Anonymous wrote:

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.

Florida isn’t in the D.C area.

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.

But female Obgyns generally opt for it.
It’s actually safer for the mother and baby.

Havent seen the data on this- delivery choice by profession- and considering only 1/3 of babies nationally are born via csection....

I asked my provider about this actually. She said if you consider the age at which most women have children and map that against where a doctor is in her career, it’s typically more about timing to be predictable with residency and other professional demands. She said if medical school and residency had mandatory maternity leave more OBs would delivery naturally because they know about the risk of successive c-sections. This is, of course, anecdotal, but the perspective is interesting.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is what NCB advocates who pee when they sneeze tell themselves. Ever since I heard this gem I've asked friends who are moms whether they have any bladder or pelvic floor issues post-partum. I've been asking for ~7 years. In my informal polling, not a single c-section mom has these issues, even the ones with twins or the one with triplets.

You realize PF dysfunction is more than leaking or prolapse right? The PF is not just the vagina and the emphasis on only pushing PF issues shows some of yalls ignorance.
Theres hypertonic PF which DIRECTLY influences vaginal birth. Urinary urgency or frequency aka "just in case" pees, straining to poop, leaking, pain in back/hips/groin/pelvis, pain during sex, etc.
If in the 7 years of your questioning none of the women experienced the above, then you found golden women. I have also found that women are not super open about this stuff or brush it off in a funny,self-deprecating way because its just what happens to women.
If PF were only related to vaginal birth then women who havent given birth and men wouldnt experience it either.

and the presence of them in non-vaginally birthing populations means that vaginal birth contributes or increases those issues and is why a PFPT evaluation prior to childbirth should be normalized. And why PFPTs and other professionals have been advocating for more PF friendly vaginal birth practices but OBs and the nurses are usually the ones pushing the outdated guidance

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is what NCB advocates who pee when they sneeze tell themselves. Ever since I heard this gem I've asked friends who are moms whether they have any bladder or pelvic floor issues post-partum. I've been asking for ~7 years. In my informal polling, not a single c-section mom has these issues, even the ones with twins or the one with triplets.

You realize PF dysfunction is more than leaking or prolapse right? The PF is not just the vagina and the emphasis on only pushing PF issues shows some of yalls ignorance.
Theres hypertonic PF which DIRECTLY influences vaginal birth. Urinary urgency or frequency aka "just in case" pees, straining to poop, leaking, pain in back/hips/groin/pelvis, pain during sex, etc.
If in the 7 years of your questioning none of the women experienced the above, then you found golden women. I have also found that women are not super open about this stuff or brush it off in a funny,self-deprecating way because its just what happens to women.
If PF were only related to vaginal birth then women who havent given birth and men wouldnt experience it either.

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.

This is what NCB advocates who pee when they sneeze tell themselves. Ever since I heard this gem I've asked friends who are moms whether they have any bladder or pelvic floor issues post-partum. I've been asking for ~7 years. In my informal polling, not a single c-section mom has these issues, even the ones with twins or the one with triplets.

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.

But female Obgyns generally opt for it.
It’s actually safer for the mother and baby.

Havent seen the data on this- delivery choice by profession- and considering only 1/3 of babies nationally are born via csection....

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.

But female Obgyns generally opt for it.
It’s actually safer for the mother and baby.

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 c-section was necessary for my breach baby, but I would definitely choose it if it were an option but not necessary. My recovery was very easy and I've heard too many horror stories of women getting maimed from vaginal birth - including my SIL who had to have a hysterectomy and good friend who went into septic shock.

The outcomes studied were infections and thromboembolism. In the planned cesarean section group (n = 22 855), 15% had a postpartum infection compared with 10% in the planned vaginal group (n = 691 471) (ARR 1.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–1.6), and 0.08% vs 0.05% had a postpartum pulmonary embolism (ARR 1.7; 95% CI 1.0–2.6). The obtained risk estimates corresponded to “number needed to harm” estimates of 17 and 3448, respectively. When dividing the infections into subgroups, the risk of endometritis (ARR 1.2; 95% CI 1.1–1.3), wound infection (ARR 2.7; 95% CI 2.4–3.0), urinary tract infection (ARR 1.5; 95% CI 1.3–1.7), and mastitis (ARR 2.0; 1.9–2.2) was higher after planned cesarean section.

Csection carries higher risk for infection and embolisms. Again, there is a bit of idealism about csection deliveries as well.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Look at the lifetime of healthcare costs that a delivery can have on a woman’s health. My vaginal was 40K and my scheduled C section a few years later was a bit over 50K. The hospitals take the negotiated rate from insurers and no one pays that much out of pocket. You are arguing over peanuts - the insurers don’t care that much, the likelihood of a C section is high anyway even for someone planning a vaginal delivery and those births also get very expensive because of all the time/costs for labor then costs of a C section on top - those actually are the most expensive (vaginal
Turned emergency C section).

Pelvic floor PT costs 200 dollars a session. So does therapy for birth trauma. Incontinence supplies are expensive, and incontinence in later life is a leading cause of nursing home admissions. Urogynecologists charge around 500 for a visit, hundreds on top of that for a pessary fitting, etc. Imaging prior to pelvic floor surgery costs thousands - MRI, U/S, defecography, urodynamics, etc. And costs for surgeries like bladder sling for incontinence, rectopexy for rectal prolapse, sacrocolpopexy for bladder/uterine prolapse, etc. are major abdominal surgery and cost likely 10-20K or much, much more.

Consider this:

Between 2016 and 2018, there were 140,762 POP surgical cases annually with an annual national cost estimated at $1.523 billion per year.

pregnancy and birth damage our bodies in many ways, some much more than others, and sometimes the impacts don’t show up
Until menopause

I had one medically necessary C and one elective C after that. I had a great experience, easy recovery and with proper exercise my core has never been stronger. To each their own!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And yet, how much is being done to decrease operative vaginal delivery. Most OBs are still requiring women to push on their back and wont accept any other position and will only coach closed glottis pushing/purple pushing.
PFPT is not covered by most insurance, there arent a whole lot of providers, and there is no counseling done prior to delivery and very few women see a PFPT post-delivery unless they have extreme issues because loss of bladder control, leaking, and prolapse have been normalized by the OB community even though there are things that can help. 5-10 years down the road is not too late but I would put money on the hypothesis that 6mo-2 year PP intervention is best.

THANK YOU

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Absolutely no one saying that it isn’t. Promise. And certainly if it is a major overwhelming concern, then schedule the procedure.


I’m adding that if that’s the concern just be aware that it can still happen even if you have a C.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And yet, how much is being done to decrease operative vaginal delivery. Most OBs are still requiring women to push on their back and wont accept any other position and will only coach closed glottis pushing/purple pushing.
PFPT is not covered by most insurance, there arent a whole lot of providers, and there is no counseling done prior to delivery and very few women see a PFPT post-delivery unless they have extreme issues because loss of bladder control, leaking, and prolapse have been normalized by the OB community even though there are things that can help. 5-10 years down the road is not too late but I would put money on the hypothesis that 6mo-2 year PP intervention is best.

Anonymous wrote: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.

A little over the top but I agree the general dogma over some “optimal” way to give birth leads (complete with birthing plans!) to a lot of problems, especially for new moms, who get set up for feeling like failures when something goes wrong. There’s a LOT of money at stake behind those “right way to deliver a baby” messages too.

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 c-section was necessary for my breach baby, but I would definitely choose it if it were an option but not necessary. My recovery was very easy and I've heard too many horror stories of women getting maimed from vaginal birth - including my SIL who had to have a hysterectomy and good friend who went into septic shock.