Elective C-Section

This was a choice that I made. I get looks when I tell people I am having an elective c- section, but I just tell them it's the safest option for my baby and my situation. I am 32 and this is my first baby. Women above 30 have a harder time during birth than younger women and it is possible, but a c- section is a safe alternative, especially if you have a chronic illness. I have sciatica, so my ob worries about me going through the pain of labor to have to turn around and have an emergency c-section. She feels that would be a lot of stress on my body. Also, my baby is huge and she worries about him getting stuck. All of these are factors that effect your health. Yes, you want a healthy baby, but you also want a healthy mommy. My ob did warn me it's a major surgery and will come with extra healing time, but she believes the risks of surgery is not greater than the risk of stress an unplanned c-section would cause. And I think that's maybe a conversation you should have with your ob, is the risk worth it?

Everyone is different and only you can make the choice you believe it right for you. I’ll tell you a bit about my experience.

I went in to be induced on the Friday morning and ended in an emergency section on the Sunday night.

The induction process was very scary but every single step was explained thoroughly by the midwives.

I got a pessary on the Friday morning and I started having mild contractions throughout the day, I had a sweep and I was only 3cm, the midwives were expecting me to be a bit further on than that.

On the Saturday morning the midwives gave me the balloon catheter and my contractions ramped up and were closer together. Don’t get me wrong I was in pain but I was still able to walk, talk and eat.

On the Sunday morning at 6am the midwives broke my waters as I was around 5/6cm and I laboured on gas and air for the morning and then I got an epidural around 2pm.

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