Natural birth vs caesarian

Poppie68

My first was a natural birth my 2nd ( twins) was an emergency section...I was up and about doing normal day to day things 4 days after my section.... My daughter had an emergency section and was in bed for 2 weeks as she had complications from the spinal..... People and experiences differ.

madmae

I have done both. With my natural births I felt human again within days. My section was a different matter. I also had 3 infections in the scar so on top of everything I was back and forth to the docs getting checked out and getting anti-biotics. I only stayed in 2 nights. Even though I was in a huge amount of pain I just couldn't handle all the noise on the ward. Relaxing it wasn't!! You also have to inject yourself afterwards as well. Having had gestational diabetes it wasn't a problem for me but if you don't like needles it could become problematic. After the op they do give you some pretty strong drugs and its not nice to pass those first few hours with your newborn in a drug induced haze needing to top your medication up every few hrs. And back home you do need to take a fair bit of painkillers as well. If I had had a choice I would have definitely never had a section but sadly it was a medical necessity. And now 3 yrs on there are still some parts of my tummy that are numb.

GwylimT

Lily-Rose wrote: »

No it's not! It's an operation for goodness sake! They don't even let you out of the hospital for 8-10 days after a C-section. At least not with the people I have known who've had them.

My point was that a natural birth can take months to recover from, and having a C-section can take just a couple of weeks to recover from.

My wife was discharged two days after her emergency c-section, keeping her in any longer would have been a complete waste of time.

Lucyxx

My friend had her first by emergency c section and recently had her second as a natural delivery as she didn't want to have to go through the recovery of a c section again. Even though she did get a tear with her natural delivery she said she would choose that every time and found it was a much nicer experience for the babies first few weeks.

I had my children 12 & 9 years ago, the first was emergency c section as she was in distress and the surgery/recovery hit me like a ton of bricks. I also remember feeling really resentful that it made me feel as though my time with her after the birth was ruined as everything was such a painful effort, stupid things like not being able to get to her quickly when she cried & snuggles in the chair for feeding being extremely painful and such a faff having to get pillows under her to cushion the wound etc. It was around 7 weeks before I felt strong enough to push the buggy for a good walk.

With my second I went for a VBAC as I didn't want the recovery again, but they thought my previous surgery womb scar was about to rupture so I had to have another emergency c section. I was absolutely fine with that as I knew what to expect recovery wise this time (and of course potentially life saving for baby and me!) However nothing prepared me for how difficult it was to look after my older child as well as a baby and have the recovery. I had to rely heavily on other people to help with my older child (she was nearly 3). If your first child is a lot older then that wouldn't be so much of a factor.

I am not having any more children now (it ended up I had other complications during the last surgery which scared me into no more babies) and can honestly say I would not choose a c section unless assessed to be medically needed right near the time. Then just go with it. It is great you are being open minded and exploring all options now though and will know what to expect if it comes to that. I believe the first time it hit me so hard was because I had absolute no idea what to expect of the recovery, I hadn't even considered having to have one and it was a massive shock to my system. That said some people do seem to be able to deal with the pain and sail through it. Best of luck with the new little one whatever happens

(Apologies that has ended up being an essay!)

Poppie68

GwylimT wrote: »

My wife was discharged two days after her emergency c-section, keeping her in any longer would have been a complete waste of time.

My daughter was discharged the next day....I spent 3 days after mine and that was 23 years ago.

ripplyuk

I don't have children but if I did, I'd definitely want a c-section. All of the women I know who had a natural delivery have some degree of incontinence ranging from mild to full blown double incontinence. Even the ones with a mild degree of it find it really restricts their life.

They have to wear pads constantly as even just running around with their kids, bending, coughing etc will make them wet themselves. I also noticed that they never laugh out loud, always trying to stifle it, because that also causes them to wet themselves. They're always paranoid about the smell. These things might seem small, but over time it has a significant impact. Another lady has a total prolapse of the bladder, caused by childbirth.

The only girl I know who doesn't have these problems is the one who had a c-section. It was a hassle for her not being able to drive or do much for weeks after but long term, it definitely seems better.
In an ideal world, every woman would be able to choose, but the NHS could never afford that.

GwylimT

Poppie68 wrote: »

My daughter was discharged the next day....I spent 3 days after mine and that was 23 years ago.

The only reason she had to stay was because she wasn't allowed to use her wheelchair for twenty four hours and then when she could they needed to monitor the incision for another twenty four hours.

pollyanna24

Lily-Rose wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek: How did you do that?!

And are you OK now.

I agree with the rest of your post completely. Some good points in there.

Crashed my car when 6 months' pregnant. I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. Tut tut. I went out the side window, but my belly was untouched. If I'd been wearing a seatbelt, well who knows?

My eldest was in the back of the car in a baby seat and was fine.

I am fine now, thank you.

pollyanna24

Lily-Rose wrote: »

No it's not! It's an operation for goodness sake! They don't even let you out of the hospital for 8-10 days after a C-section. At least not with the people I have known who've had them.

My point was that a natural birth can take months to recover from, and having a C-section can take just a couple of weeks to recover from.

Both times I was kicked out of the hospital on the third day.

Mrshaworth2b

38 weeks pregnant with my second and wish I hadn't read this thread for all the horror stories