Elective C-sections

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

Hello all,

I'm a first-year nursing student, and I just read an article in the Nov. issue of Vogue on a small but increasing number of women choosing to have elective c-sections for various reasons, including avoiding labor, and decreasing the likelihood of shoulder dystocia for the baby and eventual lady partsl prolapse for the mom.

Vogue doesn't publish their non-beauty/fashion articles online, so I can't provide a link for the whole text of the article. It does point out that, no matter which "ideology" you buy into, "there's only one standard that truly matters: a successful birth is a birth in which mother and child emerge alive and healthy."

I personally was floored that anyone would choose major abdominal surgery when it wasn't absolutely necessary.

I'm just curious what you all think of this.

Thanks.

~Leigh

There is another thread on the board somewhere called "Would I be considered a difficult patient?" that asks a similar question, but from the other side.

In my case (and I've had one of each), I don't care how the kid gets out as long as all are O.K. I sometimes feel there is too much emphasis on the delivery, when the delivery is an extremely small part of being a parent.

JMHO

Isnt there also a tread out there about tptp

"Too Posh to Push?"

Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.
Originally posted by sanakruz

Isnt there also a tread out there about tptp

"Too Posh to Push?"

LOL Sanakruz ... I searched for a thread with that name, Sanakruz, but didn't come up with anything.

~Leigh

I can't stand the tptp set. If you didn't want to go through labor, don't get pregnant. A c-section is needed for medical reasons, not because you don't want to experience a contraction. I don't believe that the labor process is the most important thing either, but I do not believe that doing unnecessary surgery is appropriate. Anyone who does c-sections for the fun of it should lose their medical lisence. I have had first time mothers want to schedule their c-sections so that they wouldn't be pregnant when it was summer, cause that would be uncomfortable..... but taking a baby out at 36 weeks is just fine....:rolleyes:

I have bladder problems/uterine prolapse at age 38 due to delivery,pregnancy, heredity, or whatever. I had 3 kids all approx. 6.5 lbs. Maybe all of this is due in part to all of the pulling, lifting, etc. of being a nurse. At any rate, I have no regrets. I had 3 easy SVD's. I wholeheartedly agree that c/section should be medical necessity only. We hear about these bladder problems r/t svd all of the time. What about abdominal adhesions secondary to c/s? The dr's I work w/ would like all scheduled c/s (they say this only half joking). They love their sleep and hate to wait for anything. They need to retrain for dermatology or podiatry!

Specializes in OB.

The ones that have me shaking my head are the ones who want a c-section because the don't want to go through the pain of labor! I have to bite back a laugh when asking them what they expect they will feel after major surgery!

Specializes in Critical Care.

I don't have kids and a small part of the reason is that I'm terrified of labor!!

However, I know that until I'm ready to go through the pain of labor I'm certainly not ready for all the other difficult tasks that make up actual parenthood!!

Hubby says he's ready but until I am or he can carry a child to term and then deliver the cat and lizard will have to remain our children.

As for those women who'd like an electice c-section, I think they need to speak to some of the women who've had them. From what I hear they're no picnic!!

Specializes in Trauma ICU, MICU/SICU.

I went through 30 hours of labor, 3.5 hours of pushing and a C-section. I still preferred the labor and pushing to recovering from sx.

I lost 14 pounds of fluid overnight about 5 days after discharge. I was swollen while pg, but I blew up after my c-section. Also caused major breastfeeding issues. I had no milk initially and an inadequate supply for 3.5 months as a result. I was so bent on not messing up the bfing relationship that I wasn't supplementing (no one believed me when I said I had very little milk) for the first month... Kayla and I both were miserable. It all did get straightened out, but it was 3.5 months of hell for me and baby Kayla (whose doing great now - see avatar). That girl nursed until she was 2!

Anyway, I so can't imagine wanting a c/sec. Considering VBAC if I ever have another, but am fearful of rupturing.

Sorry I blabbed on so long :D

Specializes in OB.
Originally posted by Lecia

I don't have kids and a small part of the reason is that I'm terrified of labor!!

However, I know that until I'm ready to go through the pain of labor I'm certainly not ready for all the other difficult tasks that make up actual parenthood!!

Hubby says he's ready but until I am or he can carry a child to term and then deliver the cat and lizard will have to remain our children.

As for those women who'd like an electice c-section, I think they need to speak to some of the women who've had them. From what I hear they're no picnic!!

Lecia - if pain of labor is really what's holding you back, make some appointments and talk to your GYN, a midwife, and even an anesthesist! There are so many options now for labor management that no one should be terrified of the experience (nervous of a new experience as we all are, of course). Besides, you are stronger than you think!

I think it's a sad state of affairs that it has come to pts being able to request unnecessary surgery. Besides the fact, that there are options for pain relief in labor, and there have been studies that show nuns suffer from bladder prolapse. :p

After seeing my pts, immediately following a SVD and a CS, I know that the pts delivering lady partslly are much more comfortable.

As crazy as this sounds I think we are very close to elective C/S being a normal thing.

think about it we C/S almost all twins, almost all breeches almost all who have had a previus C/S and the numbers show that the risks to these ppl are small. We section people at the drop of a hat.

One of the doc's was telling me that the last ACOG meeting he went to almost all were in favor of elective C/S.

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