C section vs Normal Delivery

[Anonymous]

I would like to find out how or what knid of questions I can ask to my obgny to find out their preference of delivery method . I have a friend who told that her obgny was pushing her to do a C section . My friend saw anothe obgyn and he told her that as of that point she did not need a C section. I also heard from another person that her obgny induced her quite early becasue the obgyn had vacation plan. I would prefer to have a normal delivery if everthing is alright. I do not prefer doctors who just want to do C section because it is convinent for them. If you have any thoughts on this, please let me know. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

IMHO if any doctor is telling you to have a c-section before seeing how your labor is progressing there better be a medical reason for it. Some reasons I can think of...

- breech baby - most doctors in the city will not attempt a vaginal breech delivery. I think a couple might (Dr. Tchabo at VHC?) but most don't.
- plecenta previa or some other bad position of the plecenta - you pretty much have to do a c-section
- previous c-sections - not all doctors will do VBACs under certain circumstances such as time between deliveries, etc.
- other medical reasons specific to you that might make a vaginal delivery unsafe

No doctor should encourage you to have a c-section because of scheduling purposes or they think the baby might be "too big", etc.

You might also consider a doula or midwife during delivery. They can help you advocate for a vaginal delivery during the labor. Some doctors will want to just do a c-section if you labor is taking to long.

[Anonymous]

I think you should ask about their philosophy about inductions - whether the will induce early or at all for the mother's conveinance, whether they will want you to be induced at a certain time (i.e. 40 weeks, 41 weeks) if the baby doesn't come sooner. What you're looking for is someone who isn't going to agree to give you an absolute answer, but is going to say that it depends on your health and the baby's. If they say yes, we always induce at 40 weeks, then they probably are more likely to push for a C. (50% of first time months who are induced wind up with a C, even though most docs and hospitals in this area have a 33% C section rate. However, most of my friends who wound up w/ Cs following an induction were never told that the induction would increase the possibility of getting a C. In fact, I don't know anyone who was induced who was told this by their docs).

[Anonymous]

As someone who had an unplanned, emergency c/s, I would say that (in my opinion) you'd be much better off trying for a vaginal birth than a c/s. That is, barring any medical indications or problems of course. You should definitely talk to your OB and understand his/her position on it. You obviously can't know ahead of time how your situation will play out, and in any case things can come up quickly, but it would help to know how your dr handles specific "complications" (for lack of a better word). The ones that come to mind: if you're not dilating, how long will they give you to make progress; how long would they let you go if your water is broken (I think the standard is 24 hours but I found out during my labor that they started being uncomfortable letting me go much past the 12 hour mark); what their thoughts are on inductions, doing an episiotomy etc. You could probably learn alot about your dr's "philosophy" on c/s if you just ask how he/she feels about primary elective c/section.

One more thought - I would never consider an induction for reasons of scheduling conflicts. I go to a large practice and there's always a doctor on call at the hospital, so it wouldn't have been an issue for me, but I can't imagine being induced only to accomodate my doctor. Unless there was a very particular reason for wanting *that specific* doctor to deliver you (like, for example, if a person is high risk and has a medical complication that only that dr can handle).

Good luck. Hope you get the birth you want.

[Anonymous]

Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts. I did not even know the 40 weeks induction part and early induction may lead to C section. I really appreciate your thoughts on this subject.