C-section Births Hit 42% in England

16 comments

1. Yeah. Everyone has cesareans here in Asia. Out the sunroof, bush bash bosh.

   No nasty perineal tearing, incontinence, risk.
   Sometimes I wish I’d elected for one. Especially when skipping at the gym.

2. 1987, who remembers that quote from Trains Planes and Automobiles…

   Owen: “She don’t mind. She’s short and skinny, but she’s strong. Her first baby – come out sideways. She didn’t scream or nothin”

3. I have not had children yet but plan to. I would only opt for a c-section if it was necessary – people think they’re simple and easy, but it’s an major surgery that takes longer to recover from than vaginal birth.

4. My baby was breech at 37 weeks, and I opted for an ECV to turn her. It was done successfully, and I’m glad. If I cut my finger, I bitch and moan about the inconvenience forever…a significant wound in an area where i cant bend or move comfortably for a while like that…I cant even imagine. Of course, I would do it if it was absolutely necessary, but in my case, it wasnt.

5. Ive had one baby each way, and would choose elective c section every day of the week. Two days of contractions, several hours pushing, episiotomy and forceps and more pain than I could have imagined versus a scheduled 40 minute procedure with excellent pain management.

   Each to their own but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it

6. Predictable comments. “You didn’t give birth unless it was vaginal” ,just another stick to beat women with.

7. I’ve had both. Doing it the natural way, the way that has killed countless women over the centuries, left me permanently injured. Using modern medicine left me with a small scar. Would not be a hard choice if I were to do it again!

8. I never intend to have a “natural” birthing experience. I’m glad, as women, we have the right to choose to have an elective c-section.

9. But the main alternative is to force a baby out as quick as you can like a production line as the midwives are overstretched.

   This forcing it as soon as you have a contraction starts a clock and once it’s been a set amount of hours in ‘active labour ‘ your told it’s taking to long and should consider a c section.

   It takes time for your body to be fully ready to ‘push’ and when you are it’s difficult to stop.

   Midwives should just be there for emergencies really as most can just deliver naturally, just needs time and relaxation, and maybe some drugs thrown in of you like.
   But it’s not the current guidelines they work to and it’s no wonder people struggle to deliver naturally.

10. 3 c-sections, one crash under a general due to the baby getting distressed, one by choice, 3rd no choice, as it was my 3rd in 3 days, but would have chosen a section.

    It seems that I would have been able to give birth naturally due to a discovery during another medical procedure.

11. Baby girl was 13 days late. My body refused to push my daughter out. As in I was getting really bad contractions but no urge to push. Shewent into distress and I started going in and out of consciousness.

    At the end the doctor said in the nicest way possible that if we didn’t do a c section they couldn’t guarantee myself or my daughter would survive.

    If I have another I will be asking for a c section.

12. Loved my c-section. Pain free, stress free, organised, well looked after… I was out of hospital after one night and walking miles with the pram a few days later. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I wanted another kid.

    I think it’s very important women are allowed to choose how they give birth. I have too many friends with birth injuries from tearing that took months to heal, or who don’t work out now because of incontinence, or who are flat out traumatised because of the way their births went.

    My friendship group is a 50/50 of friends who had not standard birth and friends who had something awful happen. I’m not rolling that dice.

13. Interesting statistic

    Recently ISH the powers that be said we should stop trying to limit CS rates as they are almost inversely proportional to perinatal morbidity/mortality rates when pushed down to like 10% which once upon a time was a target.

    It’s also become completely normal to request a CS and have that request granted.

    Seen quite a lot of people in this thread mention their own or friends issues with incontinence and other complications and some specific mention of forceps in particular as a known menace. I think one thing to say is get to see a specialist, there’s lots that can be done to help with these problems, don’t just put up with them.

    Re: forceps/vacuum

    Practice varies, training often shapes how we practice. I have a lot of confidence with vacuum delivery in the right circumstances but have seen it fail far more than with forceps, and it generally can cause more injuries to the baby particularly retinal and cerebral haemorrhage. Therefore I have ended up as someone who probably prefers forceps in most scenarios. I audit my complication rates and they are comparable to quoted national averages which is fine (roughly 6% 3rd degree tear rate, 2% infected episiotomy needing antibiotics), it’s much harder to get info on things like continence and I’d like to do that.

    Poorly applied or generally poorly used forceps will also always be higher risk for injury to mum and baby. Sometimes when everything is done correctly there are still complications.

    I’m a resident doctor training in obstetrics and gynaecology and I do lots of all types of delivery. I get to only get involved if needed

    I don’t always agree with strict guidelines on how fast labour should be but if there are signs and indicators that something isn’t going right then we should act on that, delaying intervention can also lead to complications like fistulas and lasting pelvic floor damage.

    Where I work currently does have a more relaxed attitude towards how labour should go, there isn’t the “production line” mentality that definitely exists in some units. Not too surprisingly it is also one of the safest units in the region.

    All of this is meant to be replies to various comments ive seen through the post. Happy to have discussion about things if interested but not personal medical advice.

14. My baby was breech the entire pregnancy – up until the day of the planned C-section anyway. Still went ahead with it. Having had a vaginal birth which lasted 2 days, I was more than happy to go c-section. I was walking happily around Ikea on day 3!

15. I had 3 emergency c sections. The last two were elective but both babies came before the scheduled date so they were classed as emergencies. I’ve had someone shame me for that. I’m alive, my kids are alive and that’s all that matters. 21 hours of labour with my first to only be 1cm dilated. The pain was horrific. I really feel for women who go through labour. It was an absolutely terrible time thinking about it makes me want to cry. Plus having to listen to all the other women in immense pain. I don’t think women should be judged for choosing to have a c section. Why are some people so concerned with what other women choose to do with their bodies?

16. A great change in innate immunity of the new born and skin microbiome where birth is a C-section.

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