Risk of death and babies delivered by cesarean

Personally, as the recipient of an emergency c-section, women who choose to deliver by cesarean because of convenience offend me. I'm not sure I can put it into words. There is nothing more terrifying than suddenly not hearing your unborn child's heartbeat. One second it's there, and then as you try to push him out, it stops. Total silence. Even though you're totally consumed with the labor, you *hear* that silence. You watch as the team bolts into action to do everything to save your child's life.

For someone to choose to deliver by c-section because they don't want the unpredictability of a "regular" labor seems to me to trivialize what some of us have had to go through. I think it's the ultimate in selfishness, I really do. The best delivery, if all goes well, for both baby and mother is a vaginal delivery. There's a reason the baby gets squeezed through the birth canal: to get all that junk out of his or her lungs. There's a hormone that is secreted in a woman's brain when she delivers vaginally that isn't secreted when she delivers by c-section (I can't remember what it is). Some experts think that the hormone contributes to the bonding process.

I feel passionately about this. Like I said, I can't really express how offensive "c-sections of convenience" are for me. They just are.

For the record, I was in labor with my first for 26 hours before his heart beat stopped. He spent a day in the ICU before I got to see him. Luckily, he was fine.

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By the way, I would never confront a woman I knew who had a convenience c-section. If someone *asks* me for my opinion, though, I'm going to give it.

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My first birth was a c-section for failure to dilate and having my water broken with b-strep. The second birth, now two months ago, was a VBAC. I planned and worked hard for that VBAC, got a doula, did calming meditations, took up yoga again (and I wish I had time to join again...), watched what I ate - and ate more protein to prevent another pre-labor water break, I talked and worked with my doctors and still everytime I was in the office for a prenatal the question was always "Do you still plan on a trial of labor?" Not even "Do you still plan on a VBAC?" A trial of labor!

I was told another c-section would be the safest way for the baby to be born. Maybe!

I will say, now having experienced a c-section and vaginal delivery the c-section was superiorally easy and, at least for me, recovery was much faster. But I sure don't plan on having one again! I wish doctors had more faith in our bodies, it might help us have more faith ourselves and be more commited to the way we were built to work.

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Neonatal mortality rates being nearly twice than those for vaginal delivery would still put them at less than 2 per 1,000 births for C-section, if it's 1 death per 1,000 births for vaginal delivery. Not that it's trivial, since we are talking about babies' lives, but the risk is still very, very low.

For me, I had an emergency C-section. Maybe not as emergency as the one described above, but it wasn't planned and I was crushed. If I get pregnant again and we still live up here in the hinterlands, I will not be able to go through a vaginal birth in the hospital. They simply do not do VBACs up here, and I would not take the risk of going it alone. A midwife or doula would have to come from hours away. I'm not sure how many other women need to have a repeat, scheduled C-section. The risks of uterine rupture for someone who has had a prior C-section is also present, and at least as significant as the risks we're talking about in the article above. I've heard of these mythical people who just want to have C-sections for the convenience of it, but does anyone actually know someone like that? I think most of us just want to do what we think is for our babies, and minimize the risks.

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i too had to have an emergency c section with my first child at 30 weeks, her heart beat was there one min an gone the next, i know the feeling all too well an mine was premature. the feeling of not knowing what is goen on whats worng with your baby an if everything will be ok.
With my 2nd child it was 1/2 choice an the other was i was also told that it was the safest way so i took it not for the "convenience" of it but because i never wanted to have to go throu that again. An it could of happened, more than a 70% chance
Now im expecting my 3rd child an don't have a say in how i have it, wich yes it does bother me in a way that ill never have the knowledge of naturla birth but i just keep telling myself that i did what i felt was best for my unborn child.
i do say this if i could go back id of taken that chance because i do want to know what natural birth is all about.If you don't have to have one DONT it cheats u out of an experance of a lifetime.

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This is an interesting topic that always manages to get mothers all in a tizzy.

My first child was born by emergency c/s after 5 weeks on bedrest for preeclampsia. I went in at 38 1/2 weeks to be induced, which brought on the most horrendous back labor. While I was in labor, bf I even had the epidural, 3 women cycled through the room next door. At 4 cm, they gave me the epidural to try to help relax my body so labor would progress. After 24 hours of back contractions, which the epidural didn't even begin to ease, I pushed for 3 hours. She was transverse, which means she was laying on her left side, instead of face down, the preferred position, or even face up. They tried unsucessfully to turn her, her BP dropped, mine went through the roof, they performed a c/s. Incidentally, they didn't have time to try to give me an epidural or anything, so I felt the cut of the scalpel, the ripping of my uterus and the stapling.

As you can well imagine, I was not in a hurry to repeat the experience when I got pregnant 15 mos later. However, with my pregnancy history, the lack of space between pregnancies and the health issues I was still trying to resolve from the first pregnancy, I was considered high-risk. We discussed our options and chose the repeat scheduled c/s. My OB was pretty confident I was going to be on bedrest again and would have the need to deliver early. An induction greatly increases your risk of uterine rupture. So, I took the easy way out.

Except, I didn't. It turns out the OB was probably correct in his assumptions. I developed stroke-level BP literally overnight and developed HELLP sydrome and had to be placed on Magnesium sulfate and other yucky things. They had to rip my baby from my body at 25 weeks gestation, because if they didn't we were both going to die. I wouldn't have had time for a VBAC. I barely had the time it took for them to perform the c/s.

I think the important thing is the health of the baby and mother, not the means by which the baby arrives in the world. Someone could say a mother who attempts a VBAC is selfish. (I wouldn't, b/c I, too wanted one, and for pretty selfish reasons. When I was in labor with my first baby, pushing was the only thing that relieved my back contractions which were lengthy and so far off the chart, they practically had their own atmosphere!)

I don't feel cheated out of the *natural birthing experience*. I feel lucky and blessed that I have 2 wonderful, beautiful, precious babies, who without c/s would be dead.

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Offended by someone wanting to have a c-section? That's obnoxious. Trivializing what the women went through? I had preeclampsia and had to have an emergency c-section. (An emergency c-section is where you are knocked out and the doctor delivers your baby. An *unscheduled* c-section means you are conscious.)
Sure, some women may not have a valid reason for wanting a c-section, but many others may have been sexually abused or have any number of psychological conditions which make vaginal delivery adverse. I never wanted to deliver the traditional way. I hope the other blogger will reconsider her sad judgement of women who choose to have c-sections. The way a women delivers her baby should never be judged by anyone but her doctor or caretaker. There is no shame in wanting a c-section. How ridiculous. You never know what instigated that desire.

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At no time does a doctor or hospital have the right to force a woman into a cesarean. Even if they state "no", it is a woman's LEGAL right to refuse any procedure and if she is in labor, she cannot be refused from the hospital unless they have somewhere to transfer her TO. Women need to learn their rights rather than to continually say "My hospital does't allow me to use my vagina". They have no legal standing to force you to have unnecessary surgery.
www.ican-online.org

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I don't exactly know who decided a c-section was a "Cadillac delivery". I delivered my first child naturally with NO pain medication or epidural. The second had to be born c-section due to complications that almost cost my life and hers. I would GLADLY go all natural any day of the week! But, that is my opinion.

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I believe the issue is not about having a c-section because of a medical necessity, but that some women would choose to have major abdominal surgery to fore go the pain of natural childbirth.I had an emergency c-section for my first son five years ago. things did not go well for me. I would have loved to experience having a baby the good old fashioned way but it didn't work out. If my baby would not have been in jeopardy I would have let nature take it's course. I do believe that doctors should be required to infrom patients about the surgery they plan to have. It is major surgery and there are great risks involved. as in my case the operation left my uterus severely scarred on the inside. this was not the fault of the dr it was just my body's way of healing. and I think women need to realize that even though your outside incision heals wonderfully it can be much worse on the inside.women need to make careful decisions based on all the information from every aspect of giving birth from pain meds to actual delivery.

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