Is a C-section really that bad?

Kerry makes a good point about the fact that fear can impact our decisions, I must admit that I was terrified of giving birth, so much so that I had sever morning sickenss the first 17 weeks, after doing hypnobirthing I realized I could do it and the rest of my pregnancy went really well. the morning sickenss disappeared the monday after I finished the course

Laliek, I am glad you have a great Dr, who supports you, mine told me horror stories to try scare me into a C section and so I changed Dr's two days before my little girl arrived.

If you chat to Neffertitti , she can give you some stats in terms of natural birth, apparently only 5 % of births experience complications, so natural birth is really not as dangerous or as big a risk as some Dr's make out.

Either option has a level of pain involved , you just have to decide when you want the pain, during or after.

I am also a control freak and so I really would have prefered to know the time, date etc, but in the end it was wonderful that my daughter decided on her birth date and the element of surprize was great.

* Ladies please dont throw stones;) * but I do believe there is some benefit in babies coming when they are ready, everything is fully developed and there are certain reflexes etc which are switched on as baby moves through the birth cancal, that is why most C section babies are refered to a chiro after birth. Having said that though,plenty of C section babies are perfectly healthy as well

In the end there is no right or wrong choice but what sits well with you. either way you get your baby and thats what counts

Everyone I came across laughed at me when I said I was going to go natural and with no pain meds and flat out told me I couldnt do it.
In the end its a personal choice and dont let others tell you what you can or can't do, or judge you

good luck with the rest of the pregnancy

I had emergency C-Sec and it went great. had baby @ 1am so by that afternoon when the drip came off I could go take a shower by myself.
Took painkillers before I felt the pain so that they have time to "prevent" the pain

was mobile the following day and could do anything for myself by day 4 post-op.

Gynae adviced not to drive as that will disturb the internal wound.

After 2weeks I was allowed to do light-exercises. now my tummy is flat again (I didnt even use the tummy-belt ).

with next baby, I'll b going Vaginal-birth (just bcos Im tired of all these operations Ive had) but if for some reason I find out before going into labour that I will end up woth C-Sec then I will opt for elective C-Section.
it's unfair that Dr's charge ridiculously higher for emergency C-sec compared to elective one

If it helps I'm with Niki, if pain is steering you to considering the c-section (which i must admit closer to the end i was really second-guessing my VB choice) it really neednt be that way

I was getting antsy at about 40 weeks and my gynea was worried about my placenta deteriorating so we decided to rather induce

even though i was pretty much against induction i was all for it at the time

believe me by the time 40 weeks is there you are tired, uncomfortable and mostly anxios about everything going smoothly... the what ifs just get too much to bear.

So i went into the hospital the next day and they put the gels in at 6am... believe me the internal sonar os waaay worse compared to this... and contractions started within half an hour, by ten the pain was pretty much unbearable so they gave me a pethadine injection which is supposed to relax you... well it put me to sleep! Well i would suface feel a contraction from miles away breathe through it and then dose off... no extreme pain, no torture nothing. at 12:30 they wanted to see my contractions so they rolled me onto my back to put the belt for the machine around me and i woke up... they couldn't find the babys heartbeat so they went between the legs to see how far along i was. Next thing the nurse disappears, the head nurse walks in and pretty much carries me to the delivery room... in the 15 minutes they had been looking for baby she's been in the birth canal! I swear to you, no word of a lie two pushes and baby was out! she was born at 13:05 so yes maybe the labour was a little sore, but in less than 15 minutes who really cares? its over in no time and theres no recovery holdups. I didn't take not a single pain killer afterwards.. well i lie i took panado about a week later bcos breastfeeding was a little painful... but after that it was smooth sailing

Don't let the fear of the labour make your decision for you

also my gynea was happy to induce from week 38, just like a c-section, so if you want exact science or control over it, that too is possible

take time to make your decision, its a life-changing experience a little indecsion isn't life-threatening

ooh I wish this thread had been around when I was making my decision!

I had a planned c-section 3 weeks ago yesterday.

I had pain meds for day 1 (from lunch) until day 2 lunch time then just took some anti inflammatories. Day 2 having to go shower was painful. The lumbar was painful, the birth 20 mins and just 'uncomfortable' (I hadn't had a local before)

Apart from that - what a pleasure! No pain!!!! I stopped the pain meds cause it was gone. My scar is tiny (8 cm) I must say though I had a TOP guy who did it he really is utterly brilliant I do think that that makes a difference. The whole experience was so easy especially the after part. I could hold my baby but day 2 I was carrying him. I LOVED the planned nature of it. I would've preferred to go 'longer' (I had him at 39 weeks but I think it was more like 38 weeks and he was small 2.67kilos but it had to be done that day due to other factors)

As a result I beleive I've been able to be a relaxed and ahppy mom and our baby is SOOO CHILLED out and beautiful!

What else? I will do it again for sure and can't wait to have number 2 and 3!

For me - everything I heard was rubbish - the pain, not being able to hold baby, not being able to drive (I drove easily after 2 weeks) I was never bedridden my mom says I was like a person who had had no procedure at all. I think a good surgeon and a planned event are the 2 keys. And a positive attitude!

Btw a lot of what I 'heard' re motherhood was also rubbish especially the negative stories, it really has been amazingly WONDERFUL on all fronts and i have no complaints. Having an uncomplicated and relatively painless birth well Im sure that's helped too!

But of course - EVERYONE is different!
Cathm
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Thanks ladies, I really appreciate the honesty!

Reluctant mom - that's exactly the issue with me at this stage. I like planning ahead and being in control BUT also want what's best for baby.

As far as I could read and tie everything together, there are abviously risks in both natural and c-section, and like you girls said it has to be a decision that you feel comfortable with.

I think my mind started wondering off from natural birth when I went to see midwife and she explained I could have complications due to fibroid etc (although the fibroid appears to have disappeared now). But typical first time mom - it made me start to rethink everything!

I at least still have a while to decide and I do at this stage have both a wonderful midwife and an excellent gynae! And luckily my gynae also supports natural birth so I may just end up staying with him then at least I have the option when the time comes to choose elective c-section or natural birth!

Thanks ladies it really helps hearing from other people! The way I see it, it's going to be what I feel more comfortable with and let's face it - either way there's going to be pain, natural or c-section - no getting away from that

By reading the responses it seems like the elective c-sections are not as bad as the emergency (must) c-sections. The frame of mind must also play a huge roll.

My 2cents on the subject at hand... IT DEPENDS ON WOMAN TO WOMAN.

Some have it good, some have it bad... I had it terrible, up untill 13months after my c-sec. I think all of us experience pain in diff ways and that no two bodies are the same.

As for me, I did not have much of a choice, Emergency c-sec was what happened.. the catheter was also removed the next morning... the first two weeks were soooo eina, as I too spent the first month and a half after my c-sec in the ICU from 06h00am till 20h00pm every day - and had to take breaks inbetween - loo, outside, .. and it was painful yes, I will not lie about that.

I also had a case of the dreaded c-sec tissue growths - which caused me hell days up untill the 10th of Feb 2011.. my son was born 6 Jan 2010.

I think that your method of birth should 1: Depend on what at the time would be safest for you and baby.. if you have the go ahead for natural and that is what you choose, great, and the same the other way around.

Dont you think that everyone's bodies are different and some pain thresholds are higher than others?
x0x0x
Goodluck with the decision ..

mwah