Why a C-Section?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

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Hi everyone, I was just wondering why so many women are choosing to undergo ceasarean delivery without even a trial of labor? Don't they realize it is a major abdominal surgery and they will be in severe pain for several weeks? I know that it is a very necessary procedure sometimes, but it just seems so overdone and unnecessary sometimes. I'd love to hear from you!

I have had 3 children. My first baby was 4lbs 9 oz and I had to have an emergency c-section because her heart stopped. I couldn't hold her for 7 hours because I couldn't get out of bed and they couldn't take her out of the warmer. It felt like the longest hours of my life.

My second daughter was a v-back. I was able to dilate with out a problem and managed to push her out in only 3 pushes. I got to see her come out and I also got to hold her and nurse her. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I had an epidural but it was perfect I didn't feel numb but it defiantly took away the severe pain.

My son was born lady partslly as well. The only problem I had was during the epidural I lost some spinal fluid so I had an ungodly headache while I was in labor. I have had migraines before and this made the migraines seem like headaches. I kept thinking if I have this baby fast they can give me something for this headache! LOL That's how bad it hurt! I got to hold him right away and it was again one of the greatest experiences of my life.

I know that the c-section saved my daughters life and I am very glad the doctors didn't hesitate to do it. The recovery from the c-section was long and painful. I still remember how much it hurt. It felt like I had a bowling ball attached to my belly button. Every time I moved I could feel the stitches stretching. Since sex was also brought up. We were able to have sex with in the week or so afterwards.

The recovery from the lady partsl births was so much better. I was able to get up and walk myself to the bathroom right after having the baby's. I did have a episiotomy (sp) with the first and the second I tore a little. Both were uncomfortable but not bad. I was able to have sex at about 4 to 5 weeks afterwards, if I remember correctly. Sex is not the same after having kids for me. IT'S BETTER!!! We have learned how to communicate better about what is good and we are a lot more creative.

As far as if c-sections should be covered by insurance. Or if they should be elective. I think that unless the doctor says you need to have a c-section because of X, Y and Z, you should have to pay for it out of your own pocket. I think since we have the technology available we should always allow people to have c-sections if they want one. However I don't think that insurance should have to pay for one if its not medically necessary.

This is just IMO so please no one take offence. :icon_hug: Sorry the post is so long thanks for reading it.

Hugs :icon_hug:

Shannon

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Specializes in Operating room..

My second and third C-sections (3 total) occured without a trial of labor because in pregnancy #2 my twins were breech...in pregnancy #3 I had already had 2 horizontal c-sections incision and one vertical (just not a good idea unless I wanted to split).

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That is where a good class in childbirth preparation would be handy, fergus.

AMEN!!! I can't even express how grateful I am to childbirth instructors who do a good job with their classes.

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Wow this has really heated up.

As I said before I can't make such a broad statement as to say that elective C/S are right or wrong. I do however see the fact that people want elective C/S as a symptom of a society that is pampered and far removed from what is really important.

Our society has evolved from people who just a few hundred years ago spent every waking hour working for survival to a place where we now rarely have to give thought to the more basic things in life. This is a good thing it allows us time and energy to devote to other things. I do however find it sad that instead of using that extra time to invest in others or to contemplate the mysteries of the universe we instead worry about the shape of our noses and ways to make coffee taste better.

Weather you like it or not elective C/S do fall under the heading of unnecessary surgery and I can see a debate as to weather or not people should be charged for them. I wouldn’t want to open that can of worms though because the same argument against elective C/S could be made about pain meds in labor. I would hate to come to work and have to tell a Medicaid patient that she cant have pain meds unless she pony’s up for the cost of them.

Still to the person that said that the change I see in patients after lady partsl delivery is the effect of just becoming a mother and not because of the experience of labor and lady partsl delivery I have to disagree with you.

I know I may touch some nerves here but there is defiantly a difference between what people get out of lady partsl delivery and C/S and yes there is even a difference between what medicated and non medicated get from the experience.

I'm not in anyway condemning people that choose a C/S or an epidural. I strongly believe and advocate for people’s right to choose an epidural and it is because of this that even though I don't like the idea of elective c/s I wont argue that they shouldn’t happen. In years to come people will view the choice of elective C/S in a similar light to the way we today view the choice of medicated verses unmediated labor.

Now that, that has been said I do believe that there is a difference and (although intangible) a benefit to those who prepare for and experience lady partsl delivery. I've seen them and it changes them. I have seen it for the good and for the bad.

Childbirth leaves an impression on everyone who experiences it. Given the opportunity most women will tell the story of their labors to just about anyone that is because it is such a remarkable thing that the memory of it is never far from the surface. Heck this is a forum for midwives and L&D nurses but how much of the content of this forum actually ends up being posts about birth experience?

As nurses we tend to lose sight of the social and emotional aspects because we see so many labors. We are constantly forced (for sanity sake) to disconnect from the emotional aspect of our work and focus on the physical and legal aspects of what we do. Yet if you think back to when you first started L&D I’m willing to bet that it had allot to do with the emotional experience that you saw your patients go threw and the fact that a women bringing a baby into the world is amazing. What’s amazing about a doctor making an incisition and extracting a baby? Sure the baby is amazing. Still the miracle of labor and delivery is amazing in and of its self.

Now before I get flamed I'll say that I don’t think that having a lady partsl delivery makes you a better or worse mom or anything like that. I also know that for many labor and delivery end up being a source of trauma rather then a milestone. I will again risk touching nerves and say that I think that is another symptom of our pampered society. Pain is seen as only bad not as a part of life that shapes us. Now before someone brings it up no I'm not a woman and no I don’t know what labor feels like. I do however know that I can see a difference in those that experience labor and those that have not.

If you don’t believe that we are a pampered society next time you start an IV on a primip ask them to rate the pain of it on a scale from 0-10 and you’ll see what I mean.

Just so you know my 0-10 pain scale goes like this 1-the pain in my hands and arms from my spinal compression, 5-shingles, 7-gunshot wound to the thigh, 10-setting my own broken humorous. I may not know what labor feels like but I do know what pain is.

I also know that there is more to labor then just pain. people carry something good away from the experience. I just wish I could put into words what I see in them.

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Now before I get flamed I'll say that I don't think that having a lady partsl delivery makes you a better or worse mom or anything like that. I also know that for many labor and delivery end up being a source of trauma rather then a milestone. I will again risk touching nerves and say that I think that is another symptom of our pampered society. Pain is seen as only bad not as a part of life that shapes us. Now before someone brings it up no I'm not a woman and no I don't know what labor feels like. I do however know that I can see a difference in those that experience labor and those that have not.

If you don't believe that we are a pampered society next time you start an IV on a primip ask them to rate the pain of it on a scale from 0-10 and you'll see what I mean.

Just so you know my 0-10 pain scale goes like this 1-the pain in my hands and arms from my spinal compression, 5-shingles, 7-gunshot wound to the thigh, 10-setting my own broken humorous. I may not know what labor feels like but I do know what pain is.

I also know that there is more to labor then just pain. people carry something good away from the experience. I just wish I could put into words what I see in them.

ITA! I always tell new moms with regrets that there are no medals for natural childbirth, lady partsl delivery or breast feeding. You make a decision that you are comfortable with so you can focus on being a mom.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
ITA! I always tell new moms with regrets that there are no medals for natural childbirth, lady partsl delivery or breast feeding. You make a decision that you are comfortable with so you can focus on being a mom.

I agree and SO well-said. That said, I know for a fact, there are entire websites dedicated to helping mothers through a post-traumatic-stress-like response to very negative birthing experiences. What does this tell me? I need to keep working harder to make theirs a wonderful experience, no matter "how the passenger" makes it into the world. What we say, how we behave, even our body language, are things new mothers seem to "soak in" and retain for a lifetime. We need to be very mindful of how and what we communicate when working with our birthing families.... We have, within our power, the means to make a birth a joyful and memorable event for our patients

----or a nightmare.

On the other side of the coin, they (expectant and new moms) are very easy to "guilt" into and out of things. And this is what causes such mental and emotional distress for some of them.

SO I agree 100% with what you say here, Dawngloves! Perfectly-stated.

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Specializes in LDRP; Education.

I know I may touch some nerves here but there is defiantly a difference between what people get out of lady partsl delivery and C/S and yes there is even a difference between what medicated and non medicated get from the experience.

Having been an L&D nurse and experienced my own section, I can say that I tend to agree with that.

After my section my twins were in the NICU for a month. Hours after my surgery I was too weak and nauseated to even see my babies, despite my going down there, pan in hand, and vomiting.

Once I was discharged home, I spent every day in the NICU and bonded with my babies, but I felt like I had my gallbladder out or some other surgical procedure and now I'm taking care of two infants who were assigned to my care.

Of course since they have been home I have bonded even more and taken on the mother role, but I have to wonder if I would've felt like I was simply recovering from a procedure if I had actually had a lady partsl birth and felt their body parts emerge from me....

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On the other side of the coin, they (expectant and new moms) are very easy to "guilt" into and out of things. And this is what causes such mental and emotional distress for some of them.

I totally agree with you here! When I had my baby in July, and was posting what issues I was having...you really helped me to get over the "guilt" and enjoy my baby, trust my instincts....I must say thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!:balloons:

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I can speak to this as I have had a lady partsl delivery (very difficult persistent OP w/3rd degree, Forceps-assisted after 3 hours' pushing) and a csection (breech baby girl).

I can say with no doubt, the recovery period following the csection was MUCH harder than the lady partsl delivery was. BUTTTTTTTTTTTTT---- I was able to re-establish sexual relations with my dh much sooner following the csection as my perineum was NOT involved in the painful process of recovery. I was unable to have sex comfortably for probably 3 months after my son was born----but that does not preclude "creativity" as you put it---I won't get into detail there, but yes, we did have other means of enjoying each other on a deeply emotional level. I guess we were mature enough to realize SEX was not "all that" esp with a newborn preemie son in the home----we just needed to connect on an emotional level, which was a big enough challenge, believe me.

Seems to me, after the csection I was sooooooo sooooo sooo awfully tired. OMG, I was tired for days. I don't know why, if it's the additional healing internally, as well as externally, I had to undergo, but I do remember being so much more tired and so much more in pain after my csection. Also, I had to rely on narcotic pain meds to deal w/the post-partum pain w/the csection. After the lady partsl delivery, even though my perineum was very sore, it seemed to me, Motrin and heat to the peri was enough to cope. I just don't remember even filling my script for the narc the OB wrote me. W/the csection, O boy, I used it--- and regularly---for about a week. I remember waking up in HORRIBLE burning pain in the first 3 or 4 mornings after my csection. I had to have my percoset on the bedside table and take it before I got up. Naturally, I hated the percoset....It made me even more sleepy and nauseous. But I had no choice but to use it. Motrin just does not cut it for surgical pain. Everytime I coughed, laughed or used my tummy muscles, I was reminded my abdomen was still healing. Ouch.

I was lucky in that in the immediate post-partal recovery process, with the csection, I was able to breastfeed my daughter about 1 1/2 hours after birth, in my recovery room. I would have been able to nurse my son much more immediately, had he NOT been 6 weeks' premature and in distress and taken to the NICU 5 min after he was born......

Women can breastfeed and/or bond IMMEDIATELY after a lady partsl delivery, if the baby is well. That is a HUGE and DISTINCT advantage right there for a lady partsl delivery, if you ask me. It alone makes it worth it to me.

I also distinctly remember getting up to shower at 0600 (my son was born at 0453),. after my lady partsl delivery. Heck, I even put on make-up to and dressed in my street clothes---I wanted to feel pretty even if I did not appear that way to others lol.

I was in the nursery, visiting my baby, less than 2 hours' after birth. Had I had a csection, I would have to had waited a lot longer and been WHEELED In there to see him. That is not ideal, believe me, but heartbreaking---having to wait for someone to allow you to see your newborn in the nursery, if he/she is there.

No, being that independent in self care would never, ever happen after a csection, even in the best of circumstances. I had to wait an entire day and a half before I felt nearly well enough to shower, and then it was rather excruriating and bloody. Ever have your uterus massaged after a csection---? YEOWCH , is all I will tell you.

One thing I will NEVER forget about my lady partsl delivery: seeing my son emerge into the world, right before my eyes. I looked down and literally watched him be born, saw his scrunchy little tiny face as he came out, and watched him take his first breaths as he emerged. I was even able to reach and touch him as he came out. How can I ever forget or recreate that? No, I will never, ever lose that precious image in my mind.

Forget that w/a csection. All you will see is the blue curtain in front of your head. You will see the baby in the warmer, first, if you are lucky, and the warmer is in a place in your line of vision. Otherwise, you will have to wait til the staff bring the newborn to your head, so you can see and touch him/her. Then, they will whisk the baby back to the warmer or nursery, and you will wait to hold him/her until you are ensconced in your postpartum room, which could be an hour or several, depending on policies and protocols in your hospital. Huge difference to me.

I would say all in all, the csection was a hell of a lot easier delivery- wise (well of course it was----it was planned, routine, and very easy--in and out in an hour....). But the recovery was hell.:stone

The lady partsl delivery was a speedy process from which to recover, but it was a long time before I could have "normal" sex w/the dh afterward. I was able to re-connect sexually w/my spouse about 2 or 3 weeks after my csection, no problem or contraindication there. I liked that---but that was the ONLY advantage I can name.

All in all, I would prefer an uncomplicated lady partsl delivery over a similarly uncomplicated csection, any day of the week. Anecdotal, I know, but it's just my opinion as one who has done it "both ways".

Deb, much thanks to you and other posters who have gone through both and shared your stories. I think it's give or take with either as they both have advantages and disadvantages. Mom's have to choose what they perceive as most "advantageous" in the long run, I suppose.

As to the Childbirth Education classes ... I teach them in my community through the hospital and in each and every class I've taught, there is always a mom who jokes "I think I'll just schedule a c-section instead". That is, until we get to the c-section part of the class and she sees and hears all that is entailed with this surgery. There's a big difference between a 1-2 day stay and being in the hospital for half a week after a c-section. OF course, it's nice to stand upright right after delivery as opposed to days or weeks afterward!

Thanks to all who added to the discussion regarding sex and sexuality. While I disagree that sex is the act of sexuality (I think Tweety said it, if I'm not mistaken), I do understand that many women do not want to sacrifice their sex life for a lady partsl birth. With that being said, I loved the poster who stated that sex is BETTER for her after having children (lady partslly). That statement rocks!

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I totally agree with you here! When I had my baby in July, and was posting what issues I was having...you really helped me to get over the "guilt" and enjoy my baby, trust my instincts....I must say thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!:balloons:
Aww I thank you for that. I am glad I was able to help you.
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wow guys...i just read this entire thread and feel so many emotions stirred up! so glad i work ER b/c i know there is no way i could push my feelings aside and really care for a woman in l&d b/c of many issues that u all raised. i am in total agreement that education is sorely lacking for childbirth-the most i every knew about it was when i was on bedrest the last time and read as many books i could get my hands on. i even work with nurses who are going to have their first baby and haven't read a book, gone to classes, nothing. i am one in agreement that childbirth is too 'medicine-ized'...hear too many stories of the lady who comes in, gets put in a bed and can't move, so no duh she doesn't progress, gets induced, has prob with the baby on pit, and bang section it is. my sister in law was another that knew nothing about childbirth, scheduled when she was going to be induced (not overdue) and had a horrible time (amniotomy, pit, lost too much fluid so they had to do an infusion for the baby, f/c, pushed for 4 hours but couldn't feel where she was pushing from the epidural, and finally a vacuum to help get the kid out...she is 24, just had a tubal b/c she refuses to every have a baby again). all that being said, i had 3 natural deliveries (all preemies, 2 induced-pit is the evil demon!), and the last was a stat section (another preemie) after i started passing plate sized clots after they pulled my cerclage. for me personally, the section was the worst experience for me for many reasons. from talking with other women, it seems that my recovery was worse than theirs, and i understand that it is different for everyone. but the possiblity of the unknown with a major surg would be too much for me to risk for me and my baby if it was not an emergency (and i mean nothing wrong with mom or baby, totally elective). i lost 3 liters of bld in the OR alone, got three units of bld, a half day stay in the icu, almost went into dic, and ended up on pit post section for 18 hours. i was in terrible pain, the demerol pca was like water and i was begging for something else. afterwards it took me days to have the strength to pick up my baby and didn't feel safe alone with him..i could barely hold him to breastfeed in the beginning. i ended up eating 2 percocets every 3-4 hours for weeks, they even renewed my script without a question. a little more than a year later i still have pain in my lower abd, my incision still hurts if pressed on, and from my belly button down in still mostly numb to the touch-all these symptoms are ones that other ladies have said they still have too...even 5 years after a section. so it just reinforced my belief that it is not good or healthy to have a section if at all possible. the other part of this issue is that i missed the one chance to experience childbirth with my current husband. baby #3 was our first together, but he got deployed to iraq when i was 3 months preg and on bedrest and didn't come home until a month after the baby was born. so i was very let down by the experience that we didn't get to have together, although he was very in-tuned to me after all the trauma. don't get me wrong, i was so very greatfull that the ability to have the stat section was avail to me...the baby's heart rate wasn't ever affected during the surg or before-but let me tell u how freaked out the OR was!! they had a ton of people in there and i got the delightful experience of turning and looking at the laryngoscope while the anesthesiologist was repeatedly tilting my head back getting ready! i also got to wake up in recovery to the 'give her that third unit!' anyway, yes, every birth is an experience to remember-and a healthy outcome is what everyone wants...i try to repeatedly tell myself that. hats off to all u l&d nurses, i truly could not do it. but i am a big believer that the 'medicine-ized' birth is not a good thing for mom or baby...if there were never any bad side effects to any of the meds or interventions then i prob wouldn't worry so much-i never wanted an epidural b/c i was so afraid it would depress my preemies and didn't want something else to up a possible problem. ugh, i could go on forever guys, the whole thing just hurts so much and i like to hope that it could be so different for everyone, but i know that technology and 'progress' happen, and the fear of lawsuits is huge...i hear that many ob's are going out of the business b/c they can't afford the malpractice. ok, i'll shut up!:p

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Wow this has really heated up.

I'm not a woman and no I don't know what labor feels like. I do however know that I can see a difference in those that experience labor and those that have not.

If you don't believe that we are a pampered society next time you start an IV on a primip ask them to rate the pain of it on a scale from 0-10 and you'll see what I mean.

Just so you know my 0-10 pain scale goes like this 1-the pain in my hands and arms from my spinal compression, 5-shingles, 7-gunshot wound to the thigh, 10-setting my own broken humorous. I may not know what labor feels like but I do know what pain is.

I was taught that pain is subjective, that is pain is what the patient said it was. I work through ways of dealing with pain before the drugs come in.

Having said that a friend described labour and delivery to her husband "try jumping out of a third floor window and landing on your bike that's had the seat removed."

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