Did anyone here have a scheduled, elective c-section and would not do it again?

[Anonymous]

I am asking in this forum because I am curious about the long-term experience post elective, planned-in-advance sections. I've heard multiple bad stories of vaginal births that left mothers with issues to deal with for years to come but I am curious if someone picked the alternative and now is suffering because of it. Not asking about unwanted, emergency c-sections; those are often messy.

[Anonymous]

Is there anything wrong that would make you not want to have a vaginal birth? A lot of us have pretty easy recoveries from a vaginal birth, but a c-section recovery is always difficult. So you’d be eliminating the best case scenario, which is pretty likely for most people, before you even begin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything wrong that would make you not want to have a vaginal birth? A lot of us have pretty easy recoveries from a vaginal birth, but a c-section recovery is always difficult. So you’d be eliminating the best case scenario, which is pretty likely for most people, before you even begin.

My mother had a traumatic experience which left her with incontinence, depression, and a virtually non-existent sex life after birth. Two of my friends tried vaginal births first and then ended up with emergency sections; one of them developed an infected uterus & placenta because she labored for 15 hours after her membranes ruptured and they discovered the infection during the emergency section; she ended up in the ICU for a day and was unable to see her child.

As my OB confirmed, vaginal births are good until they go bad, but when they go bad, they go really bad. My OB endorses my wish for an elective c-section, should I choose to go that way.

I guess I have PTSD by proxy from my mom and friends and would do anything to even take the slightest chance of ending up like them. I am in therapy now but my therapist is not dismissing my concerns; she agrees that the possibilities I am imagining are not guaranteed but they are not unrealistic either; so our therapy turned into her helping me find and trust my inner instinct.

I am on the fence and wanted to ask about the long-term effects of planned, scheduled, wanted c-sections, if anyone can share.

[Anonymous]

I think the most important question is how many children you want. If you’re one and done, there are indeed several reasons you might want to choose a c-section (as a good many OB-GYNs actually choose for themselves when they’re pregnant). You’ll be less likely to suffer incontinence and various kinds of prolapse both in the postpartum period as well as later in your old age; you will not be subject to the risks of tears etc.

You presumably know the risks of a section since they’re far better publicized, so I won’t discuss any of them here save the potential problems down the line if you get multiple c-sections. If you want more than one or two kids, an elective C is a bad idea. The scar itself raises your chances for placenta accreta (and the even worse form, placenta percreta) in future pregnancies, with all the bad news that potentially follows from there. And with each new c-section, your uterus becomes increasingly prone to rupture in labor.

So: go for it unless you want multiple kids.

[Anonymous]

I had an elective for my 3rd, because both of the first two attempts at a vaginal birth/VBAC didn't go well (second time was a crash c-section, thankfully DC was OK but that was fairly terrifying).

I wouldn't pick it, still. I heal super, super quickly and well from c-sections. I'm the exception to PP stating that the recovery from a c is always difficult: it's not. I still hated not being able to sit/stand the first couple of days in the hospital. I also think that having a c-section probably contributed to my diastasis rectii looking extra-weird because part of it is sewn up but not the whole thing (but it didn't cause the diastasis).

[Anonymous]

Do doctors actually do this? I’m amazed anyone would want a highly invasive abdominal surgery with no medical necessity. It must be a nightmare to code this for insurance too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything wrong that would make you not want to have a vaginal birth? A lot of us have pretty easy recoveries from a vaginal birth, but a c-section recovery is always difficult. So you’d be eliminating the best case scenario, which is pretty likely for most people, before you even begin.

This was not true for me.

I had 1 drug-free vaginal delivery, followed by a scheduled C section as recommended by the midwives for my second.

I was scared to death about the C section because who knows why. I just was.

I was home making pancakes like 72 hours later. It was a total piece of cake.

My advice is to avoid the strong pain killers. My friend who had an awful time of it ended up constipated from being on the pain killers, and then was in a lot of pain trying to resolve that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do doctors actually do this? I’m amazed anyone would want a highly invasive abdominal surgery with no medical necessity. It must be a nightmare to code this for insurance too.

Only in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do doctors actually do this? I’m amazed anyone would want a highly invasive abdominal surgery with no medical necessity. It must be a nightmare to code this for insurance too.

Yes, there are tons of doctors who do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do doctors actually do this? I’m amazed anyone would want a highly invasive abdominal surgery with no medical necessity. It must be a nightmare to code this for insurance too.

In the U.K. and in Canada, too. In some other countries, in private hospitals with self-pay also, yes.

[Anonymous]

Elective c is safer for mom and baby. Many ob gyn s chose it for themselves in usa.

After treating enough prolapse cases it becomes attractive.

I have had 4 vaginal births but I labor quickly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there anything wrong that would make you not want to have a vaginal birth? A lot of us have pretty easy recoveries from a vaginal birth, but a c-section recovery is always difficult. So you’d be eliminating the best case scenario, which is pretty likely for most people, before you even begin.

That's not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do doctors actually do this? I’m amazed anyone would want a highly invasive abdominal surgery with no medical necessity. It must be a nightmare to code this for insurance too.

Only in the US.

Another false statement.

[Anonymous]

I only had an elective C because of twins in breech. It was fine. I was so excited about my twins, that I don't remember any pain, but maybe I had good pain-killers. No problems. My scar is only a tiny white line.

[Anonymous]

I had a breech baby and a failed ECV (boy was that painful). C section recovery wasn't bad at all. I weaned off the painkillers before I left the hospital. The worst part of the c section was the shaking from the anesthesia.