Opinions on elective sections (long post)

[HLx]

With my son I had a placenta issue after the birth which caused me to almost hemorrhage and had an infection, it was grim, very painful, very scary and I lost a lot of blood, I had to stay In hospital for ages because of this but over all the birth was brilliant, induced and only 2 hours long.

Because of this I'm weighing up my options of a planned section, I don't want to do it as it stands because I love the whole giving birth, but its definitely an option, and depending on what advice I get from my consultant I'm open to opinions.

What was the process like? Compare it to a vaginal delivery (I've had 2), the recovery time, does a spinal actually hurt? (Lots of horror stories heard) did you prefer to have a sore stomach or a sore vaginal after birth (sorry! I want to know).

I've had people who says their elective sections was amazing. I've had people say their sections was the worst experience they've ever had, not so much the experience in general, but the amount of pain and that they would prefer a vaginal delivery over that any day.

I love giving birth naturally, I'm one of the strange people that can admit this, the contractions I enjoy, the gas and air I LOVE and would miss this if I had a section (can you get it on prescription at home? I'm serious haha) the only thing that puts me off the whole vaginal birth experience is the actual pushing the burning the stinging and the fact I've needed stitches twice so my personal recovery time for a vaginal birth has been not so nice. Peeing is a task in itself, too scared to go for a poo just incase your stitches RIP open....

Sorry about the long post but I really want others opinions on the other side of the birthing spectrum that I've never experienced before 'just incase' it turns out to be my best option.

Thanks for reading!

♡

 

[3boys]

Don’t have advice on the section. Just wanted to say that because of a placenta issue I hemorraghed really badly and lost a lot of blood it was the most terrifying experience of my life and the midwives told me if the doc hadn’t been on the ward I would of died. Anyway my point is I’ve had 4 births since with no issues so it doesn’t automatically mean you will bleed badly again. I hope you get the birth you want x

 

[HLx]

Don’t have advice on the section. Just wanted to say that because of a placenta issue I hemorraghed really badly and lost a lot of blood it was the most terrifying experience of my life and the midwives told me if the doc hadn’t been on the ward I would of died. Anyway my point is I’ve had 4 births since with no issues so it doesn’t automatically mean you will bleed badly again. I hope you get the birth you want x

Sorry to hear that hun! It's awful, I can't remember if I did hemorrhage or almost hemmoraged, I was completely out of it I just remember the room filled with doctors and I was sort of losing consciousness here and there. My midwife brought it up and said about speaking to a consultant about it, and the only few people I know has had similar issues ended up with sections, don't know if they was planned or not. This didn't happen with my daughter, only my son and I'm not worried in the slightest really, I just think to myself why would I need to see a consultant about it when the chances of it happening again is 50/50. I just feel like I'm being fussed over for no reason lol!

 

[NDH]

As another person who loves giving birth I will share a bit about my cesarean experience with you (look for my twin freebirth turned cesarean story in birth story section if you want more details).

It wasn't I wanted, but it also wasn't as terrible as I was dreading either. I would 100% never elect for one, but that doesn't mean I don't believe it's a valid choice, and they can still be positive experiences.

Despite trying really hard to imprint the details in my memory, the drugs have really made a lot of parts fuzzy. I hate that I can't recall their birth with as much detail as my other babies.
The oxytocin rush was absent. Or at least very reduced. I was still excited to meet them, and was able to bond etc, but as someone who really loves that "birth high", it was a sad thing to miss out on.
Not being able to get out of bed to pee (or needing to, since I had a catheter for 24h) on my own was hard. The first 4 days was the hardest, but even after the first week when I didn't need any painkillers any more, I was still in a lot of discomfort for a couple more weeks. And it was a few months before I could recline with my knees up and have my babies sit on me without pain, which is a way I love interacting with my babies. I always nurse sidelying and cosleep, and another thing I had never considered is that that position would put their feet right inline with my incision, so there were lots of tears shed in the first few months feeding sessions as they kneeded at my scar with their toes.

On day 3/4 when the hormone dump release happens that manifests as baby blues, I definitely had a huge pity party for myself, but for women everywhere who have been coerced or deceived into having cesareans and a generation who has come to accept them as a normal way to birth. It struck me as a type of violence towards women.

Not that it can't/shouldnt be celebrated, and not that anyone should feel like a failure if they needed/elected a cesarean for any reason. But as someone who as experienced birth the way I believe women were designed to experience it, it just feels a bit like having brisket passed off as filet Mignon. There's nothing wrong with brisket, but if you're expecting filet Mignon it's a huge let down.

Im struggling to find a way to word what I want to say. I think I will leave it at that though. It's the best analogy right now that I can think of. Expanding on it will turn into a big long essay neither of us is prepared for lol.
But in short, they're not the same thing and can hardly be compared to eachother and I think it's a disservice to women to try.

I say this without any judgement towards those who have chosen cesareans, or who have had a different experience to my own. This is just my own view.

And in many ways I feel like an oddity - I don't fit into the groups for women who have planned a homebirth and had a cesarean - I don't feel traumatized by it, I don't feel like a failure. But while I do see it as a valid choice that no one *should* feel judged over choosing, I also feel that - IDK, considering them to be equal cheapens birth the way it was meant to be somehow (but I also think that of hospital birth in general too lol)

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

I have placenta problems every time I get pregnant.
DS- placenta abruption 36wks csection
Dd1- lost her twin due to placenta issues and then had placenta previa. 36wks csection (due to failure to progress though)
Dd2- hole in her placenta 40wks induces VBA2C
This baby- I dont know yet but I hope NO issues!!

My point is, you need a good dr who you trust and can monitor your placenta closely. They CAN help you!

 

[HLx]

Thanks to everyone taking the time to comment! My consultant is more than happy to carry on as normal, my placenta so far is looking good (it was with my son until it went tits up during the birth) she advised me that either way of giving birth, someone will be on stand by just incase.

Which obviously has completely changed my mind on a elective section, knowing I'll have support just in case. Same as last time, just not a room flooding with doctors while I'm bleeding to death on the bed lol! It gives me a bit of hope that things will be okay this time, but I'm still gonna get checked every 6 weeks.

I will attempt to give birth naturally for the 3rd time, hoping things will go smooth and I'll more than likely opt for an epidural rather than a section, just incase it does go wrong again they can get to work while I dont feel much, last time was absolutely excruciating I'm not going to lie, the birth was fine hurt as much as giving birth does, but trying to get the placenta out while it's in a million pieces, bleeding immensely and I just tore was not something I look forward to during child birth again I'm afraid. I'd rather have an epidural nice and early, for the 'just incase ' and obviously it's not guaranteed, I have quick labours so I might just have to wing it, as I did before!

 

[HLx]

As another person who loves giving birth I will share a bit about my cesarean experience with you (look for my twin freebirth turned cesarean story in birth story section if you want more details).

It wasn't I wanted, but it also wasn't as terrible as I was dreading either. I would 100% never elect for one, but that doesn't mean I don't believe it's a valid choice, and they can still be positive experiences.

Despite trying really hard to imprint the details in my memory, the drugs have really made a lot of parts fuzzy. I hate that I can't recall their birth with as much detail as my other babies.
The oxytocin rush was absent. Or at least very reduced. I was still excited to meet them, and was able to bond etc, but as someone who really loves that "birth high", it was a sad thing to miss out on.
Not being able to get out of bed to pee (or needing to, since I had a catheter for 24h) on my own was hard. The first 4 days was the hardest, but even after the first week when I didn't need any painkillers any more, I was still in a lot of discomfort for a couple more weeks. And it was a few months before I could recline with my knees up and have my babies sit on me without pain, which is a way I love interacting with my babies. I always nurse sidelying and cosleep, and another thing I had never considered is that that position would put their feet right inline with my incision, so there were lots of tears shed in the first few months feeding sessions as they kneeded at my scar with their toes.

On day 3/4 when the hormone dump release happens that manifests as baby blues, I definitely had a huge pity party for myself, but for women everywhere who have been coerced or deceived into having cesareans and a generation who has come to accept them as a normal way to birth. It struck me as a type of violence towards women.

Not that it can't/shouldnt be celebrated, and not that anyone should feel like a failure if they needed/elected a cesarean for any reason. But as someone who as experienced birth the way I believe women were designed to experience it, it just feels a bit like having brisket passed off as filet Mignon. There's nothing wrong with brisket, but if you're expecting filet Mignon it's a huge let down.

Im struggling to find a way to word what I want to say. I think I will leave it at that though. It's the best analogy right now that I can think of. Expanding on it will turn into a big long essay neither of us is prepared for lol.
But in short, they're not the same thing and can hardly be compared to eachother and I think it's a disservice to women to try.

I say this without any judgement towards those who have chosen cesareans, or who have had a different experience to my own. This is just my own view.

And in many ways I feel like an oddity - I don't fit into the groups for women who have planned a homebirth and had a cesarean - I don't feel traumatized by it, I don't feel like a failure. But while I do see it as a valid choice that no one *should* feel judged over choosing, I also feel that - IDK, considering them to be equal cheapens birth the way it was meant to be somehow (but I also think that of hospital birth in general too lol)

Thank you for the long post! Really grateful you sharing your thoughts and feelings! I on the other hand dont think that about sections at all, I love giving birth, but as long as baby gets out safely and I dont almost bleed to death again, I dont mind. The whole giving birth naturally is an experience like no other, but I'm sure sections have their fair share of good points too! Like not having your lady parts stitched up, stinging every time you sit or go for a wee lol I dont think most women are made to feel like it's the right way to give birth, it's down to either personal choice, or no choice at all, but I guess same as I said, as long as baby is here safely, it shouldn't matter how they arrive. I think if the choice is there, choose whatever is best for you! My close friend has had 3 elective sections, and that's her normal, she loves it and it doesn't bother her that people day she's 'too posh to push' as I've jokingly said to her also but she couldn't stand the thought of a vaginal birth!

We all have our own ideas of our perfect birth, sometimes it's a section, sometimes it's natural, sometimes it's natural with lots of drugs or sometimes it's general anaesthetic. For me writing this post when I did, I had to consider this might be my best option depending on the issues that may come about same as my previous pregnancy. But I've been reassured that whatever I choose I'll have a team waiting just incase, so as it stands right now, section is out of the window, and a vaginal birth with epidural is more likely