Too Posh to push?? Thoughts please!

Nurses General Nursing

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I read an article recently that stated many women these days are opting for elective c-sections rather than experiencing labor. What I want to know is, are there any greater risks associated with elective c-section? How do nurses and doctors feel about this?

I'm a bit upset that women actually want to have a major surgery so to avoid the pain of labor or to have baby home in time for christmas or so they can choose the childs birthday.

Your thoughts??

My cousin just delivered her 3rd and last baby this way. After her section, the OB actually did a full tummy tuck! Talk about your one stop shopping!

Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.
My cousin just delivered her 3rd and last baby this way. After her section, the OB actually did a full tummy tuck! Talk about your one stop shopping!

Check on the OB/GYN page. There is a lengthy thread there on this very subject.

Specializes in HIV/AIDS, Dementia, Psych.
My cousin just delivered her 3rd and last baby this way. After her section, the OB actually did a full tummy tuck! Talk about your one stop shopping!

That's my kinda doctor! :chuckle

It's disgusting and imoral. Any doctor who would perform surgery for no medical reason should lose their lisence. That's just my not so humble opinion. Do these women read about the risks associated with a surgery, the increased hospital stay and the increased recovery time?

It's disgusting and imoral. Any doctor who would perform surgery for no medical reason should lose their lisence. That's just my not so humble opinion. Do these women read about the risks associated with a surgery, the increased hospital stay and the increased recovery time?

You are right . . digusting and immoral. But we are intervening in alot of ways now that trouble me.

steph

Its not that cut and dry. You can't just "choose" to have an elective c/s because you want one. Well generally speaking, i know some docs these days do offer that, but its not the norm. What you really should be looking at is WHY are these women choosing c/s. is it their first birth? is there a medical reason? or is it cosmetic/fear based?

IMHO i believe that NO ONE should be forced to give birth one way or the other just because health care providers say so (docs, nurses and the likes). Not everyone dreams of the perfect "au natural" birth via lady partsl method. Its up to us as educators to promote and educate our patients to make sound informed decisions.

i'm speaking from the heart because i'm about to have my 3rd c/s in 2 weeks! :D My first was unplanned, 22 hours of labor after complete dialation, textbook labor, but my son was unable to drop. No forceps via my choice, but we tried the Mity-Vac and i was too small for it. So that left me with a c/s. My second son was a planned or elective if you will c/s. It was much better physically for me than the first. I was given the option of a VBAC, but chose not to based on the history of my first son. My probability of the same thing happening a 2nd time were pretty high. SO i chose to have a c/s, and had an easier recovery overall because of it. Now this is my 3rd, and while i was going to choose again (i also have large babies) to have a c/s, i was told at this hospital you DON'T have that option to go VBAC. I think that's wrong. 80% of VBAC's that are attempted are successful. I think its the woman's choice.

So risks are the same, but recovery and stress level is MUCH better and handled. Imagine laboring for 22 hours, then having major surgery. Yep it was a very slow recovery. Then imagine planning a c/s date, going in planned, getting prepped, excited, talking to everyone and getting ready to meet your new baby, having the c/s, then back in your room in a few hours recovering. Able to get up and around in less than 8 hours, all of that. PP bleeding MUCH less due to no labor/less labor time. Just some thoughts on that......:)

I don't think that in a lot of cases its a moral decision either. You stated

I'm a bit upset that women actually want to have a major surgery so to avoid the pain of labor or to have baby home in time for christmas or so they can choose the childs birthday.

You are obviousely new to the health care system. This statement is a blanket statement and very prejudicial IMO (not slamming you, just commenting :) )Do you REALLY think that's most women's motivation for having a c/s by choice? I'll admit, picking my c/s date is nice, but i have other children i have to think about and make arrangements for. I want to make sure that my ENTIRE family is doing ok before i go in the hospital for 3 days and leave them in someone else's care.

Ok i'll stop rambeling. But i think that women who choose for the reasons and options that you've listed are the exception, not the norm.

Guess I should have clarified my position. There was another thread about this subject sometime back and I remember it related stories about "stars" choosing to have a cesarean early so they didn't get quite so big and get stretch marks. "Too posh To Push" was actually an article about famous women, women with money, women where looks matter to their career choosing early cesarean. Not for the reasons you've stated Dawn.

And actually these women with $$$ do find physicians who will do just about any little thing they want. Including an early cesarean.

I'll try to find the article . ..

steph

I read an article recently that stated many women these days are opting for elective c-sections rather than experiencing labor. What I want to know is, are there any greater risks associated with elective c-section? How do nurses and doctors feel about this?

I'm a bit upset that women actually want to have a major surgery so to avoid the pain of labor or to have baby home in time for christmas or so they can choose the childs birthday.

Your thoughts??

I can't imagine wanting your baby to be born by surgery instead of delivering him/her lady partslly. Of course if a c-section was necessary, I would have had one, but choose it? never! I know a LOT of women who've had c-sections. In fact, of my friends, cousins,and aunt who've had babies in the past 5 years, more ofthem have had c-sections than vag.births. One woman's doctor didn't even seem to have a good reason, just siting some reasons she might have to have a c-section if anything went wrong, and saying her being overweight but her at a higher risk of complications, so he suggested just doing one from the get-go. Sorry, I'd have to have a better reason than that.

Tonya, LPN in 2004, RN one of these days.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

Heck my OB offered a c-section so i could deliver before he went on vacation. Passed that up real quick. Noone's gonna cut me unless there is something in there that isnt going to come out without cutting. I delivered before he left,, but still wouldnt have opted for the other way.

Ok, here is one:

Pregnant celebrities 'too posh to push'

New mothers choose surgical delivery in bid to get fit and toned

Anne Marie Owens National Post

Monday, February 10, 2003

If Claudia Schiffer and Elle Macpherson are true to their supermodel trade, they will likely be returned to their whittled forms within weeks after giving birth, flashing their toned bodies in public before their new sons are even a month old.

These new mothers, who both gave birth in the past two weeks, are the latest in a long list of models and actresses who are beginning to superimpose their impossible body image standards on pregnancy.

The pictures in tabloids and glossy magazines show a stream of celebrities slimmed down and toned within mere months of giving birth -- the result of rigid pilates routines, personal trainers, strict diets and even, it is rumoured, babies delivered about a month early by Caesarean section.

With their unbelievably flat stomachs, their scanty post-pregnancy fashions, and their toned physiques, it should come as no surprise that these celebrity mothers operate under a different set of rules than most women.

"The supermom syndrome has expanded from working and having kids, to working and having kids and having a body like this," said Dr. Jan Christilaw, a Vancouver obstetrician-gynecologist and head of specialized women's health at B.C. Women's Hospital.

"It is not attainable in most women's lives -- nor should it be."

She joins other medical experts in their condemnation of this new celebrity standard of post-pregnancy shape.

"Women's bodies change when they have a baby. The fat distribution changes. It's functional and, I think, it's beautiful. We should be celebrating the changes that women's bodies are going through," said Dr. Christilaw. "The main problem I have is that this creates an atmosphere of frustration for women."

She said the speedy return to pre-pregnancy form "usually means that you've manipulated your body in ways that are not very healthy."

There have always been rumours that some celebrities, in their desire to keep a streamlined form, push for an early C-section as a way of avoiding the final month of major abdominal stretching.

It is the extreme of what some tabloids have dubbed the "too posh to push" movement, whereby wealthy and simply busy mothers eschew the haphazard nature of a natural birth for the precision of a surgical delivery.

Those rumours abounded earlier this month, when Ms. Schiffer, the German-born supermodel, had her son delivered a few weeks early by Caesarean because of risks associated with an earlier accident involving her foot.

Among the celebrities who have delivered their babies by C-sections: Catherine Zeta Jones, Madonna, Céline Dion and Victoria Beckham, the former Posh Spice and one of the original namesakes behind "too posh to push."

Dr. Jennifer Blake, obstetrician and gynecologist in chief at Toronto's Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre, says these flat-stomached pictures of new celebrity mothers strain credulity.

"I have never seen anybody with a flat stomach after pregnancy -- never," she said. "There is a stretching of the abdominal wall that occurs in pregnancy. It is physiological. It is necessary."

She said although it is possible for some very tall and thin women, the typical model physique, to carry their pregnancy more upwards than outwards, she suspects these celebrities look so thin due to clever clothing choices, flattening undergarments and even digital manipulation of their photographed images.

"I am skeptical really," said Dr. Blake. "Furthermore, I would be really concerned if women actually thought this was the standard to be achieved. The most important thing for a woman who is pregnant or has just had a baby is her health and the health of her baby. A flat stomach should be the last thing on her mind."

Wendy Burgoyne, a health promotion consultant with Ontario's Best Start program, said it can actually be dangerous for women to lose weight too quickly after pregnancy. "There is a reason why that weight typically goes off slowly and it is to support breast-feeding," she said.

"Women shouldn't be worrying about losing weight, particularly at a period of time when you aren't getting much sleep, you're tired and not in the best condition. Losing weight can be pretty stressful.

"This is not something you should be thinking about right after having a baby."

Most celebrity mothers, when asked how they managed to transform their postpartum bodies so speedily, wax on about the merits of a good diet and exercise regime.

Pilates and yoga seem to be the toning methods of choice for the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Cindy Crawford and Elizabeth Hurley, although the pace would have to be intense to bring about the kind of results these stars get in a matter of months.

Sascha Ferguson, owner of Absolution, a Los Angeles gym favoured by the celebrity set, maintains it is entirely possible for women who are absolutely dedicated to exercise to escape without many of the usual ravages of pregnancy. "These celebrities are just hard workers when it comes to their bodies."

Another one:

TOO POSH TO PUSH?

CAESAREAN birth rates in the UK are rocketing - but no-one knows why.

Despite World Health Organisation advice that as few as 10 per cent of births should be Caesarean sections, some hospitals are delivering up to 30 per cent of babies in this way.

Now midwives, gynaecologists and obstetricians have gathered at a conference in London to find out why the rate is so high.

One theory is the rise of women who are "too posh to push" and see a Caesarean section as an easy way of giving birth.

But experts point out that a Caesarean is major surgery, with risks, and should only be performed if the risks are justified.

Frances Day-Stirk, head of midwifery affairs at the Royal College of Midwives said: "Caesarean sections involve major abdominal surgery and, as with any major operation, carry definite risks of morbidity and mortality.

"To justify taking these risks there have to be positive clinical benefits to mother and child."

The conference will see members of the National Childbirth Trust, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricans and Gynaecologists gather to discuss why the rate is on the increase.

Other issues will include:

why average rates vary from 13 per cent in Cornwall to 26 per cent in Surrey

how maternity services can meet the needs of the rising number of women having such surgery

how the NHS can cope with the higher cost of Caesareans becoming more routine.

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Just Google "Too Posh To Push" . . .yikes, there are many articles. :rolleyes:

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