan last time and was ignored; every time I tried to sway or move with a contraction, I had a midwife rush in to tell me to stop moving as I was making the monitor lose the reading. This was on a baby who wasn’t in any way distressed; not even up to 41 hours of labour.

I spoke to the consultant about the risks of uterine rupture and she said it’s less than 1%. Increases to 1.5% or something if you’re overdue. I didn’t realise it was so slow; gives me more hope. Not sure whether this is different for you with your baby being premature?

Thanks and no there was no distress at all... honestly I think the doctor didn't like me or OH... since the moment we got there we got mixed answers from everyone about every 'thing' literally. It frustrated me, OH, and my parents and they were especially rude towards my mother who has a masters in nursing. She wasn't trying to get in their business, they just didn't like that she was asking all the 'right' questions.

But anyway, the way my OB explained it to me was although the rupture risk is still minimal, it's still higher then normal because my son was so early and so little. They said my uterus was no where near fully extended, so although my scar on my skin is low, the one on my uterus will continue to rise as our son grows and eventually will be much higher unless this little one turns out to be as tiny as my first son, but that doesn't look to be happening. lol He's already measuring ahead by 2 weeks and is super strong it feels like!

The c-section though isn't set in stone though, I have a few more appts and ultrasounds I have to go through before the doctors can fully change my mind and convince me that it's completely necessary


I'm so glad your doctors are working with you 100% this time around and are looking to grant your new little one the birth you want That's always amazing news. It's good to hear they're working on correcting their issues with the hospital too. I know I was scared about delivering back at the other hospital again, I demanded right at the beginning that they set me up with another one if this little one wanted to come early like my first son, I did not want to go back to that horror again.

 

[JaneSharon86]

What a horrible experience you had; so sorry.

I guess that makes sense about your increased risk of rupture.

Good for you holding out! I hope you get the birth you want, and most importantly get to make an informed decision. Thats the most important thing; the worst is feeling like there should have been a choice there and it wasn't offered.

Are you in the UK? Why is the maternity unit shutting at the hospital?

 

[AerisandAlex]

I'm actually in the US in Pennsylvania. They didn't really give a 'reason' as to why they were shutting down the ward at the hospital, but after speaking with other people who all went through similar experiences I can imagine it is partially due to their reputation... Honestly I think the whole hospital is terrible... I had another friend who's father was hospitalized with a terminal illness in the same hospital, just a different floor and he had expressed to me that the nurses and doctors there treated him and his family and his father the same way the doctors and nurses treated me and my family in the maternity ward... The town the hospital is located in isn't a very good town, very crime high, low class, just a place you don't want to be when the sun goes down or even before that if you can help it The only reason we were transferred to that hospital in the first place was because it was closest one to my hospital with a NICU at the time... but it was located in Ohio, which I didn't like because now my son has a birth certificate in a different state and for legal purposes, it's so hard to deal with things for my son because of that...

Should we deliver early again, we'll be transferred to Pittsburgh Magee Women's center, which is an hour from me but still in the same state and if I had a choice then with my first son, I'd of rather gone there to deliver my son as they are the best of the best around here... Instead we got sent to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Youngstown... which my hospital, Sharon Regional, promised me was a good hospital... I had no idea at the time, I'd never been there before, but needless to say my experience there has shown me that I should fight for what I want rather then trust the insights of other doctors and nurses

 

[misspriss]

AerisandAlex,

My son was born around 33 weeks also, 33 w 5 days actually. I was induced but never progressed and ended up with a C/S.

My doctor has not mentioned anything about my scar being different because my uterus was not fully extended. The first thing he said when he came to see me in recovery was "You should be a good candidate for VBAC if you have more children". I hope he doesn't change his tune when I am pregnant again!

JaneSharon86, I know how you feel, only a little bit though. I have held on to every little reason, everything that went wrong, everything we could have done differently. I had a really bad nurse when they started my induction, she screwed up my IV and was generally rude and condescending. The only bad nurse I had. The doctor ordered intermittent monitoring for me, which means I could get up and walk around and help labor if I wanted. The nurse said "No, I'll do continuous" which was just easier for her so she didn't have to hook me up every couple of hours. I keep thinking if I had said "No, the doctor said intermittent!" and stood up to her, things might have been different. My baby had no distress at all over the 36 hours of labor, so I saw no reason to monitor so much when they hadn't even started the pitocin yet.

But it's done. The doctor said I would be a good VBAC candidate next time. I will get over it, eventually...the anger and pain and disappointment have faded considerably. I used to break down and cry every time I thought about it. Now I just kind of scowl a little bit and go on with life...

 

[JaneSharon86]

AerisandAlex,


JaneSharon86, I know how you feel, only a little bit though. I have held on to every little reason, everything that went wrong, everything we could have done differently. I had a really bad nurse when they started my induction, she screwed up my IV and was generally rude and condescending. The only bad nurse I had. The doctor ordered intermittent monitoring for me, which means I could get up and walk around and help labor if I wanted. The nurse said "No, I'll do continuous" which was just easier for her so she didn't have to hook me up every couple of hours. I keep thinking if I had said "No, the doctor said intermittent!" and stood up to her, things might have been different. My baby had no distress at all over the 36 hours of labor, so I saw no reason to monitor so much when they hadn't even started the pitocin yet.

But it's done. The doctor said I would be a good VBAC candidate next time. I will get over it, eventually...the anger and pain and disappointment have faded considerably. I used to break down and cry every time I thought about it. Now I just kind of scowl a little bit and go on with life...

I'm the same. I used to feel so bad about the whole thing. If I knew someone who had had a baby, the first thing I would be interested in was their labour story. Rooting out to see if they experienced any of what I'd gone through; which is really sad.

Now I just feel peed off about the whole thing and hope that this birth, whether VBAC or second section will help heal some of that experience. Especially as like you say, we've disected our first experiences so much, we know exactly what we should have said at each point. I had the problem with the bed monitoring too, and I now know that I should have asked to be checked for further dilation when I had those strong urges to push. I guess we're more informed this time and wont be so passive in our birthing experience.

 

[misspriss]

AerisandAlex,


JaneSharon86, I know how you feel, only a little bit though. I have held on to every little reason, everything that went wrong, everything we could have done differently. I had a really bad nurse when they started my induction, she screwed up my IV and was generally rude and condescending. The only bad nurse I had. The doctor ordered intermittent monitoring for me, which means I could get up and walk around and help labor if I wanted. The nurse said "No, I'll do continuous" which was just easier for her so she didn't have to hook me up every couple of hours. I keep thinking if I had said "No, the doctor said intermittent!" and stood up to her, things might have been different. My baby had no distress at all over the 36 hours of labor, so I saw no reason to monitor so much when they hadn't even started the pitocin yet.

But it's done. The doctor said I would be a good VBAC candidate next time. I will get over it, eventually...the anger and pain and disappointment have faded considerably. I used to break down and cry every time I thought about it. Now I just kind of scowl a little bit and go on with life...

I'm the same. I used to feel so bad about the whole thing. If I knew someone who had had a baby, the first thing I would be interested in was their labour story. Rooting out to see if they experienced any of what I'd gone through; which is really sad.

Now I just feel peed off about the whole thing and hope that this birth, whether VBAC or second section will help heal some of that experience. Especially as like you say, we've disected our first experiences so much, we know exactly what we should have said at each point. I had the problem with the bed monitoring too, and I now know that I should have asked to be checked for further dilation when I had those strong urges to push. I guess we're more informed this time and wont be so passive in our birthing experience.

Yeah. I was scared. I had this whole big plan about natural birth, I was planning a homebirth, but I had thought of what happened if I ended up in the hospital. All that just flew out the window with the pre-eclampsia and the early induction, I didn't know to plan for that. I'll know better next time!

And the thing is, I don't honestly think the difference in the monitoring would have made that much of a difference. I mean when they hook you up to pitocin AND a powerful muscle relaxant, do they think it will work? When I was hooked up to those, they needed to monitor continuous, so I couldn't have moved anyway. That was when I needed to move. But oh well. Can't know now.

 

[JaneSharon86]

I think that as long as the baby isnt showing signs of distress, why distress the mother by strapping her to a bed which goes against all of her instincts?!

I feel like a warrier going into battle this birth!