elective c-section after emergency c-section

[tammac77]

Hi,

Trying to decide between an elective c-section or a vbac. Have been determined to have a vbac since before getting pregnant with number two, but now I am having doubts.

I had a ct pelvimetry done which showed I have a "relatively" straight sacrum, my gp thinks this shouldn't be a problem, though my first baby was 9 lbs 2oz. My sister just had an emergency c-section, and her obstetrician told her subsequent babies would have to be c-section because she also has a straight sacrum. Now I am scared!!

Would rather a vbac than c-section, but would also rather elective rather than emergency c-section. I don't want to go through that again and I'm afraid the vbac will fail and along with the physical pain I will feel disappointed and angry that my body has let me down again.

Does an elective involve less stress and pain than emergency? Would like to hear people's experiences and why they made their choice.

Thanks.

Tamara

[becstar]

Tamara

Your fears sound exactly the same as mine were !! I have a 3 year old who was born via emergency c-section from which I had a really really bad recovery. I was terrified of having a ceaser again due to the bad recovery but I most definatley did not want to go through an emergency ceaser again. After talking with my OB he recommended an elective ceaser (from my last experience he thought it was likely I would end with an emergency again which I DID NOT WANT). Anyway, I can tell you that an elective ceaser was much much much much easier and better than an emergency one. I had the ceaserean 19 days ago and I am feeling really good. I was out of bed the next day, showered and walking around the hospital. Last time I couldn't walk for 3 days. I still have some pain now, but it is just soooooooooooooo much better. I was really terrified going into surgery that I would have a bad recovery again but its been a totally different experience. I would do it again!!

I too considered VBAC but I had gestational diabetes and my doctor wouldn't let me go past 38 weeks. Which meant that I had to choose to be induced or have an elective. I was induced last time which is what lead to all the problems....it was horrible! I didnt want that again. So as terrified as I was, I chose the elective. Turns out it was the best decision for me, I am really happy with everything.
Good luck

Bec

[tammac77]

hi Bec,

Thanks for your reply. :p I actually didn't have a bad recovery from my emergency c-section - sorry to hear yours was so terrible!

I was up and about late the following day and didn't get any sign of infection. I was tender and sore for a couple of weeks but not what I'd call serious pain. The physical pain isn't my biggest fear, it is actually the fear of failing again. I know it sounds silly, but after my son was born I felt like there was something wrong with me, that I should have been able to do something which is such a natural thing. Also I couldn't breastfeed - whether from the stress or an actual medical reason, I never got any milk. I felt like a total failure as a woman.:gloomy:

I keep thinking of the expression "better to have tried and failed ..." but I'm not so sure. At least with a c-section I know what to expect and it will be my choice of birth if it is elective. My hospital said their success rate is 6 out of 10, which doesn't encourage me either. And if I know I am having one, I can prepare for it and be more relaxed about it.

Then again, the temptation to have a vbac is strong. If I knew it would be successful there would be no question. I really want to feel that sense of success and achievement.

Oh well, baby isn't due until April. Guess I have time to think about it!!

Tamara

[Mrs Potts]

I had a failed induction followed by emergency c/s with DS. My recovery was good.

For similar reasons to you I chose an elective this time around. It was a breeze. The whole event was stress free, recovery was even quicker and better than the first time. DD also latched on and breastfed straight away, which DS never did. (she didn't keep it up but that's a different story).

[borntobemummy]

An elective c/s would be a lot easier than an emergency c/s. It depends how much you want/need to experience a VBAC and how many children you want to have. For me, the decision is simple, I felt robbed of my natural birth experience and desperately want to give bith via VBAC. Aslo, we want lot's of kids, something that is not condusive to repeat c/s, so we have to choose VBAC, God-willing all goes to plan. But if I knew I only wanted up to four kids, I would be seriously considering an elective, you have many more choices and options such as BFing straight away and having the baby stay with you the whole time, knowing your due date, and aparantly recovery is less complicated. HTH:)

[becca74]

To me it appears that there is no reason why you shouldnt go for vbac, if this is what your heart wants. I was told my pelvis couldnt fit babies during my 2nd surgery (yep, said whilst the surgeon was looking into the gaping hole he'd just cut into me, to extract my baby), but that turned out to be a crock, as I pushed a bigger bubs out (9lb 8oz) without a stitch in June this year.

Pelvimitry is also a crock, i'm sorry to say, because your pelvis and sacrum are not ridgid, and will have changed greatly, even during labour. This is due to the hormone 'relaxin'. It is like putting oil on the squeaky joints of a gate....ie, it will make your pelvis swing open really wide :thumbsup:

If you really want a vbac look into active birth positions which will optimise your pelvic opening to the max. squatting and all4s are the best for this.

If, however, there is something seriously wrong, and you are one of the extremely rare 1% or so of women who do have a problem with their pelvis, then i would reccomend checking out www.birthrites.org and scrolling down to their link about planning a positive c/section.

There is no reason, after careful planning, why you shouldnt end up with a beautiful birth experience this time round! :hugs:

[Mamaduke]

Does an elective involve less stress and pain than emergency? Would like to hear people's experiences and why they made their choice.

I had an 'elective' after my emergency c/section.
Beforehand I was still a little anxious (afterall, it is major abdominal surgery), but the fact that there was no emergency, panic &/or rushing made the elective less stressful overall.
During the c/section it was realised (by my screams of pain) that the spinal block hadn't worked properly so I was put under a general, I then got a spinal headache for my troubles and had to go back to theatre and have a blood patch done...definately stressful and not pleasant!!!

[tammac77]

thanks for the responses everyone! :thumbsup:

I am swinging back towards a vbac now - I think I will just let nature take its course and see what happens. I guess first time round there was absolutely no preparation or expectation of a c-section so that made it hard. This time at least I know that there is a chance (probably about a 40% chance) that I will end up with another caesar.

Just don't think I can let go of the chance for a vaginal birth, I want to know what that is like. I think I will just mentally prepare by telling myself the vbac may not be successful, but that I will give it a go. But like I said in an earlier post, I still have 4 months - my feelings about it could change again!! Although how much notice do you have to give the hospital? I am going public but the dr said it is up to me and I could change my mind any time. Hmmm. Should find out, just in case!

Thanks again for the responses.:wave:

[vespertine]

If you hadn't had previous surgery, would you attempt a VB then? Of course you would! :) So don't let your previous c-sec affect your decision for this birth. Don't let your surgery rule your life. Each birth is unique, and don't you think this one deserves a chance to develop it's own outcome? Rather than an elective c-sec, in which your bub is taken out prematurely (any time before labour occurs naturally is premature) and just making a huge, sweeping assumption that you wouldn't be able to birth. Would you rather never know... or at least give it a go? You're a healthy woman, you just need to have faith in your body. You'll birth your baby beautifully...s/he will travel through the vagina perfectly, you will experience that amazing rush of oxytocin, bub will pick up all those immune-building organisms through birth and you'll be able to hold your naked bub against your chest and breastfeed immediately... ahh bliss!

IMO, you owe it to both yourself and your bub to go for a normal, healthy birth, rather than just expect failure. I know your previous surgery must have been traumatic, but it's important for you to let go of your attachment to that trauma, and embrace this birth as a new day.

Will you be birthing at home? Many women I know have gone on to have beautiful homebirths after caesars, as they're away from monitoring, hospital policy and all those regulations and doubts that get placed on VBAC women. As if you have some kind of disease! At home, you can have a careprovider experienced in VBACs who will trust in your body, and will patiently wait for your baby to travel earthside in it's own sweet time, rather than stick you on a timeline and hook you up to monitoring. Just PM me if you'd like some great HBAC stories, or if you'd like the link to a wonderful website I know which supports women seeking homebirth in Australia. Hugs to you as you embark on this awesome VBAC journey!

[lilpearl]

Hi. If there is a completely legit reason for needing a caesarean, then that is one thing. (And even if you just truly want a caesarean, then that is one thing). However, if you want a VBAC, as far as you've stated, there is no medical reason for a repeat caesarean to be a better choice than a VBAC. VBAC is safer in most cases, that's for sure. Becca74 is completely right about your pelvis.....it is very rare for a womans pelvis to not accommodate the size of her baby. Most babies who are "stuck" are so because their head is tilted, not because they are too big for the mother - this is unlikely to happen in a subsequent labour. Your pelvis moves a lot during labour, and if you use certain positions, you can widen it by a further 30% or so! No procedure before birth can determine the actual space your pelvis can make during birth itself - you just have to let nature take it's course and see. If you go for a VBAC, provided you gain the right support (preferably MIDwifery care), then your chances of having a vaginal birth are very high. I'm planing a homebirth this time, as I had a straight-forward VBAC with my second baby in a birth centre, and thrid time around, in a different place (Melb instead of Syd), I'm finding the birth politics rather disgusting and simply know that I wont get the right support for me in the hospital system. You need people on board who share your birth philosophy and who believe in your ability...if you have someone over your shoulder frowning while your in labour, you'll probably end up with an emergency c-section - imagine how bad the vibes in the room would be! The most important aspects to consider when choosing your birth situation is "what environment will I feel comfortable in?" and "who will I feel comfortable to allow to be present?". This is your birth, so you need to plan it accordingly. I wish you all luck and a wonderful birthing experience!

[comeinspinner]

Hi all,
I have 2 children. My son is 22 months old and Daughter nearly 4 months.
I had an emergency Caesaean with my son.
I was worried about going VBAC for the birth of my daughter, due to risk of Uterine Rupture, but VBAC wasn' the only thing i was worried about. Now I'm not trying to scare anyone, but please bear in mind the closeness of pregnancies after caesareans.
Here is my Story:
I fell pregnant with my daughter when my son was 9 months old.
The hosptial i went to kept pushing me the whole pregnancy to go VBAC, but i was against it. I had a bad feeling something would go wrong and after the traumatic birth of my son, i wasn't going to put this 2nd baby through the distress of a rupture, not to mention, i wanted to be awake for this one.
During my antenatal visits i was given all the information on caesareans and the stats on ruptures. This was all good, but what the information failed to tell me was that the longer you leave it between pregnancies after caesareans the less chance you have of rupturing too. I checked out a UK site which gave me information on this. The longer you leave it, the stronger your scar gets. This also helped me in my decision to go for a 2nd c-section. 9 months of healing on a major incision is not all that long and I was right.
I had an elective c-section and when they were sewing me up the surgeon told me if i had gone an extra week or gone through natural labour i would have ruptured. Thank god I made the right decision. I had a gut feeling and i went for it.
This may not be the case for everyone, so check it out with your Obstetrician before hand.
As for the experience of being awake. I was stressed as i didn't know what to expect, but it was nothing. I had a spinal block which is a straight injection into the spine, this numbs you from the breasts down and you cannot move, which is kinda freaky, but the only bad experience of this is when you have blood pressure drops. They are fast and make you feel like your going to throw up and faint, but as soon as you tell the dr, they give you something in your IV and within seconds your fine. It happened to me twice. No Biggie. The experience is something i will never forget and i would do it again and again.... if my hubby would let me.
Hope this helps.
Angela.
Goodluck All