Unpopular opinion - elective c-sections

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has a different story - I had 2 unmedicated vaginally births, and zero issues as far as serious tearing or incontinence, etc

Can women support each other's choices and not argue over which is best? It's a matter of what is best for each person amd what is best for you might not be best for me and vice versa

No one knows what is “best” for them ahead of time. Birth is like going into combat in a war zone. Some people come out unscathed and perfectly fine. Some people die. Some end up with permanent injuries. The least you can do is respect those who have long term difficulties that you can’t even dream of living with.

Birth is a combination of luck and chance - you got lucky, but a lot of women don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This article explains in great detail how common maternal birth injuries are and the impact on women. Should be required reading for every expectant mom so she’s aware of what’s at stake in the delivery room and can make an informed decision about her delivery type. https://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/educate/MBI

Also, I had a maternal request C section and had no issues with insurance covering it. It was only a touch more expensive than my vaginal birth was, and cheaper in total compared with the years of physical therapy and urogynecologist consults and trauma therapy from my bad vaginal birth. That one bad birth injured me and still cost me over 15K out of pocket for treatment over a number of years. I still need pelvic floor reconstruction which will likely cost 50-100K. So the C section was far cheaper, when considering big picture costs.

My OB said it’s fear mongering that insurance won’t pay for a maternal choice C section. He laughed at me when I asked if they would
Cover it and told me that he’s never had an issue with insurance paying for one. He’s been in practice for over 25 years and said it’s a bunch of NCB fear mongering.

This article was….so eye-opening. The prevalence of some of these conditions that have no good treatment options/can’t be fixed with surgery and leave women with lifelong pain, incontinence, sexual dysfunction, etc. - just wow. Levator ani avulsion 15-25% of vaginal births?? Prolapse up to 50%? Holy shit. When I had my (unplanned) C-section, I was warned about possible complications and how common they were and had to sign a consent form. Literally no one told me about any kind of natural birth injury. It was on me to seek out that information on my own, and of course it wasn’t easy to find reliable data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article explains in great detail how common maternal birth injuries are and the impact on women. Should be required reading for every expectant mom so she’s aware of what’s at stake in the delivery room and can make an informed decision about her delivery type. https://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/educate/MBI

Also, I had a maternal request C section and had no issues with insurance covering it. It was only a touch more expensive than my vaginal birth was, and cheaper in total compared with the years of physical therapy and urogynecologist consults and trauma therapy from my bad vaginal birth. That one bad birth injured me and still cost me over 15K out of pocket for treatment over a number of years. I still need pelvic floor reconstruction which will likely cost 50-100K. So the C section was far cheaper, when considering big picture costs.

My OB said it’s fear mongering that insurance won’t pay for a maternal choice C section. He laughed at me when I asked if they would
Cover it and told me that he’s never had an issue with insurance paying for one. He’s been in practice for over 25 years and said it’s a bunch of NCB fear mongering.

This article was….so eye-opening. The prevalence of some of these conditions that have no good treatment options/can’t be fixed with surgery and leave women with lifelong pain, incontinence, sexual dysfunction, etc. - just wow. Levator ani avulsion 15-25% of vaginal births?? Prolapse up to 50%? Holy shit. When I had my (unplanned) C-section, I was warned about possible complications and how common they were and had to sign a consent form. Literally no one told me about any kind of natural birth injury. It was on me to seek out that information on my own, and of course it wasn’t easy to find reliable data.

Thanks for your response. When I gave birth to my first child 7 years ago I had read
Our Bodies, Ourselves and Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom cover to cover, along with about a half dozen other birthing books. None of this stuff was mentioned at all. The only mention of anything I saw was in Women’s Bodies there was a brief mention of uterine prolapse as some rare thing that only old women had. So getting diagnosed with 3 forms of prolapse after that birth along with a bunch of other pelvic floor disorders I had never heard of or knew were possible was extremely traumatic. I literally spent hours every day Googling things to try and understand what had happened to me, and the only place this info was found was medical journals. Women’s health and birth websites and books did not mention any of this. That’s changed a bit in the last few years, thankfully.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know any practice in the D.C area that doesn’t offer elective cesarean. Where are you posting from?

[Anonymous]

I can't comment on how often elective c sections are refused (I've never had nor wanted one) but I totally agree that it should be up to the patient and all this arguing about whether c sections are good or bad are completely irrelevant.

However, C-sections are hardly unique in terms of denying patients autonomy. Just look at the prescription drug system (which I also oppose). The medical field is (unethically) all about gate keeping.

[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.

My mom had to have major reconstructive surgery as a result of her vaginal births so she ended up getting cut open anyway. My c sections were all easy and uncomplicated and I don't have prolapse and pelvic floor issues and won't need to have my bladder reconstructed.

[Anonymous]

I just want to add that there is plenty of evidence that HOW women give birth raises the risk of the complications from vaginal deliveries and until those are addressed then yes, a csection seems safer from a worst-case scenario but there are worst-case scenarios for c-sections too.

[Anonymous]

I recommend going doctor shopping, OP. Those that will give you the C-section you want will probably be more likely to actually listen to your preferences in other dimensions. I've no experience but other posters say such doctors exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My mom had to have major reconstructive surgery as a result of her vaginal births so she ended up getting cut open anyway. My c sections were all easy and uncomplicated and I don't have prolapse and pelvic floor issues and won't need to have my bladder reconstructed.

Pelvic floor and bladder issues are related to pregnancy. Not simply birth method. I’d advise you to keep this in mind closer to menopause as your family may be predisposed to them. I’m sorry your mother suffered and hope you do not. 💗

Sharing more for others, in case they are struggling and had c section.

[Anonymous]

Also you can have a myriad of pelvic floor issues having never conceived, men too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recommend going doctor shopping, OP. Those that will give you the C-section you want will probably be more likely to actually listen to your preferences in other dimensions. I've no experience but other posters say such doctors exist.

For scheduled C, there’s no doctor in the DMV who won’t grant it at patient request. Some will want it more explicit in the chart that it’s elective by request so it doesn’t hurt their numbers, but they will all agree to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

My mom had to have major reconstructive surgery as a result of her vaginal births so she ended up getting cut open anyway. My c sections were all easy and uncomplicated and I don't have prolapse and pelvic floor issues and won't need to have my bladder reconstructed.

Pelvic floor and bladder issues are related to pregnancy. Not simply birth method. I’d advise you to keep this in mind closer to menopause as your family may be predisposed to them. I’m sorry your mother suffered and hope you do not. 💗

Sharing more for others, in case they are struggling and had c section.

But some pelvic floor disorders and conditions are strongly correlated to delivery mode.

“Although spontaneous vaginal delivery was significantly associated with stress incontinence and prolapse, the most dramatic risk was associated with operative vaginal birth.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21897313/

Hands at JHU has researched this extensively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know any practice in the D.C area that doesn’t offer elective cesarean. Where are you posting from?

My cousin in Florida had to get diagnosed with "birthing anxiety" or something like that to get her c-section approved.

[Anonymous]

Aren't C-sections generally more expensive? That's a reason to avoid them. I mean insurance will cover it, and then we all have continued rising insurance costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

It sometimes does cause earlier menopause, even when the ovaries are preserved. The surgery can cut off the blood flow.