Unpopular opinion - elective c-sections

[Anonymous]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-13391033/Louise-thompson-traumatic-childbirth.html

Why aren’t elective c-sections offered as an option to all women, as is standard in other countries? It seems so infantilizing to gatekeep women’s healthcare in this way. Personally, I found it rye-opening that most OBs choose c-sections for themselves. I’m not saying it should be pushed or encouraged - just that it should at least be a choice. Of course all surgeries come with risks, but why do we trust women to weigh those risks when contemplating a repeat C vs. VBAC, but not in the first instance? Just weird and smacks of misogyny imo.

[Anonymous]

It is a choice: I had one. But you're right that it's an unpopular opinion and people will cry "but it's major surgery" as if women don't choose major surgery all the time for other reasons deemed more valid.

I think the actual reason people can't deal with it is that planned c-sections at full term are so safe for baby that it makes vaginal delivery a questionable choice. We don't like where that points -- which is legitimate, women should get to choose.

[Anonymous]

C sections are for the convenience of the doctor who doesn't want to deliver baby at 2:00am or on a weekend or holiday. Optional c-section turns a natural process into elective surgery

[Anonymous]

It’s healthier for the baby to be squeezed through the birth canal. It’s healthier for the mother to not have major abdominal surgery.

[Anonymous]

I can't believe anyone would opt for a c-section if it wasn't necessary. Cutting through several layers, including muscle, to deliver the baby. The recovery is difficult and painful.

[Anonymous]

You linked an article about a UK experience. Women in the US have elective c sections all the time. Where is the data to support that most Obs choose to have elective c sections for themselves?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s healthier for the baby to be squeezed through the birth canal. It’s healthier for the mother to not have major abdominal surgery.

+1
I was trying for VBAC but got to 42 weeks with no sign of labor. My practice would not do inductions for VBACs so they said "come in at 6 am tomorrow" slice slice and he was out in seconds. Easy for everyone except me. It's hard to care for a newborn with staples in your abdomen and maybe my son would be healthier if he came out the right way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't believe anyone would opt for a c-section if it wasn't necessary. Cutting through several layers, including muscle, to deliver the baby. The recovery is difficult and painful.

They don’t cut through muscle anymore. Have you had a c-section?

[Anonymous]

Well my medically necessary c was a wonderful birth and easy recovery. I have several friends who wish they'd had c sections rather than suffer through very long labors only to then suffer through awful years, years of incontinence, and anal reconstruction surgery because that's how badly they tore. Sure, sometimes a vaginal delivery is easy and great, but it can also be life threatening and medically awful.

[Anonymous]

I asked for a C-section for multiple reasons. Scheduling family to come in from out of town, size of baby, my crippling fear of vaginal birth, concern that I would push for hours and end up with a section anyways.

It was a wonderful experience. Calm, planned, enjoyable.
Worst day of recovery was day 2 after adrenaline wore off and I had to get up to walk.
Never took more than Tylenol.
Loved it and would do again in a heartbeat.

[Anonymous]

I had a very quick labor and vaginal delivery and I would really have regretted it if I’d opted for a c section over 2 mins of pushing. I know a few women who got infections in their incisions while still in the hospital and that just sounds awful to me. I think women who get c sections are amazing because that’s a major surgery. I was beyond exhausted after and I didn’t have to deal with even half of the stuff that many women do (laboring for hours/days, induction, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:C sections are for the convenience of the doctor who doesn't want to deliver baby at 2:00am or on a weekend or holiday. Optional c-section turns a natural process into elective surgery

This, and they are also safer for the baby from the medical standpoint. So, doctor's insurance will go down if they aren't doing as many risky v births. People like to sue. Doctors don't like to be sued, nor do they like to lose patients or pay astronomical insurance costs for 18 years after they deliver their last baby. It's like they are slaves to working

[Anonymous]

I attempted an ECV for a breech baby and I wish I'd just had a c section (which I ended up with anyway). That ECV attempt was unbelievably painful.

[Anonymous]

Pro-tip: get a belly binder in the hospital and have them put it on you the first time you get up. It helps tremendously as you recover from a c-section.

[Anonymous]

I agree- but more importantly, I think partial hysterectomies should be on demand. No need to keep bleeding once you choose you’re done having kids or not having kids, saves money saves hassle and reduces your chances of uterine or cervical cancer to zero without putting the recipient through menopause? Magic.