In the seven months since I first wrote this, I have received a lot of comments from readers. I have received even more private e-mails; the majority from women who just wanted to say thanks for sharing my experience with my C-section, and they too, had a similar experience.
Not all comments have been positive, and I didn’t expect them to be. It seems the biggest “complaints” from the comments about this post, is that C-sections are not really like what I wrote about, and I am trying to scare women. Since there are a lot of comments, and I am sure not everyone reads all the comments and my replies before leaving a comment of their own, I wanted to clarify my viewpoint about this post, hopefully BEFORE the post is read.
This is a realistic account of MY C-section. There are certain aspects to a C-section that EVERY woman will experience, such as scaring, and increased chances of uterine rupture with future pregnancies. There are other aspects to this account which I experienced. These may or may not be experienced by every woman who has a C-section. Just like no two vaginal births are the same, no two C-sections are the same.
I agree and support emergency C-sections 100%, and they do save lives. However, as you will read, I believe that the medical community is over-using C-sections in non-medical emergency situations (such as breech births). I feel I need to clarify this point as well, because when I originally wrote the post, my goal was to inform women who may be facing a planned or elective C-section (not an emergency one), and to offer my viewpoint from my perspective, on what a C-section is like, since my experience with my C-section was not a emergency C-section.
I wrote this post to inform women who suspect there might be more to a C-section than what she is being told, like I was. That is the spirit of the post-to inform. Like the famous quote, “knowledge is power.” The more you know, the more informed decision you can make.
To the readers who feel I am scaring women, I am sorry my account of my C-section is scary. Honestly, it was pretty scary. There are countless TV shows, websites, books, magazines, Hollywood celebrities, and doctors who will tell you C-sections are not scary, are not painful, and they are nothing to worry about. That was not the reality I found at all. I do not want to sugar coat, or tone down my experience. If I were to do that, there wouldn’t be much point it writing about it.
So having said this, before you read the post, please be forewarned that this post could be scary. I am attempting to share what a real C-section was like. If that has the potential to scare you, then please think twice before reading it. If you are searching for information on what happens during a C-section, possible complications that could arise, pictures of the procedure, the recovery period, possible impact on the family, and general information on C-sections, and how the medical community using them, and feel this information would not scare you, than this may be something you would be interested in reading.
If you have a comment after the post, please feel free to comment. I read every comment, and try to respond when appropriate. Please know I will delete any overly disrespectful comment. You don’t have to agree with me, but please keep it civil.
Thank you.
Heather- A Mama’s Blog
This post has been several months in the making. I have been thinking about what I wanted to convey in writing a post about Cesarean sections, better known as C-sections, or even as a “C.”
As I thought about it, there were so many different angles to take. I thought about writing a very detailed researched post, but you can find a lot of those by doing a Google search on C-sections. I decided in the end, I was going to write what comes naturally from my personal research and experience of having a C-section.
My intent for writing this post is to convey the reality, which is not often mentioned, of women, their new babies, and families, endure from C-sections. It is not meant to judge or make any mother feel bad who has had a C-section. I write a lot of the things that I wished I had known before hand about C-sections, which I was not told. This post is only meant to inform, and bring to light, issues involved with C-sections, that as a woman, and a mother I seldom hear anyone (doctors included) talk about in our society.
- My C-Section
I had a C-section with my first birth, with Ryan, only because he was a breech baby, and refused to turn. I wasn’t very informed on other alternatives for turning breech babies at the time, other than the external version, and accepted having a C-section was the only way to give birth to my baby.
- Lack of Options
Unfortunately, it pretty much WAS my only alternative. I did not feel comfortable having a home birth being a first time mother, with a breech baby. Not to mention, there were zero doctors in my area who would attend the birth of a breech baby. This is despite living in a college area, with a number of top rated medical facilities. So we agreed to the C-section, but really what choice did we have?
It has always bothered me more alternatives are not available for birthing breech babies. I did not want a C-section, but it was my only option. Even a home birth isn’t always an option- in several states (mine included), it is actually against the law for a midwife to attend a breech birth! This isn’t to say it isn’t done, but if you know ahead of time your baby is breech, this could be problematic in finding a midwife who is comfortable attending a breech birth, and possibly be in violation of the law, and thus be putting her certifications and her practice in jeopardy.
Finding an OB these days, who will deliver a breech baby, is a joke at best- even though as I found out later, delivering breech babies vaginally is very safe, in the majority of situations. In my opinion, this is a HUGE failure in the medical community to have only one option for a mother facing a breech birth- an automatic C-section.
- Major Surgery
C-sections are MAJOR abdominal surgery. The pain is agonizing. I never experienced greater pain in my life, than after my surgical C-section. Even going through natural labor and contractions with a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) birth of my second child for eleven hours, the pain was not as bad as it had been with the C-section.
The best way I can describe it is imagine your most painful, intense, contraction, and multiply it by at least 50 to 100%, depending on your pain tolerance. Now, realize the pain does not go away, after 30 seconds or a minute like the pain during contractions does. It is constant and never-ending. That level of pain is with you for DAYS (not seconds or minutes). Imagine your insides feeling like they are going to split open for several weeks, after the surgery, every time you laugh, cry, sneeze, get out of bed, stand up, or move too fast.
- Media Portrayal of C-Sections
It is also very disturbing to me how some avenues of the media, and celebrities portray C-sections. I have seen on numerous TV shows- including a prime time, number one show, (named Grey’s Anatomy, to be specific), where women who refuse a C-section, because they desire to have a NORMAL, vaginal birth, are portrayed as fanatic, and ridiculous. There is another show, The Baby Story, which shows many elective C-section births.
As a new mother-to-be, and even before I was pregnant, I watched The Baby Story. In my case, seeing so many C-section births, almost made it seem like it was a normal, healthy, alternative to giving actual birth. I NEVER saw the downside: pain, infections, and inability to get back to regular life after a C-section, shown on The Baby Story.
It is almost glamorized by the media when a famous celebrity has a C-section. “Too posh to push,” is how they sum it up. Whether that is the case or not, it is misleading to millions of women, who are faced with the same decision. What is NEVER mentioned is even if a celebrity chooses to have an elective C-section; she has resources available to her, which a normal woman does not. The celebrity can hire nurses, nannies, chefs, and cleaning services to take over for her while she recovers from surgery, when an average woman cannot. The strain and time it takes to recover from a C-section puts the average family under enormous stress.
Yet, the media continues to glorify and glamorize C-sections. It even seems like they make a special point to say, “Actress A had her baby (or gave birth), born by Cesarean section.” I have yet to see, hear, or read, “Actress A had her baby, born by normal, vaginal birth.”
I certainly never gave much thought to what really was involved with a C-section. I honestly thought, since I had seen so many women on The Baby Story, give birth by C-section, and they seemed fine, and never mentioned any drawbacks, certainly I could handle it.
- What A C-Section Is Really Like
Naive? Absolutely. C-sections are NOT as they are portrayed on “reality” TV shows, prime time TV shows, or by the media when reporting a famous woman had a C-section. Maybe if I hadn’t been bombarded by all these positive messages about C-sections, I would have thought twice about it. Maybe if I had, had someone actually tell me what a C-section really was like, I could have prepared better. Maybe if I could have found in a mainstream pregnancy book, the truth about C-sections, I would have known what I was getting into. But I didn’t, and at the time, all the information I had, said C-sections were no big deal.
C-sections ARE a big deal. So big, your life will never be the same. Here are some of the REAL outcomes from C-sections:
You may lose precious time with your newborn baby. Time that you will NEVER get back, because you are doped up on strong narcotic pain medications for at least 24 hours- usually longer- after the birth. Your baby might be groggy after birth in most cases, because the epidural and or spinal tap medication used to numb you, is in their system too.
Instead of spending the first few moments after birth holding, nursing, and bonding, with your baby, your hands may be tied down. Because of this, you probably won’t be able to hold your baby during this time, while you are being stitched back up.
Your baby may be taken out the operating room from you, while your uterus and incision site are being stitched. In my case, my hands were still restrained. You will probably have to wait at least 30 minutes after the birth (usually longer), before you can really hold your baby for the first time.
If you are lucky, your baby will want to breastfeed, even though he/she could still be groggy from the birth. If not, then starting breastfeeding becomes a much bigger challenge. As any new mother will tell you, breastfeeding a brand new baby can be hard at first. Now imagine trying to position your baby to nurse, but you can’t have your new baby’s feet, or body anywhere near your incision because you can’t risk having them push, or kick you in that area. You can use a pillow to block the site, but it becomes another aspect to figure out.
By having a C-section, your chances for hemorrhage, post-partum infection, internal injuries, post-partum depression, breastfeeding problems, reproductive problems, and maternal death, are increased than if you gave birth vaginally.
By having an elective C-section your baby’s chances for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), physician caused prematurity (since they can only guess, what the correct due date is), persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH), are cut by the surgeon’s scalpel two to six percent of the time, and are less likely to be breastfed, are increased than babies who are born vaginally.
In most cases, you will have metal staples in your incision for several days after the surgery. I thought my tummy looked liked Frankenstein’s forehead. It was so awful I couldn’t even look at it.
Your uterus will have permanent scar tissue, which is at a higher risk for rupture with future pregnancies.
You will have an scar just above your pubic bone for the rest of your life. Your stomach will more than likely hang over your scar, known as “belly flap,” for the rest of your life. Your incision / scar area will probably be numb for several months, several years, or even for the rest of your life.
Your birthing options with future pregnancies are SEVERELY limited, after you have a C-section. There is a saying, “once a C-section, always a C-section.” VBAC is a very safe choice for the majority of women, but VBAC’sare discouraged and you will be lucky to find a doctor and a hospital that supports this choice. In some states, it is against the law for midwives to attend VBAC births. In all actuality, you will be pressured to have a repeat C-section with future pregnancies, even though with every subsequent C-section, the uterine rupture rate increases, especially during pregnancy as the uterus expands. Usually another C-section is the only choice offered to you, even if that isn’t the best choice for you, and your baby.
You will probably have a longer recovery, after a C-section than if you had given birth vaginally. You can’t drive for usually 10 days. You are sore, and it can be a struggle to just get up and move, let alone walk, sit-up, sit, and lie down. It is recommended that you don’t climb any stairs for two weeks-too bad if your house has stairs- it can be very painful, every time you have to go up or down your stairs. You don’t dare laugh or cough for several days, because it just hurts too much. You may only have a limited amount of pain medication, because most doctors want to “wean” you off the strong pain narcotics a few days after the C-section. Keep in mind, this is all while you have a brand new baby to take care of as well.
(Many of these facts in the above blue boxes can be found on Childbirth Connection’s page on C-sections.)
- Recovery Time and Complications
Being a new mother is one of the most challenging life experiences. We rise to the task, but when you are trying to recover from a MAJOR surgery, YOU need to rest, and be taken care of. That does not happen after a C-section, for the majority of women. Maternal instincts take over, and we need to be with our babies. We push our pain, and discomforts to the background, in order to take care of our baby, and family.
This only adds to the recovery time, and often results in women “overdoing it,” which leads to ruptured scars, which leads to infected scars, which leads to another hospital stay, which leads back to square one, all over again. It can be a vicious cycle.
The general thought is it usually takes about 3 weeks, to recover from vaginal birth, and 6 weeks to recover from a C-section, IF everything goes well.
That was not true for me at all. It took me about 12 weeks to feel almost 100% again- meaning I didn’t have pain that kept me from doing daily activities. That is 3 months! If I were to count the time that it took for my scar to heal, and to not feel any pain whatsoever- I would say NEVER. Even now, four years later, if I move at an odd angle, I will get a weird pain in my abdomen, that I never had before having a C-section.
After the VBAC birth I had with my second baby, I felt back to normal, after about a month. Yes, there was pain, discomfort, and stitches involved with a vaginal birth, but it was SO, SO, SO much more manageable and less painful than a C-section. Having given birth both by a C-section and vaginally, I would pick a vaginal birth every time- without hesitation. As one of my friends who also had a C-section, and a vaginal birth said, “The worse vaginal birth, beats the best C-section anytime.” No wonder we were made to give birth vaginally, not surgically!
- Risks Outweigh The Benefits
C-sections are a medical tool, and should only be performed when absolutely necessary. C-sections DO have a place in obstetrics, and I have a friend who would have died, if she had not gotten an emergency C-section.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says anytime a country’s C-section rate rises above 15%, then the risks outweigh the benefits the surgery could provide. In the US, the C-section rate is 30.2% of all births. Just 100 years ago in the US, almost every baby born, was born at home! What has happened? Clearly, something is very wrong, and thousands of women are receiving unnecessary surgical C-sections, where the risks are outweighing the benefits.
- The “Hidden” High Costs of C-Sections
Another aspect that is hardly ever mentioned is the financial aspect and costs to a family. Obviously a C-section is more expensive than a vaginal birth. My C-section in 2004 cost 50% more than my vaginal hospital birth in 2006. That was with no complications- just a “by-the-book C-section”. Even with insurance, a family pays substantially more for a C-section, and that is just for the procedure! Most women have to stay in the hospital for a minimum of three days after a C-section, compared to anywhere from 12-48 hours with a vaginal birth. I had to stay for five days. Not only do you get charged for your care, but you get charged for the care your baby gets too.
If you factor in the extra long recovery time, the costs of hiring some household help, extra doctor and or hospital visits due to infection, pain medication, extra time the father may take off of work, to name a few- it is astounding how expensive a C-section is, and how fast it all adds up.
For a woman who has to return to work, 6, 8, or 12 weeks after giving birth, she may not even be fully recovered from surgery, before she has to take on the demands from a job as well.
- Ignorance Is Not Bliss
I believe that every woman who is faced with the possibility of having a C-section (emergency situation aside) should be given ALL of the information on the surgical procedure including the emotional and financial aspects beforehand. Ignorance is NOT bliss- it just keeps you from having to face the reality of this surgical procedure until you are in the thick of it, with nothing left to do, but see it and its consequences through.
During my recovery, I was in so much pain, and realized that I didn’t even know why, until my husband (who had watched the surgery) said, “If you had seen what they did, you would know why you are in pain.”
Then it hit me that I had no idea, what they even did during the C-section. They never show that on The Baby Story either. I have decided to include several REAL pictures from actual C-sections that I found by doing Google and Yahoo searches. Believe it or not, pictures like this were very hard to find. There just aren’t that many pictures of actual C-sections out there. I spent a lot of time trying to find pictures with the goal of showing what really happens during a C-section.
The pictures are graphic in nature- that is the reality of a C-section. I have provided the link to the site where you can view the pictures as well. There will be descriptions of what the picture is of.
Since some will prefer not to look at the pictures, I will include my closing comments now, instead of at the end of the pictures.
- Conclusion
Despite what we are told in the media, C-sections are NOT glamorous, or posh. If you choose to view the pictures below, you will see what it really is.
The emotional and financial toll it can take on you and your family is massive. Ironically, a lot of women choose C-sections, because they think it is a lot less painful than vaginal birth. You will have no pain during the C-section itself, because you are numb from usually the chest down. But, a surgical C-section birth is not a way to avoid pain during birth. Ironically, in most cases, it will cause you substantial amounts of more pain in the long run.
The end result of a C-section is beautiful- a new, hopefully healthy baby and mother. For me, that was my goal. But I never realized beforehand, as I wrote, you lose a lot of time with your newborn when recovering from the surgery. Time that you only get one chance at. If you have to return to work, as you know, your time is not endless with your baby, and that time goes by in a blink of an eye.
No mother I know, would willingly give up her precious time with her new baby, to attend to surgical dressings, be “out of it” due to pain medication, maybe miss out on breastfeeding, if they choose to do so, raise their risk of post-partum infection, and depression, and pain. Yet, that is what happens to one degree or another, with EVERY C-section.
If you prefer not to look at the pictures, I hope some of this post will help you, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a cousin, or anyone, who needed more information and truth on what is involved in a C-section.
I know first hand that sometimes a C-section is your only option. In these cases, I hope some of what I wrote may help in giving you more information on what to expect, so you can prepare better than I did. If you are considering a C-section that is not medically necessary, or you have other options, I hope if you have read this far, that maybe you are reconsidering having a c-section.
While writingthis post, I decided to write another post in the near future with ideas for mothers who are preparing for a C-section. I plan to include information on things she can do to prepare for it before hand. I also will include ideas and tips she can do post-partrum, to help with the healing process, pain, and the overall transition back to family life. E-mail me if you have any tips or suggestions, you would like to share.
Every woman deserves to know ALL of the facts, before facing a major surgery, especially one with the goal of bringing a new life into the world. Doctors should take into account ALL the factors, pre-AND post-surgery, on how C-sections can affect their patients and their families. The entire medical community (doctors, hospitals, etc.), should start offering vaginal breech baby birth options. Finally, C-sections should stop being glamorized by the media as a healthy alternative to vaginal birth. It is very dishonest and misleading.
I sincerely hope by sharing my experience, and facts that usually aren’t disclosed about C-sections, it can help women who are facing C-sections, to make an informed decision.
I would love to hear your comments and feedback.
- Additional Information
I urge anyone facing a C-section to read the article, “Cesearean Birth in a Culture of Fear.” It is written by Wendy Ponte, and it appeared in the September/October 2007 issue of Mothering magazine, and is the best article I have read on the subject to date. If you can get the actual magazine, there were some very good illustrations, showing the C-section procedure. I tried to find these illustrations on-line, but was unsuccessful. I was able to find something along the same lines, in a slide show presentation, with ten drawings from The New York Times, showing the C-section procedure. (These drawings are not graphic- they are what you would see in a newspaper.)
************************WARNING!!!!! ********************************
************DO NOT READ OR SCROLL ANY FARTHER IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO VIEW C-SECTION PICTURES- GRAPHIC IN NATURE************
Vertical incision (Note: most incisions today are transverse (bikini) incisions. The reason for the vertical incision was the location of fibroids)
Low transverse (bikini cut) incision in the early stages of being cut
Baby being delivered through the uterine incision
Uterus during a c-section, outside the body, after the baby has been born
Above pictures from Jefferson Hospital.
C-section in progress- notice the baby’s hand or foot? Notice how far apart the incision is now? Notice the clamp on the very top of the uterus to keep it “open?” Four of these clamps are usually used- one on the top, bottom, and one on each side to keep the uterus open. Notice how many layers of muscle, tissue, and tendons are cut through? Notice how wide the uterous is cut? This is why there is so much pain after the surgery- your uterus, muscles, tendons, and tissues are literally pried apart
Another picture- they will ”work” and pry the baby out by tugging on his foot, until more of the baby’s body is exposed, and then will pull the baby out.
Above pictures at TheFetus.net. There are some more pictures from this series, but it looks like this was a c-section because of a complication. Usually the bladder is held in place with an instrument, and there is a chance of bladder damage from this.
Removing the staples from a C-section incision.
There is also a picture of a new C-section scar held together with staples, and more post-partum C-section scars, including verticle ones, in this gallery at About.com .
Mother 1: C-section scar 2 days after the surgery, 20 year-old mother
Mother 1: (The same mother as in picutre above), her C-section scar, 11 weeks after the surgery
Mother 2: The C-section overhang (“belly flap”)- this is after the first c-section (third pregnancy), this 28-year old mother had, one year after the surgery
Picture from Terra, (a mother who read this post and sent me some of her C-section pictures) of her C-section incision
Picture 1 of Terra’s Infection at Incision Site
Picture 2 of Terra’s Infection at Incision Site
Mother 2: (picture 2) Same mother as the above picture; side view
Mother 3: Picture of scar, more than 3 years after C-section (it is the second line, towards the bottom-not the thin red line)
Mother 4: Pictures of infected C-section scar, 3 to 4 months after the surgery, during this 38 year-old mother’s
fifth round of antibiotic treatments for the infection
Above pictures from http://www.caesarean.org.uk/ScarPictures.html#group1. There are several more pictures of C-section scars at this site, in various stages of healing.
My scar- 4 years after C-section.
Another picture of my scar. On the right end of the scar, you can see how it looks indented. A few of my staples became loose, while I was in the hospital, so the skin there was open, while healing. It left a lot larger scar on that end of the incision, and tends to “cave in.” I doubt this will ever go away. The marks higher up on my stomach, are the marks from my pants. 
(All of these photos, the ones of myself included, are unedited. They have been reduced in size, however so they could fit on the site. )
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Crunchy Domestic Goddess says:
thank you for your detailed, well-researched post. i can tell you put a great deal of time and energy into it. you brought up a lot of things i know i never would’ve thought about either – like breastfeeding possibly being harder because you can’t let the baby anywhere near your incision. that thought never even crossed my mind.
also, it was very interesting to see the photos. i’d never seen a baby born via c-section before. wow!
i’m glad that your c-section has made you such a strong advocate and i hope that by sharing your experiences, others may make a truly informed decision.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
New mommy with C-section says:
Hello,
I really appreciate your highly detailed explanation of your c-section experience. It is exactly how I feel today. I found out my baby was in breech presentation when I was 38 weeks and the doctor said the same thing that they can try to turn the baby or I need to have a C-section. I was horrified because I felt like I did not have many options. The truth of the matter is I didn’t even have the chance to turn the baby because that same week I went into labor and when I got to the hospital I was 3 cm and I could only have a C-section.
I was angry inside, and was overwhelmed by emotions. Now, after almost three weeks I am beginning to accept what happened to me. I realize my body will never be the same again but I try to look at the outcome which is my healthy son.
It does feel good to read your blog and know that other women are speaking out because C-sections should be avoided as much as possible. Thank you
February 15th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
amamasblog says:
New Mommy,
Thanks for your comment- I am so happy that you have a heathly son, and that is the ultimate goal.
I think more women like yourself, are realizing that their C-sections were their only options and even though we are happy our babies are healthy, we still wish more options were and had been available to us.
I believe the only way to change this trend is for those of us who do feel this way, is to start speaking up and sharing our experiences.
If you ever have another baby, l’d encourage you to look into VBAC- it is very safe usually for the majority of women. My OB told me for women who had a previous C-section only because their baby was breech (no other complications) the success rate for VBAC was around 85%. I am happy to say I was in that statistic, and it kind of made everything come “full circle” for me- I felt like I had at least the opportunity to give my body a chance to give birth.
Congratulations again on your son. Please take it easy, and give yourself plenty of time to heal and to rest. I think taking care of yourself too, the weeks after a C-section are key to having a healthy recovery.
I hope you will continue to check in here, and let me know how your recovery is going.
February 16th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Kim says:
I had a very positive outcome with both sections. You can hardly see my scar at all. It is true about the hanging skin… but for me it’s probably because both my babies were over 9 lbs and I’m only 5’1.
Both of my children were very alert after the surgery, and I was able to hold both of them in the operating room. Perhaps it’s different in Canada. At no point were my arms tied to the OR table.
While I agree that sections should not become the norm, I think each person will have a different experience. I had virtually no pain for my second section. They send you home with a wonderful med that’s an anti-inflam and pain killer. It was great!
I don’t regret either birth, and am just happy that I have to healthy children… regardless of how they came into the world.
February 19th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
feedingtimeatthezoo says:
I was thinking of this post the other day when I was laying in the hospital and they mentioned the possibility of an emergency-C if the baby started looking bad. I was totally open to whatever it would have taken to make sure bb was OK…but…glad I avoided it all the same!
February 21st, 2008 at 9:31 pm
The Business of Being Born - My Review « A Mama’s Blog says:
[...] for me, and I realized how angry I have been about Ryan’s birth. I have written about my C-section before, but in summary, the only reason I had to have a C-section with Ryan was because he was [...]
February 28th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Maya's Mom says:
I know that you have full control over the responses on your website however, I feel that your sight scares mothers who have no choice but to have a c-section. Therefore, I would like to share with those mothers, that a c-section is not that bad. I had one in April of 2006 and although recovery was somewhat painful and long. It was not horrible. Infact, I took no pain medication after 5 days ( I was breastfeeding) and my cut healed very well!! They no longer use staples but a bonding glue. You can hardly see the cut and I do not have a mushroom stomach. Every womens experience is different with the majority of women having a good experience with a c-section. The pictures of the lady with the staples is not a picture that represents c-sections today (2008).
March 1st, 2008 at 3:36 am
amamasblog says:
Maya’s Mom,
Thanks for you comments and my intent was not to “scare” any mother, but to offer my story, of my C-section, just like you offered some of your experience with a C-section.
I totally agree with you that some people have wondeful experiences with C-sections. However, one doesn’t really know what their experience will be until AFTER the fact. Even with subsequent C-sections, you have no way of knowing if the second, third, etc. C-section will be wonderful or not- with any surgery there is always a risk of complications.
I have received several e-mails from other women who have chosen not to leave a public comment telling me they too, have had hard recoveries and less than wonderful experiences with their C-sections. One mother who has had four C-sections also pointed out that she has two different scars as well.
Of course I would hope any mother who has to have a C-section has a great experience with it, but personally, those seem to be far and few between. I just heard from a mother who had a C-section three weeks ago, and said she was having a very difficult recovery, and was also having some bonding issues with her baby.
I am glad to hear that they aren’t using staples so much- I still know people that have had staples though, as recently as December 2007. Perhaps more doctors will start using the bonding glue in the future. However, the fact still remains that a C-section causes a scar, which can affect different women in different ways.
My intent for the post was to alert women of some of the issues and complications that they may encounter when they have a C-section. I felt a lot of the information I included in the post was not information that is readily given to women beforehand.
In making any decision about our health, and especially when dealing with bringing a new baby into the world, we should have ALL the facts, information, and possible outcomes disclosed before the surgery.
While having a wonderful experience is certainly a possible outcome (which is great), also having complications and not a wonderful experience is also a possible outcome.
Personally, I always heard about all the wonderful experiences and when I had less than that, it was devastating. Part of my goal in this post is to let women know if they do have complications and have less than an ideal C-section, they are not alone. Also, complications do happen. We don’t want them to, but there are very realistic chances with a C-section that complications can arise hours, days, weeks, months, and even years after.
March 1st, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Amelia says:
Great post! I couldn’t agree more- there isn’t enough information disclosed on the complications involved with c-sections.
March 6th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Kim says:
They still use staples here. In fact, I think bonding glue is more risky. The nurses are don’t like the idea of glue at all. Just hope for a healthy delivery, regardless of the method.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:08 am
amamasblog says:
Kim,
Thanks for you comment on the bonding glue. I have done no research on it at all, and was just going off what Maya’s Mom said about it. I’ll have to research it and write my findings in a follow up post.
March 7th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Green Tip(s) of the Week #16 - Gift wrap ideas (and a giveaway) | Crunchy Domestic Goddess says:
[...] win and to check out A Mama’s Blog. She discusses everything from attachment parenting to the reality of c-sections, from household projects to life with her two sweet boys. [...]
March 15th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Suburban Oblivion says:
Not having had a c-section, I can’t speak from experience about the topic. That said however, the c-section rate is high enough, I know plenty of people who have had them, and every experience will be different. I know women who had terrible experiences with pain and infection, and I know women who only needed pain pills for 24 hours afterwards and had no problems with infection, breastfeeding, or anyone else. There are so many factors there that influence things.
I think in the end it comes down to picking a GOOD Dr. and preparing yourself for every possibility. Ask what their c-section rate is, and under what circumstances they perform them. I do think a lot of c-secs are done when they could have been avoided, BUT I refuse to villify them based on how many lives are saved due to them.
March 17th, 2008 at 9:22 am
rebecca says:
Unfortunately this is in part an ill-informed account of what a Caesarean section is and is for.
It is unusual for a woman to have her hands restrained in theatre, and most doctors and midwives encourage cuddling, skin-to-skin contact and even feeding whilst the procedure is being completed.
Also, the spinal/epidural medicine DOES NOT ‘dope’ the baby in the least which is one of the reasons this form of anaesthesia is preferred.
I have serious doubts that the picture of the 20-year-old woman is one after FIVE years – more likely FIVE DAYS – you can see that the scar is very pink, that there are still small punture marks from the staples and that in fact there is vertical gum on the skin from the Steristrips (medical tapes) still stuck on the skin.
Of course, no woman should have a Caesarean section if it is not indicated, but your account here only serves to MISINFORM and FRIGHTEN women who may choose or be required to have a section.
I feel very disappointed that there are women out there who have a misguided view of (what is it?) feminism or female empowerment or choice and actually serve to reduce women’s choice and to creat fear and distrust of the nurses and doctors trying to help them.
Please dear readers, use your own intelligence to see that fearmongering only serves to weaken our sex, not strengthen it.
March 23rd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Rebecca,
Here is the link to the picture from the site that says it is 5 years after the surgery. It is about half way down the page. http://www.caesarean.org.uk/ScarPictures.html#group1
After looking at it again, it says the photos are after 11 weeks and 5 years. I was assuming the top group of photos were at 11 weeks, and the bottom set of photos were after 5 years- just seemed like it made sense. After closer review, I do tend to agree with you that the top set of photos are more than likely the ones that are after 5 years and the bottom set of photos in this group are the ones after 11 weeks. I am going to revise the caption to this effect, because I do want as medically accurate post as possible. Thank you for bringing this oversight to my attention.
I want to respond to your comment as well that “the spinal/epidural medicine DOES NOT ‘dope’ the baby in the least which is one of the reasons this form of anaesthesia is preferred.”
With all due respect, I disagree with you on this point. I have read numerous articles and sources which say epidurals and spinals can affect the baby’s alertness, and can make a newborn overly sleepy. Like I said in the beginning of this post, it is not a detailed, medical post, but here is just one of the drawbacks listed from childbirth connection.org, regarding epidurals, “can cause adverse behavioral effects on the newborn.” Not every baby will be affected by an epidural/spinal, but the possibility that they could, does exist. http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10190#involved)
On that note, it is NOT my goal to misinform and frighten. I have said before my intent for the post was to alert women of some of the issues and complications that they may encounter when they have a C-section. I felt a lot of the information I included in the post was not information that is readily given to women beforehand.
Furthermore I stated that a lot of this post was based on MY experience with a C-section. I state in my post that sometimes a C-section *IS* the only option. I feel it is important that women, who are faced with having a C-section, should have ALL the information at least presented to them good and bad, regarding C-sections, so they can make an informed choice.
In my experience, and what seems like a lot of others experiences (based from some of the comments here, and private e-mails I have received), none of the negative outcomes were discussed before hand with them. Or they are quickly brushed over, never discussed in any detail.
How many women *may* have decided a C-section wasn’t for them, if they had been given accurate information from their doctors and caregivers beforehand?
I have had a C-section, and what I am finding is most women (myself included) trust their doctors, nurses, and hospitals BEFORE the C-section. However, once complications arise women feel like they were misled by these healthcare providers because the realistic aspect that complications can and do arise, were not fully disclosed to them before the procedure.
Obviously if this doesn’t bother a woman, she is free to choose to have another C-section and speak to whomever she chooses about her experience with her C-section. For those of us who do feel let down and misguided after our C-sections, we are also free to choose not to have another C-section, and we can speak about our experiences as well.
Women (and everyone) have the RIGHT to UNDERSTAND and QUESTION any procedure being done on their bodies. If they don’t know the questions to ask, how will they get accurate answers? If the healthcare providers don’t disclose potential realistic complications of C-sections, how can we say that a woman is making an informed decision? Plainly put-we can’t.
Quite frankly, I DO find it fearful that it doesn’t seem like most doctors and hospitals in general, choose to disclose the complications in detail that could arise because of a C-section. Why aren’t these potential complications discussed in detail with mothers facing a C-section?
Can we really be afraid of something that is not realistic or we know not to be true? Fear is a tool and an instinct that we have for good reason- we usually avoid, or seek to work out, what we are fearful of. If a woman is fearful of potential complications that can arise from a C-section, maybe it is her intuition telling her it may in her best interest to investigate the procedure further, or it may be in her best interest not to have a C-section. If she knows it is the best way for her to have her baby, despite the potential complications, then she is not fearful. This quote sums it up: “Your mind knows only some things. Your inner voice, your instinct, knows everything. If you listen to what you know instinctively, it will always lead you down the right path.” (Henry Winkler- Actor)
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
rebecca says:
Thank you for clarifying your position, and I note that the picture that you have amended has been listed twice on that page. Indeed it is the first woman pictured, and on that caption it appears that the scar is 13 days old, which differs from its later label. To my eye, the picture is more consistent with 13 days after surgery rather than 11 weeks for the reasons I outlined above.
I agree wholeheartedly that women should be fully informed about the risks of Caesarean sections or epidural analgesia etc before consenting, but there may be grave risks for mother and baby if either of these interventions are not employed. Women should be informed of the risks of NOT proceeding with Caesarean section too. Presumably you were informed of these risks which is why you consented to the section.
Doctors and nurses have an obligation to not only ‘do no harm’ to the patient from their intervention (such as a Caesar), but they also have an obligation not to allow an unreasonable level of risk from not performing the section. What level of risk to you and your baby should your doctor accept before s/he suggests a Caesarean? Maternal and neonatal mortality in the developed world is a fraction of what it was 50 years ago.
I understand the disappointment at not experiencing a natural (or non-surgical) birth – after all, a Caesarean section is not something little girls think of when they want to be a Mummy. However, they also do not imagine burying a stillbirth or being a fulltime carer of their child for the whole of their life either. In your case, a Caesarean section was recommended in order to reduce these risks to you and your child. Of course, there are cases when a vaginal birth would have been fine and Caesarean was a disaster, but the converse occurs too. Scaring women from Caesarean sections, or creating unneccesary fear in them does no service to women at all. I do not generally accept as gospel the wisdom from a television actor. Telling people that their ‘inner voice’ will see them through is setting them up for failure when they fail to predict the unpredictable. To my mind, this is just another way we fail to support people through their trauma and instead blame the victim for not being able to ‘see’ or ‘sense’ their future loss, harm or hurt.
I am glad that it appears that despite the emotional and physical trauma of having had a Caesarean section that you and the baby have emerged (relatively) unscathed. I wonder if there are other women out there who lost their children or who are having to care for severely disabled (but nonetheless very much loved) children who would love to have the luxury to mourn the pain and scar of a Caesarean section and be nursing a healthy child. I sometimes think that because birth is so safe now (compared to historically) we focus on these relatively minor side effects of what is essentially a good outcome.
In some ways we forget that the hospital staff are there to actually help us, NOT to misinform or harm us. Some may see it as a shame that childbirth has become so medicalised, but without this medicalisation, can we guarantee such safety in childbirth? I am not sure. The vast majority of women could deliver in a field without as much as another person to act as an accoucher, but for those women who were always going to get into trouble then we need to have a system in place to save them and their babies.
You have said that women trust the hospital staff *before* the section, but grow to mistrust them afterwards when complications develop. Would you trust them more if no complications developed? Do you really believe that the people who work in these jobs working terrible hours really want something bad to happen to you? That they are conspiring against you because they want you to have an ugly scar and to experience pain and an infection? Is this really likely? Or is it more likely that they recommended the Caesarean because they were truly concerned about the health of you and the baby, and the (relatively minor) effects you have experienced are sadly a byproduct of giving you the safest means of delivery. How much trust would you have in them if they did not recommend the Caesar and your baby died?
I am constantly disappointed at the way in which women try to undermine each other especially with regard to the business of childbirth. We talk about women helping each other and being strong for each other, we try to encourage our daughters not to let a man walk all over her, that she is as intelligent and powerful as any man and that she should and will have the same opportunites as men. We treat men who are sexist or misogynist with derision. Yet I cannot understand why women cannot be more encouraging and supportive of each other when it comes to birth and the choices they make leading up to and during the process of childbirth. We are made to feel inferior if we accepted analgesia during labour (especially epidural), we are ‘cop-outs’ if we elect to have a Caesarean section, we are failures if we cannot birth a child vaginally, and we try to frighten other women who may have no option but to have a Caesarean.
Caesarean sections are major surgery, there is no doubt. I am sure that there will be cases of women who are dissatisfied with the outcome after a section, as you are. Remember though that the countless emails you have received are not a representation of all the women who have undergone Caesarean. It is only the dissatisfied who come to the internet to seek others. The vast majority of women who have had a section are happy and healthy, and possible grateful too. These women are out there but rarely email you.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:32 am
A Mama's Blog says:
Rebecca,
I don’t think doctors and nurses are out to harm anyone, BUT they are confined by the hospital procedures, and the fear of being sued.
The ONLY reason a C-section was recommended to me, was because my baby was breech, and the doctors don’t attend breech births anymore- at least it is very rare here in the USA for them to do so. The reason they don’t, is fear of litigation. So when they are confined, and have to work under guidelines like this, how can they make the best decision for their patients?
My doctor told me flat out delivering a vaginal breech baby is not any more “dangerous” than a regular vaginal birth. I had not other complications where a C-section would have been “needed’ other than my baby was in the breech presentation. But because medical schools aren’t even teaching breech vaginal delivery anymore, women with breech babies are automatically given the “choice” of a C-section. Unless they can happen to find a doctor relatively close to them or a midwife (providing the state they live in allows midwives to attend breech births), they are out of options. A C-section is the *only* way they can deliver their baby in the hospital. What kind of choice is that? Assuming you do want the expertise of a doctor and nurses, it is that, or find another place to have your baby.
I refuse to believe no matter how many medically necessary C-sections there are, that it is in the best interest of *every* woman with a breech baby to have an automatic C-section, just for that reason. That is a *major* flaw in the birthing system in the US. I just had a friend who was told she would be delivering via C-section, ONLY because her baby was breech. This standard procedure for delivering babies because they are breech is not in the best interest of women and their babies every time.
Ideally, I would like to see hospitals offering a CHOICE- a real choice to women, not in medically necessary cases where a C-section IS the best option, but in cases like where a woman has no other complications or problems, and the only reason she is being told she has to have a C-section is because the doctors and hospitals are practicing defensive medicine. If we never make our dissatisfaction with C-sections known, how can we expect this situation ever to improve?
Women were flocking out of hospitals in droves in the US in the 1970’s; because of the way they were being treated there. Fathers were not allowed in delivery rooms, babies were not allowed to room in with their mothers, and were only allowed to breastfeed every 4 hours among other things. Eventually the hospitals changed their procedures when they realized they were losing patients and money. The mothers and families who were not satisfied with the birthing experience then, made it known, and policies and procedures were changed. We are still seeing a lot of those improvements today in hospitals, where fathers can attend the birth, babies and mothers are roomed together, and mothers can breastfeed on demand.
I have stated several times that sometimes a C-section is medically necessary and is the only option and the safest option. I have nothing against any woman who has had a C-section, for whatever reason. That is her decision. I am not judging them, or trying to “undermine” them. I am trying to bring to light issues and complications that can arise from C-sections, whether they are deemed medically necessary or not.
I wholeheartedly believe that every woman does have instincts that can guide her in making the best decision for her and for her baby. I certainly don’t think everything Henry Winkler says is “gospel,” but his quote is applicable when listening to your instincts.
Like you poined out, women will come to this post because they are dissatisfied with their C-section experience and they are seeking answers and possibly hoping things can change so when they have another baby, or their friends, or even their daughters, have babies, they won’t have to have the bad experience that they had when giving birth by C-section. If nothing else, I hope they realize that they are not alone, and not every C-section ends up being a good experience for every woman.
I can say wholeheartedly, if I knew ahead of time what I wrote about in the post, I would have seriously considered not having my breech baby at the hospital. I would have pursued a midwife. The realistic possibilities of the complications involved with a C-section were not fully disclosed to me, so I did not have all the information I needed to make the best choice for me and my baby. That is the entire point of my post- women deserve to have the possible complications disclosed to them BEFORE the C-section.
I am sure there are lots of blogs and other Internet sites where women who are happy with their C-sections can express this, and I want to keep this blog post a place for women who don’t feel satisfied and happy with their C-sections, a safe place where they can express these feelings.
Despite us having a few issues where we agree, I think we just need to put this to rest now, and agree to disagree generally on this, and realize we see these issues very differently. I am not going to change your feelings and beliefs, and you are not going to change mine. I am glad we could have a civil exchange on the topic, and I thank you for that.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
The Reality of C-Sections « A Mama’s Blog says:
[...] Reality of C-Sections This post has moved, and can now be found by clicking HERE. It has been moved to the new A Mama’s Blog site. Thank [...]
April 19th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
chezartz.com » Blog Archive » 5 Things Much Scarier Than Childbirth says:
[...] I feel qualified to comment on this topic (although my blogging pals have great posts on the c-section and medicalized birthing debates). The mother that Time cites in this article admits that fear of a [...]
April 20th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Karen says:
Although I agree with some of what you say, I have to say I do not agree with most of it. I feel like you are scaring the woman that will require or do elect to have a c-section. I had a horrible vaginal birth with my 1st child which took months almost a year before I felt normal again. I elected to have a c-section and I had a positive experience. Yes, I vomited during the first part of the surgery and was giving antiemetics and immediately felt better, once the baby was born they handed her to my husband who placed her next to me. They kept her in the room with me and placed her on my chest to transport us to recoverey. I was able to bond and spend time with her…sure I was sore once the pain meds wore off but no more than after vaginal delivery, just in a different spot…I recovered very quickly within 2 weeks or so I felt great. I am sorry you had a bad experience but people should know there are good and bad to all methods of delivery….
April 28th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
irem says:
I had a “so called emergency” c/sec during pushing phase due to failure to progress. I still have doubts. This c/sec could be a panic choice. My dr. said the time is up, she said she did not want to loose time waiting this(me pushing). Despite the unfriendly hospital room with a wide open door so that other people could see and hear me during contractions-while i was in need of privacy- actually an indifferent dr. and inexperienced nurses; i still trusted myself and wanted that i could do it. I wish i was armed with a birth doula(which at that time difficult to find here in turkey) and i had changed my dr.(and hosp.)to a considerate one who would support me and communicate me.But it happened. I admit I made mistakes. So much loaded myself with guilt, now i would like them(hosp. stuff, dr) also to share the part in what has happened.
Dr.s also should now how women feel after a cesarean. This emotional burden is hard to deal with. If I had the feeling that I had done everything to avoid this, but it happened; then i would get over with it easier. But there was much work inside myself that i did not do. First of all respecting myself so that i could give some time in searching other doctors and hospitals. Experience is the best thing I have in my hands now!
I appreciate your apprach to warn other women in similar situations. Though I think the issue is not about c/sec, but c/sec due to a specific reason under specific circumstances. so the title “reality about cesarean” is misleading because this essay is about your personal experience which is genuine.
It is inspiring that you had finally a vbac and you were indeed lucky to be surrounded by the right people who would support you in this. and you were lucky to be healty as well!i would love to read your vbac story and i would love to learn how you earned your vbac experience.
Best.
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:49 am
Jungleswife says:
I had three C-sections – the first one was due to a breach. I didn’t find out until later that sometimes they can turn the baby. No one ever mentioned it, and I know they didn’t try.
I had infections following each one.
Until I watched my daughter-in-law give birth the regular way, I was pretty angry about the whole thing.
My grandson wasn’t breach, but his arm was across his face. She had a tough delivery and recovery, and he did, too. Thankfully, they are both fine now.
I hope that, if nothing else, those who read your post will be more understanding when their friends or family members have C-sections. I felt like people treated me the same as anyone else who just had a baby.
A new baby is a happy event, but recovering from major surgery while nursing every two hours and all the other demands of a new baby (even with help)…wow!
The mom will appreciate get-well wishes and assistance during the lengthy recovery process.
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Jungleswife says:
Oops, spelled “breech” incorrectly – maybe something else, too. *blush*
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
elquny says:
i am prego with twins and both are breech as of now(6mo). if they dont turn over then i will have to have a c setion. my first baby was 8.5 pounds and a natural birth. i dont want a c section, never did and don’t think it’s cool.. what else can i do?? do i force my doctor to deliver my babies breech? i don’t mind. i wish i knew how to find a doctor that specializes in breech births. any suggestions??? thank u for the information also…
May 7th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Linda says:
I had twins 3 weeks agao. Both were breech and I felt I had no option but to deliver c section. I have had four vaginal births which I loved. The labor is awesome and truly a way to bond with your husband. The babies being pushed through the birth canal – no better experience in life.
My c section was awful. How can having a baby or in my case babies as a result of major abdominal surgery, having your guts ripped, your uterus cut way open be a pleasant experience.
I had perfect muscle tone prior to this awful surgery and escaped even a twin pregnancy without stretch marks. Now I have a 6 1/2 long incision. And by the way for whoever says that doctors do not use staples anymore well they do at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California. And yes, they looked like Frankenstein. I intend to do everything possible to get rid of the hideous scar. Yes, the babies are beautiful but I care about my body. I have to live with it and how it looks for the rest of my life.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
StellaOlla says:
I had my very first section 4 days ago in Washington State, and I can also confirm that staples are still in use there as well.
The decision to have a section was reached jointly by me and my doctor at the end of a very long labor. I have to say, I am very disappointed, especially after working so hard for so long towards a natural birth, but on the other hand, my little girl is healthy and my experience with the pain differs vastly from yours. My incision is very small and is healing fast. I may be an unusual case, though, so I commend you for your well-written post. There are many alternatives to c-sections for women with complications in late pregnancy, and it’s sad that many people aren’t given the option to choose.
June 8th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
mom2be says:
Thank you for posting these pictures. The abdomens of your “scar models” have clearly been ruined by their pregnancies (stretchmarks and celulite) making the C-section scars barely noticable even though they are so fresh. I can see also from the pictures you posted of your own stomach that you didn’t suffer that fate as most women do (myself included) thus I can understand why you are more self concious of your ONE scar. I have HUNDREDS from my baby and whether I deliver vignially or surgically I’m bound to end up with more scars from EITHER “option”. You can do as much research as you want, ask as many questions as you can, compare as many statistices as you can, take as many precautions or preventative measures as is humanly possible (I did), but when it comes right down to it you are at the mercy of chance, nothing more. Some women are lucky, some women aren’t. Unlucky women will develope tearing, scarring, infection, permanent bladder snd sexual disfunction etc. etc. etc. from having children no matter WHICH method they choose or how well informed they are. So rather than getting your hopes up I propose that you simply ask yourself a question: do you feel lucky… well, do you?
June 9th, 2008 at 8:25 am
jess says:
I have had a c-section and have to disagree! I had little to no pain with it and was very happy with the procedure! I do NOT think you did alot of ACTUAL research but mainly based things on your opinions of the prcedure
June 17th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
jess says:
To add a 1little…Maybe it is your Dr. who is the reason for the Horrible Experience…
June 17th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Ree says:
Maya’s Mom: I’m glad your experience with c-section was not as scary as others. But I think you may be an exception to the rule. I had a c-section in March ’08. They still use staples. My body is not what it used to be and I’m only 27! I have that horrible belly flap. And Yes! It was a long and painful first and second months. I’ve heard of women who recover faster (my friend has had 4 ceasarians and comes home from the hospital to bake cookies), but that is not the majority. My doctors asked me again, and again if I had help for the first few weeks home with my daughter. Living in a two-story home, I needed the help. I think this story is very well written. Every pregnant woman should be prepared for a c-section and should not expect it to be easy. You could be very disappointed, as I was.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Jess-
Thanks for your comment, and I realize obviously, everyone has different experiences. I have done extensive research on C-sections, but I didn’t want this post to be a research post- I wanted to share my experience with my C-section.
For the record, I have had a doctor and a surgical resident send me private e-mails on this post. There was one inaccuracy about the procedure that the surgical resident pointed out to me, a few days after the post was published that has since been corrected.
While this post isn’t intended, nor claims to be a medical description of the procedure, I strive to keep it as medically accurate as possible- not just my opinion on the surgery. If it isn’t medically accurate, I have not been notified of any errors of the medical procedure, other than the one I mentioned, that has since been corrected. The doctor who e-mailed me privately told me it was an interesting perspective, but did not tell me there were any inaccuracies in it.
I hope and think it is vital for doctors to explain in detail all the potential positive and negative outcomes of C-sections. However, I still feel the reality is, for the most part, women are not informed on the entire procedure and possible outcomes (negative) of a C-section.
When they have less than what was explained to them, it is very hard and conflicting to work through, and affects the entire family. I’m glad you had a great experience with your C-section, but the fact remains there are a lot of women who don’t.
June 20th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Cheryl R says:
Oh my, my. I don’t even know where to start. And besides, most everything has been covered between your post, the comments & your replies to them.
I got pregnant for the first time at age 38, always wanted a baby, opportunity or accident had just never arisen. But there I was, knocked up & thrilled! I immediately hired a Doula, read every book on midwifery and “natural childbirth” I could get my hands on, avoided books like “What to Expect” as much as possible. Tried to pick an OB that would respect my wishes to have a NON-invasive birthing experience. Opted NOT to have invasive procedures during my pregnancy either, no Amnio or other unnecessary or risky tests (much to the OB’s chagrin given my “Advanced Maternal Age”), no glucose testing, limited Ultrasounds, etc. I also didn’t want to be induced, didn’t want any pain meds or epidural, no episiotomy, goodness knows NO c-section, etc. Mostly, I wanted to be left alone to do what my body already KNEW how to do… have my baby at my own pace, walking around, NOT tied down to monitors or IV’s or nurses constantly checking to see if I’d effaced or dilated further.
Since I got pregnant during a 4-day span of time after 1 and 1/2 years of celibacy, I knew when I would be due. I went two weeks PAST that due date, but my doctor had been bugging me to induce since I’d been approximately 34 weeks. He kept telling me my baby was going to be HUGE.
I walked, I drank Castor oil, consumed mass quantities of spicy food, I “stimulated” my nipples ad nauseum, had sex as often as possible, etc. but STILL no baby at 42 weeks.
Finally, worn down from weeks of badgering by an OB that I had grown to distrust & dislike over the course of my otherwise wonderful pregnancy, I agreed to be induced. Knowing it would increase my chances of C-Section by over 50%. Knowing it would decrease my chances of being successful at breast feeding. Knowing I’d likely have terrible labor pains, and a very lengthy recovery. Against my better judgement & all those facts, I did it anyway.
Please remember, I was more educated than MOST women in America about my choices. If Medi-Cal had been willing to pay for it, I’d have Home Birthed without hesitation. I did NOT want an elective C-Section. I had a great Doula that was on board w/ my birthing philosophy. I was SO ready to do things the “natural” way, no pain killers, no dulling of the experience. I had loved being pregnant, I was going to embrace the process of what my amazing body could do to bring my daughter into the world.
Long story short? After I was induced, they wanted to monitor the baby constantly, they wanted me in a supine position (this I refused), the nurses would NOT leave me alone and kept asking me if I “wanted my epidural now”. After 15 hours of very intense (but also very doable) labor, I finally agreed to the epidural b/c they told me it’d let me get some rest & maybe it’d speed up the dilation (I hadn’t gotten past 5cm).
Well you can imagine what happened. I got 2 hours of sleep. They checked my cervix again. Still at 5cm. I got wheeled into the OR for an “emergency c-section” b/c they were concerned about the baby’s heartbeat & blood pressure. Despite what some knucklehead above said, they DO strap you down on the table. They DO deliver your entire guts, womb, etc. right onto your belly. They didn’t do a good job doping me up b/c I could FEEL the pain of the surgery while it was going on, but I wasn’t able to TELL them b/c I had an oxygen mask on.
They do NOT let you hold your baby when they are trying to stitch you up afterwards. I had a bleed out from my large intestine, so as I cried for water or ice cubes (never been that thirsty in my life) and cried of course for them to give me my baby, they whisked her off to the nursery where they promptly gave her tests & poked her w/ needles, then decided that my ELEVEN POUND baby needed to be in the NICU b/c she had low hematocrit levels.
7 hours after I was finally resting in my room recovering from the trauma above, a doctor finally came in to tell me WHY I still hadn’t seen my baby — even though I’d been pointedly rude and pissed off about it all damn day.
I didn’t get to see her until almost 12 hours after they’d taken her from my belly. She was in an incubator, hooked up to monitors and IV’s, etc. I was not allowed to hold her, or breast feed her for FOUR and 1/2 DAYS. The nurses were able to hold her, but I wasn’t allowed to. And of course, they gave her bottles during that time. So of course, by the time I finally got to hold her and try to breast feed, she wasn’t having anything to do with it… no instant gratification from MY nipples, they were flat & my milk hadn’t come in fully, despite pumping every two hours in my hospital bed.
She had to stay in hospital for 8 days while she finished her course of antibiotics while I went home to recover from my surgery ALONE (I’m a single mother). I couldn’t get off the couch. I had a drain in my incision b/c of all the excess fluid which got infected. I could hardly walk. I certainly couldn’t laugh or cough or even poop very well.
I know this sounds like a freakin’ horror story, but the sad thing is that based on MY research (and the research of other moms like you, midwives, doctors, etc.), this is indeed the reality for many moms in the US. C-sections are at an epidemic rate in this country. Celebrities are pushing it along certainly, but so are the OB’s that perform them.
I am still of the belief that birthing a child is NOT a medical event. The doctor should only be there to “catch” the baby, but even THAT I could have done if given a chance.
Is it possible that my eleven pound, 6 ounce. 23.5″ long baby would never have engaged in the birth canal? Of course. In fact, it’s likely she wouldn’t have.
But did they need to do what they did even AFTER she was born to further make our bonding complicated?
My daughter is now a healthy, happy, well adjusted 2 year old. Yes, obviously it’s MOST important that she made it here safely. But I do feel cheated out of the birthing experience that I wanted & dreamed of. I feel like my choices were taken away from me b/c the doctors and nurses assumed I had NO idea what I was talking about, b/c they know all, and we know nothing.
And I will never, ever forget how distressed and lonely and heartbroken I felt during that time. Which really sucked after having 42 such wonderful weeks of being pregnant.
Nothing I can do to change it certainly. But if I (and women like you) can educate even ONE woman about the fact that C-sections are major surgery and not some piece of cake “procedure”… I’ll be satisfied with that.
Big hugs to you and to all the other mamas who feel they got shortchanged from the experience they wanted.
P.S. Breastfeeding is still possible for women who have C-Sections (just not as likely). My childhood best friend had three C’s w/ babies all over 10 pounds, has silicone breast implants AND was able to produce enough milk to feed her babies AND mine. Which she did with wondrous generosity b/c I was never able to get more than a few ounces even after 5 weeks of trying w/ a lactation consultant. Sigh.
Thanks again for this post!!
Mama Cheryl
@jasperblu on twitter
June 21st, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Cheryl R says:
P.S.S. I still have pain at the incision site, numbness over most of the rest of my belly, the dreaded c-section belly “pooch” or flap, and a knarly assed scar (which I actually do not care about). Yay for Obstetrics right?!
June 21st, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Judit says:
In some European countries, post-cesarean hospital stays are 7 days or longer. New mothers are assigned a home visiting nurse to spend several hours a day helping out and caring for mom and newborn. That would be a good way to start addressing some problems with cesareans here in the U.S. too.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Raquel says:
Your scar looks wonderful afterwards (the lack of stretch marks is nice too). What did you do to reduce the appearance of scar tissue… and did your look as “mangled” right after the surgery as well?
June 25th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Hi Raquel,
Thanks for you comment, and I sent you an e-mail too. I think it is great you are researching options before the fact.
To answer your questions, my scar was pretty ugly and “mangled” looking right after the C-section, for about 4 days, until they took the staples out. Keep in mind that the picture in the post of the scar is four years later. The scar has had time to heal,and fade somewhat. I also try to eat a healthy diet, which helps my skin overall.
I think the staples really make it look worse. For the most part the incision was very thin and straight- I am sure that was due to the doctor’s skill.
However, two days after the C-section, the end of the scar, for about an inch, broke open from the staples, and it was not pretty- lots of blood and pus. At that point, they decided not to “re-staple” it, and just put surgical tape on that end of the scar. As a result, the tail end of my scar is wider than the rest of it, and it isn’t straight- it is kind of squiggly.
Funny you should ask about that, because when I was writing this post, I included the above information, but later edited it out. I was trying to make the post more concise, and felt this was a detail that really wasn’t that important. I know it doesn’t show up in the picture that great, but the picture isn’t a very close, close-up, but believe me- it’s there.
I was VERY lucky that I didn’t get one stretch mark with this pregnancy. My mother claims stretch marks are hereditary, and she never got them either, even after 4 kids. I didn’t get any with my second pregnancy either- but got them a month after I gave birth (after the second pregnancy)- on my hips. I guess that is like stretch marks in reverse. Not sure how that happened. I really didn’t do anything special. I live in a very dry climate and tend to keep my skin very moisturized. I used shea butter too on my stomach, since it was itchy, due to my dry skin.
I really doubt the amount of weight gain had anything to do with it. I gained 50 pounds! I was normal weight before I was pregnant, so technically, this was more weight than I should have gained, but I ate when my body felt like it, and obviously, I needed it to grow my baby boy. I tried to eat healthy- of course I had cravings like ice cream, but I really craved protein, and ate a lot of dairy, eggs, and meat.
Since I was breastfeeding, I lost almost all my weight in 3 months. I lost the remainder within 6 months, but I didn’t really try- I really think genetics has a lot to do with it, and also your age.
After my second baby, just 2.5 years later, I was older and the weight didn’t come off as fast the second time around. I fortunately didn’t get a bad stomach overhang. I think it just depends on your body, but unfortunately, you don’t know what your body is going to do until after the fact.
I hope by presenting all sides of a C-section, woman can prepare and know what they might experience. Obviously not all of the negative aspects happen every time, but I feel the more aware of the possible outcomes, the better prepared they can be. In my case, these were things my doctor and all the pregnancy books never addressed.
I hope that helps, and good luck with your decision. Keep me posted.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
shannon says:
I read your blog and to have had a c-section, a vbac and then another c-section. Reading your blog I felt extremely scared about c-sections and I’ve recently had one myself. However, not everyone has the same experience that you did. I had my first son 18 years ago via emergency c-section. 9 years ago I delivered my second son via a vbac and 14 weeks ago I delivered my daughter at 36 weeks via an emergency c-section. I was very scared and apprehensive about this as I to have read horror stories like the one you posted- What I found however was that after my daughter was born I was able to see and kiss her and my husband was able to be with her immediately. Within an hour I was back in my room and was also able to bond with my baby-Within two hours after the surgery I was up and walking around and in little pain. In fact they tried to keep me in bed and I would not stay. I used little to no pain medication and was home and doing fine within 3 days. 11 days after I delivered my baby I was working from home 30 hours per week and doing all of the things I once did- Not all c-sections are horror stories nor should you try to make them seem that way. Also, my doctor never, ever told me I would have to have a c-section- he would have let me do a vbac had I not begun to hemorrage. So again I feel your misinterpretation of this is also false. Please realize that young woman of all ages will be looking at what you write on the web and those unlike myself who don’t know any better may literally be scared to death by this-
July 1st, 2008 at 8:32 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Hi Shannon,
It is NOT my goal to misinform and frighten. I have said before my intent for the post was to alert women to some of the issues and complications that they *may* encounter when they have a C-section.
I felt a lot of the information I included in the post was not information that is readily given to women beforehand.
Furthermore I stated that a lot of this post was based on MY experience with a C-section. I state in my post that sometimes a C-section *IS* the only option. I feel it is important for women, who may be faced with having a C-section, to have ALL the information at least presented to them good and bad, regarding C-sections, so they can make an informed choice.
I realize no two C-sections are the same, and I am very happy yours was so successful. However, the fact remains that many women have no idea what a C-section entails, and have no idea what some of the complications are that might arise.
I wrote this post not to scare anyone, but to share my experience with MY C-section, which was less than ideal.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:33 pm
actress that have had c sections says:
[...] had her baby, born … One mother who has had four C-sections also pointed out that she has two …http://amamasblog.com/index.php/the-reality-of-c-sections/Angelina Jolie To Have C-Section Tuesday: Report – Entertainment …There&39s nothing unhealthy [...]
July 13th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Kate says:
Thank you for the informative post. I was petrified of having a c-section when I learned I was pregnant last year and of course, my luck, I ended up carrying monoamiotic identical twins and had NO other choice, period.
That said, for ME, it was actually rather easy, I thought. Yes, it hurt. I was up in 4 hours to visit my girls (32-weekers in NICU). Walking around the next day (day one too sore…). I have no vaginal birth to compare to, and hope to try VBAC with my next child. I wonder after readig your post if I just have a really high pain threshold. I was up and down stairs, back and forth 45 minute each way tot he hospital and in and out of chairs and nurseries the day after I left the hospital. Maybe a VBAC will be a cinch!
I had never seen c-section pics, which is why I landed on your site. I was interested (funny that, a year later!) in seeig what they did to me! WOW. Yeh, I can see why you have pain afterward. And since my girls’ cords were knotted and tangled they did a LOT of tugging to get them out. I thought they’d tug me off the table at some points!
Again, thank you for the excellent information.
July 17th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
RayniesMom says:
I can speak from experience that my c-section was not the most pleasant. I went in for blood work and fetal movement tests a couple hours after my check up due to being in bad pain the day before, and they told me I had no choice to get the c-section or my baby would die within an hour. I had placental abruption and it was almost 90% abrupted. it’s now been 4 almost 5 weeks and I’m still in some pain when I stretch or sneeze or cough hard. I know have a little (i think it’s an infection) mark that looks like a blister on my incision and I dont know when it happened or why it happened. any ideas please e-mail me as to how to help it. I’ve been cleaning it and using bacitracin but I think I should go see a doctor…. any ideas on it?
July 28th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
RayniesMom says:
Troubled_angel22@hotmail.com… that might help
July 28th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Hi Raynies Mom,
Congratulations on your new daughter, and thanks for leaving a comment on the C-section post.
To answer your question about your blister on your incision, I would definitely call the doctor ASAP and tell them you have the blister and you think it may be infected. I don’t believe it is normal to have a blister like you describe at any time on a C-section incision.
If it is in the early stages of infection they can probably prescribe an antibiotic, and that will be that. If it gets really infected, sometimes they have to hospitalize you for observation, etc. I would try to nip in the bud to avoid any possible complications with it.
Please keep me updated on how you are doing, and what the doctor thinks about this blister on your incision.
Take care.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Emily says:
I had a so-called “emergency” c-section with my first son – an induction that didn’t go well. In retrospect, they sure didn’t hurry very much in that “emergency”! I relate so much to your experience, because mine was pretty awful, too. My hands were strapped down, my husband wasn’t allowed into the room until at least ten minutes after I was (and I was TERRIFIED!) The actual experience of the section was extremely uncomfortable, even with the epidural. And then whatever they gave me in that IV (I still don’t know what it was) knocked me out pretty entirely. I don’t remember seeing my son. I don’t remember the first time I nursed him (thankfully, he was able to figure it out even without my help). I don’t remember ANYTHING until about 10 hours after the surgery. That is my biggest regret about the surgery – that I missed out on those happy hours after the birth.
Recovery was truly awful in my case. I had horrible post-surgery gas – that is the worst pain I have been in, in my entire life. SO much worse than labor, and it didn’t stop. I couldn’t go to the bathroom, and they had to catheterize me and eventually try an enema, as well (it didn’t work, either). I was so miserable, and I should have been happy!
I had staples, too, in my scar. I looked at them once and then decided not to look again – they gave me the shivers. I was glad when they got taken out. Thankfully my scar healed well, with no infections or tearing, but it was about three months before I began to feel “normal” again. I had numbness at the scar (and one small section still has no feeling, even after 3.5 years). I also had bladder pain that no one could diagnose or fix, but since it had never happened before I’m positive it was due to the surgery.
I’ve since had a VBAC and am about to have my second. There is NO COMPARISON in the recoveries. Thank you for writing a clear, concise explanation about what really happens in a c-section. Yes, some women have easy recoveries (I have a friend who has had three and had no trouble at all) but they are the EXCEPTION, not the rule.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Rosanne (mommy of two, and number three in 15 days) says:
Hi, my name is Rosanne. I’ve had two children, and I’m pregnant with my third. I have a c-section scheduled for 15 days from now.
My first child, born vaginally in 2003, was almost uncomplicated. I was in active labor with her for 22 hours (not counting the contractions almost 24 hours before my water broke). During the delivery there was a problem and the forcepts and vacuum had to be used to pull her out. She now has a learning disability (she’s dislexic and has speech problems). Also, my daughter and I both had an infection and she was also jaundice. So we were both in the hospital from saturday to the following thursday.
My second child was born in 2005. I started out with a vaginal delivery. My water broke at 2am and he started coming out around 1pm. His head did not come out first though. His hand did. I had to have an emergency c-section because I went into shock. the recovery was not that bad. I went into labor on a monday and we were both home on thursday. The scar i have is less than 3 inches, and it healed nicely so you can’t even notice it. As for the extra flabby belly, SIT-UPS or use an excersize ball. After I healed and was cleared by my doctor I started excersizing and I had a beautifully flat tummy again within a couple months. I got thin again and you couldn’t even tell that I had had two children. Anyway, after the c-section delivery my hospital/nurses/doctors gave me so good meds that were safe to take while breastfeeding and I was in very little pain. As for “not being able to breast feed because you need to protect your belly from the baby kicking it”, the nurses told me to just put a pillow again the incision and use a second pillow for the baby to lay on during the feeding. And you also wrote that you lose precious time after a c-section to breast feed immediately after birth, you can request that the nurse put the baby to your breast while you are still knocked out. As some woman may feel uncomfortable having a nurse touch them and hold their child to their breast while they are sleeping, if you feel so strongly about having the baby feed immediately after birth, it is an option.
Now I’m having my third baby in a couple weeks, as long as a don’t go into labor before my c-section is scheduled. I asked my doctor to schedule the c-section because I am a single mother and wanted to make sure I could make arrangements with my family members to care for my other children while i am in the hospital. I like knowing when my childs birthday will be. As is, I have my birthday, then 7 days later this child will be born, then 7 days later is my second childs birthday (he’ll be three).
Anyway, in my opinion, having a c-section has many more benefits then people give credit. I had a friend who had a baby last year. She had a completely normal pregnancy and when she went into labor, vaginally, nothing seemed wrong. The labor began and progressed normal until the baby’s head came out and the doctor told her to stop pushing. Unfortunately it was too late. The cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck and he had sufficated during the last push. They unwrapped the cord and finished delivering the baby and tried to resesitate him but it was too late. The baby had died.
That is one of the reasons I’ve choosen to have a c-section this time around. Anything can go wrong during a vaginal delivery, c-section deliveries have minimal problems and fatalities.
Thank you for your time.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:26 am
A Mama's Blog says:
Thanks for your comment Rosanne, and congratulations on your soon to be born baby.
While I respect your opinion, I must respond to your thought that “Anything can go wrong during a vaginal delivery, c-section deliveries have minimal problems and fatalities.”
I would like to restate some information I wrote in another post, which included information from birth writer, Jennifer Block. http://amamasblog.com/2007/09/30/excellent-article-on-disturbing-c-section-trend/
“Caesareans are riskier than normal, vaginal birth. They also lead to repeat caesareans. Repeat caesareans carry even greater risks.
Placenta accreta is one of them. The placenta embeds into the uterine scar from a previous surgery, causing a catastrophic hemorrhage at the time of delivery. Most women with placenta accreta lose their uteri; as many as 1 in 15 bleed to death. In 1970, accretas were so rare that most obstetricians never encountered one in their career. Today, according to a University of Chicago study, the incidence may be as high as 1 in 500 births. And that is all because of caesareans and repeat caesareans.”
This is just one piece of evidence that shows C-sections can result in MAJOR problems and do contribute to the USA’s increasing maternal death rate. While vaginal births do have complications too, C-sections are major surgery and definitely are just ask “risky,” if not more so than normal vaginal birth.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
patty says:
I just found out that I have a condition called placenta previa. Most likely I will have to have a c-section. I had a vaginal for my first and had such a bad tear that I had to go to rehabilitation for months afterwards. I don’t want to have a c-section but if it’s in the cards what can I do…risk bleeding to death? I was looking for information on c-sections and came across your site. Generally I don’t take into account others experiences knowing how different everyone’s experiences are. I have two close relatives who had c-sections for medical reasons and both had very easy recoveries. They chose not to breastfeed because of their own reasons. I wanted to know about breast feeding and c-sections because I breastfed my first for 6 months.
The problem I had with your blog is mostly in the blue sections. I’m sure your intentions were not to scare or freak out people who have to have c-sections, but you have. It’s the wording…”You will have an ugly scar”, “you will have a VERY long recovery”, “Your baby is taken out of the operating room, while you are lying down with your hands restrained, like a criminal, while having your internal organs being placed back inside of you, and getting stitched up. You will have to wait at least 30 minutes after the birth (usually longer), before you can really hold your baby for the first time.” (that one is the killer since I have NEVER heard of this happening). You are writing directly to the reader with all these definites and that is just not right. Maybe if you wrote “I” instead of “You”. You don’t know what others’ experiences will be.
If I gave a detailed account of my first birth I would probably scare some people from even getting pregnant. That’s just not something I want to do.
Again, I’m sure your intentions were true; just realize who your audience is…many first timers who want some information that will be honest but not fearful.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:23 am
Lisa says:
patty,
Thank you for your post you are absolutely right “I” should be used instead of “you” … Mama’s Blog keeps defending it is her own personal experience but is always using “You” not “I” maybe there should be some changes!
*EVERYONE do not forget that an emergency c-section is ALWAYS more dangerous and has more complications than a planned c-section!*
I wish the best of luck to all and thank goodness no one had died from thier experiences… Thank God you are all able to live a healthy and prosperous life; a little pain goes a long way so you and your baby are able to live life together!
August 14th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Patty and Lisa,
Thank you for your comments on this post. It is interesting to read how this post can be interpreted by different people. From other comments left, some women agree with me in full on how I wrote this post, and some like yourselves, do not.
My goal in writing this post was not to try to scare women, but to hopefully raise awareness on what they could be facing after a C-section. I do re-read the post from time-to-time and revise information to have current and up-to-date information. After reading your comments and the post, I do agree with you that some of the information I have in the blue boxes, are based on my experience, and may not be the case for others. Because I want to help raise awareness on the complications that often arise after a C-section, I have changed that wording on those aspects in the blue box, to reflect that it may or might happen.
When I originally wrote the post, I used the term ‘you’ instead of ‘I,’ based on numerous conversations and comments I have had from women who have had C-sections. I felt that ‘you’ was being used as a general term, and I didn’t think anyone would take ‘you’ to mean every single woman, but I do see how it can read, and thank you for bringing this to my attention.
However, I did not change the wording on the information in the blue boxes, that are facts, for every single woman, not just my own personal experience, such as the fact that you DO end up with a scar. For some women this fades, which I even pointed out in my own pictures that it can fade, but for some women it doesn’t fade.
*You DO lose time with your baby in the recovery process. This can range from hours to weeks, but in general, there is always time lost with your new baby after having a major surgery like a C-section.
*It is well documented that babies born via C-section have a harder time breastfeeding. Breastfeeding can be more of a challenge after a C-section, and I believe I phrase this accurately in the box, that you may have a harder time breastfeeding after a C-section.
*Your uterus DOES have scar tissue, you DO have a scar at the incision site for the rest of your life, and having a C-section DOES limit your birthing options in the future. It also increases your chance of uterine rupture with future pregnancies as well.
As the blue boxes pointed out, there are numerous risks to both baby and mother following a C-section.
But interestingly, studies show the complications seem to increase to the mother after ELECTIVE C-sections, NOT emergency C-sections.
I disagree with Lisa’s comment that “an emergency c-section is ALWAYS more dangerous and has more complications than a planned c-section!”
Several studies suggest that PLANNED C-sections can be up to THREE times more risky than emergency C-sections. http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/02/12/c-sections.html
Furthermore, planned C-sections for non-medical emergency reasons are more risky than vaginal birth: http://health.howstuffworks.com/c-section4.htm
I plan to write a post about that in the near future.
I think so many women believe they have to suffer through the pain and complications of a C-section because it is medically necessary, but that doesn’t always have to be the case.
Please don’t just take my word for it- do your own research, talk to people who have had VBAC’s, do your own research and make an informed decision. This post is intended to be used as a tool in that process.
August 15th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Candiandsons says:
I was fortunate enough to birth my first son. I loved the excitement in knowing “It’s time.”
I didn’t have that opportunity with my second son. I had placenta previa. A c-section was a must or I faced the chance of losing my son and my life as well. (Later found out I had an “unusally large placenta)
I didn’t want a c-section. The element of surprise was scheduled… well I started bleeding and needed an emergency c-section.
I was mad that the previa forced me to have a c-section but glad that my son and I were given a chance to survive this birth, albeit via c-section.
My friend LOVED having c-sections. I HATED the recovery. Everytime I coughed I felt like I was going to pop open.
My son was born at 35wks and 1 day gestation. He had RDS and had to be in the NICU for 1 wk. I didn’t get to hold my son until the next day! He wasn’t able to breast feed but I was deligent to pump.
I get sad reliving this memory. I’d never opt for a c/s for convenience but I am thankful we both lived to tell the story.
August 15th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Michelle says:
I just want to thank you for the great, necessary, important information you have provided but also for the way you handle responses. I appreciate your thoughtful consideration of both sides.
I hope one day women and their doctors will trust the female body to instinctively do what it was made to do without interference. Doctors need to give up this need for control and remain on the sidelines as a “lifeguard.”
By the way, have you heard that insurance companies are now denying women coverage who’ve had even one previous c-section, unless they’ve been sterilized???
Thanks again,
Michelle
August 28th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Melissa says:
I have to agree with a lot of the previous posters – this article seems meant to frighten. Maybe you didn’t mean it that way, but that’s how it comes across.
My fear from things like this is that it will cause some women to believe that most sections are done without medical need, that they’re frivolous or for the doctor’s ease. Mine wasn’t – mine REALLY wasn’t. I can’t imagine my doctor wanted this at ALL.
So here’s what happened. I planned a natural childbirth and had a totally normal pregnancy. I went into labor on my own, counted contractions, labored in the bathtub, rushed off to the hospital in the middle of the night with my excited hubby and bag. I labored for 5 more hours at the hospital – I was offered the tub, but chose the shower, was occasionally monitored but was allowed to walk around. I did everything “right.”
I decided on an epidural to relax me at 5 am, after being awake 24 hours and not dilating more than 4 cm. It worked. I was 6 cm within 1/2 hour of the meds. All was right with the world.
And then, like out of a movie, my daughter flatlined. Beep-beep-beeeeeeeeeeeeeep. I immediately woke up, my husband couldn’t even get near me for all the doctors and nurses. My experienced, wonderful doctor looked scared. I’ve never seen a look like that before. My situation clearly wasn’t normal. She told me she wanted to do a section, even though at that point I was 9.5 cm. It was not even a question in my mind – I almost ASKED her to do it. Most people would if they hear their baby’s heart completely stop.
So, we did the operation, and my daughter, who had the cord tightly around her neck twice and was facing up, was delivered within 10 minutes and is totally healthy. I was held down, but only because I was shaking uncontrollably from transition and the epi (not tied). I had sutures. I have a small scar, no “shelf.” No more pain.
It hurt in the days after, but that ended. I didn’t need painkillers. I was encouraged to breastfeed, and my milk came in like a bandit. My daughter latched on immediately with no problems. We went home in 4 days.
Despite the scary situation, I think it was great. It saved my daughter’s life. Might vaginal have been easier? Sure. But would my daughter have lived? Probably not.
I am all for natural birth and for women being more informed about the birth process. I will likely try a VBAC if I do it again, just to avoid a long hospital stay. But my c-section was great. If I was told I needed another, no biggie. I won’t feel like less of a mom, or less of a woman, or sad because of it. I bet there are a lot more people like me but they don’t talk about precisely because it really wasn’t a big deal.
September 4th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Melissa,
Thanks for your comment, and I agree with you 100% that emergency C-sections are great and can save lives. A quote from my post:
“C-sections are a medical tool, and should only be performed when absolutely necessary. C-sections DO have a place in obstetrics, and I have a friend who would have died, if she had not gotten an emergency C-section.”
Our C-section rate in the United States climbs every year. Many OB’s and even ACOG believes it is ethical to allow elective C-sections, when there is no medical need for them at all, despite the fact that research shows the chances of complications rise for the woman and the baby on *elective* C-sections. Isn’t it interesting that emergency C-sections have lower complication rates? Should that be telling us something?
Doctors have now resorted delivering almost all breech births by C-sections. Hospitals continue to ban VBAC’s, even though they are safe for the majority of women. They are taking birthing choices and options away from millions of women and babies, and increasing their chances of complications.
My goal of the post is to inform women who may be facing a planned or elective C-section, and to offer my viewpoint, from my perspective, on what a C-section is like. Like no two births are alike, no two C-sections are alike, and of course in an emergency what needs to be done, is what needs to be done. Maybe I need to write a follow-up post explaining this better, because I keep getting comments saying I am trying to “scare” women.
I honestly wish I had information like this before my C-section for my breech baby. It would have helped me made a more informed decision, and I did try to find information on what a C-section was like, but I couldn’t find anything. All the popular baby delivery books said you go to the hospital, and you may have a day or so recovery time longer than with a vaginal birth.
Some C-sections births ARE like that, but I wished I had at least been able to find information that would have helped me prepare in case my C-section *wasn’t* a piece of cake that I had been led to believe it was by the information out there and by the media.
I receive comments and e-mails every day from women who are thankful for this account. To the ones that I am “scaring,” I am sorry my account of my C-section is scary. It was pretty scary – honestly. It was the worse experience of my life. Your C-section may not be. There are countless websites, books, TV shows, magazines, Hollywood celebrities, and doctors who will tell you C-sections aren’t “scary,” aren’t painful, and they are nothing to worry about. I’m sorry, but I am not going to sugar coat my experience- if I was to that, what would be the point in writing about it at all?
I’m aiming to inform women who suspect there might be more to a C-section than what she is being told, like I was. That is the spirit of this post- to inform. Like the famous quote, “knowledge is power”-the more you know, the more informed decision you can make.
I am so glad you were able to have an emergency C-section, and it all ended well for you and your baby. Again, thanks for your comment, and it has inspired me to write a follow-up post explaining my position in more detail.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Melissa says:
It’s funny, but from all of the reading I have done, I have never thought of the c-section as the easy way out. I have read more anti-section literature than “you’re posh if you push” stuff. They make it sound evil, like you’re less of a woman, won’t bond with your baby, etc. It really does, for the most part, seem to be be pushing against c-sections for almost ANY reason.
That said, I understand that the goal is to inform, and maybe that’s why I was fine with it – I was very informed and had done my research into all the possibilities. And the one thing that I believe the anti-section literature leaves out is that ANYTHING can happen in childbirth. You simply can’t have expectations – you can have goals and desires, but expectations? No. You set yourself up for disappointment and failure if you do that. And I had no expectations, so I never felt failure or disappointment.
And as I said, I do believe childbirth is natural and should be treated as such. It’s just that I worry that too many women will say “I’m informed, childbirth is easy” and refuse c-sections and suffer consequences. C-Sections are occasionally medically necessary and it’s very easy in hindsight to say “I shouldn’t have listened to the doctor, I could have had a vaginal birth.” But it would be just as easy to say “I SHOULD have listened to the doctor and had the section,” and if that’s what you’re saying, the consequences will be much worse – a dead baby, or an injured baby. I know at least two women who wish the doctor had offered a section. One has a child with cerebral palsy and the other had such terrible damage that she will not be having other children. And to them, a scar with some pain would have been nothing. So it can go both ways. I would not want to see a lot of people rejecting suggestions of doctors outright and suffering as a result.
Moreover, I wonder how many women will actually happily accept the consequences of their actions should they refuse a section that turned out to be necessary, or will they turn around and sue the hospital and doctor for not forcing them to have a section? I am an attorney – I see it all the time, and I can almost guarantee, having seen enough of human nature, that this does and will happen.
There has to be a happy medium somewhere. I have always thought that St. Luke’s in NYC, with its birth center IN the hospital would be a good route. It’s midwife run, but the doctors are upstairs, and if a section becomes necessary, they’re right there. You get the benefits of modern medicine with a less invasive approach.
September 5th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Melissa says:
Oh, one other thing I remember I wanted to mention – I was a breech baby. Frank breech – I came out butt first. My mother not only delivered me vaginally, but without drugs (she had an episiotomy, but heck, was glad for it, as would most people be in a situation like that). I had not been breach, but turned after she went into labor. Ultrasounds were not as common in the 1970s, so they didn’t realize it. I don’t even know that a c-section was mentioned. My mother’s doctor delivered me at a teaching hospital, with tons of interns around. So there was a time when hospitals DID deliver breech babies vaginally.
But again, it brings to mind the question – if given the option of delivering a breech baby vaginally by a hospital, would a mother be willing to accept the consequences, and, if necessary, absolve the hospital of responsibility for her choice, should something go wrong?
September 5th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Elizabeth says:
Just wondering– had you ever had surgery before this experience? It seems as though you hadn’t, and if it’s the case I think it would be nice if you mentioned that fact somewhere.
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:27 am
Doe says:
I have had two csections – while both traumatic – I would go through them again. With my second csection I knew what to expect and felt much more confident with this one. I developed intense SPD with my little boy (born 12th may this year – 2008) and ended up on crutches. Yes csections can be very painful but if a csection helps your child to live you would go through it again. My first child was a normal birth and my next two were csections due to placenta abruptions. I am now 21 weeks after my csection and the scar has opened up yet again and i have developed another infection – currently on very strong antibiotics. I developed infection after infection and had chronic indigestion with my last child. Even after all of this, I would go through the pain again if it meant my boys were alright. I would like to congratulate you on highlighting what happens with csections. If I had known what to expect with my first i would have been much more positive probably the first time around. I would just like to say to mums to be or new mums no matter what pain you go through its all for your new child. I would glady do this all again and more for my children. I follow my late nans motto of ‘ONE DAY AT A TIME’ basically take one day at a time to get through the pain barrier. Enjoy the miracle of your children
October 7th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Terra Stewart says:
I wish i would have never had my c-section i just had my 3rd baby boy on 9-17-08 and he was an emergency c-section i had my other 2 boy 7 and 5 years old by natural no painmeds nothing and that is the way i wanted it i was right up after i had them holding them walking around with them so when i got pregent for my 3rd i thought things would be the same..I was looking forword to having him but i started to have lots of problems… So long story short i went in on the 17th to be induced 3 days early cause of my problems and i was doing good until 8 hours into thr birth of my baby.. the found out that his arm was stuck above his head and he couldn’t move and i was bleeding very bad and his heart rate was dropping with every contraction.. So the doctor come in to talk to me about what we wanted to do or what could be done.. So he told me he would most likely move his arm out of the way most babies do but he wanted me to sign the paper for a c-section just in case something really went wrong they could take me straight back…so i signed thinking they was going to do other things first to try and get him out.. ha yea right the next thing i know 20mins later i am back in the room and they are cutting me open to get him out… Don’t get me wrong i am greatful that my baby is ok but they worst is yet to come.. After the c-section they din’t put me on any type od meds. except pain killers and they forgot to take my staples out before i left the hospital so i got an infection.. so 7 days after the birth of my on i was cut back open and sent home with a 16 inches cut in my stomach that was 3 inches deep.. so long story short her it is 6 weeks after i have had my baby and i still have a 14 inche cut that is 3 inches deep in my stomach i son’t think i am ever going to heal i can’t hold me baby i have to sit down so someone can hand him to me and i had to stop breast feeding because they thought it would help the healing process and the pain is so bad i eat pain pills like they are candy.. so if anyone is thinking of haveing a c-section just to have it don’t please think about it first and think of the risk in it.. they will tell u it is not a mager surgury but it is.. thank you for reading and listening to what i had to say..
Terra
November 1st, 2008 at 3:32 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Terra,
I’m sorry you are having such a hard recovery time. I know it isn’t easy. With two other children, I imagine you are pretty busy. Honestly, one of the biggest things that can help is rest. I know that is easier said than done, but is there any way you can get some extra rest, and take it easy for at least a few days?
I was trying to do it all, after my C-section, and it just made the pain worse. I had to let it go, and give myself permission- if I didn’t heal, it wasn’t going to help me, my baby, or my family. Do you have a relative that could come help for a few days, or a friend? Can your hubby take a few days off of work? People always want to know what they can do to help, so don’t be shy in telling people what you need.
Even if you don’t have anyone who can help, do the least amount possible. Get some frozen meals, or have your hubby get take-out for dinner, if he doesn’t cook. It won’t be like this forever, but you have to allow yourself proper time to rest. Your body can’t heal, if you constantly pushing it.
When your scar is a little more healed, try putting pure Vitamin E oil on it. I have always had good luck with that, in reducing scars, but for some reason, I never thought of it, when my scar was healing.
Thank you for your comment. That is why I wrote this post- not to scare women, but to let them know, there can be real complications associated with a C-section that can continue weeks and months after the baby is born.
Please let me know how you are doing- you can e-mail me privately too.
Heather
November 1st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
kay says:
My name is Kay, I am a bit worried, I am 33 years old 20 weeks pregnant, I gave birth naturally with my son who is now 13 it was a very long painful day with stitches involved I am worried and I would like a c section, can you help me decide, I hate that I worry about it every day. Thank you
November 4th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
MARKETTA DAVIS says:
As you said every situation is different. I had two c-sections. The first an emergency the second elected. I wish I wouldve tried vbac!!!! My first c section was smooth. No problem. The second? The one i chose to have? Horrible!!!! I was alone. The doctor cut my colon before he cut my uterus. I had hbp the last three weeks of my pregnancy. My bp skyrocketed. They overmedicated me with bp meds. I couldnt feel my left side, see out of my left eye, fluid filled my left lung. What happened to me? I dont know, never was told. Just moved to icu. To top it off, I didnt see my baby until Sunday. (My surgery was Friday morning) I really wish I wouldve tried vbac.
November 14th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Jen says:
I had a c-section on month ago (October 20, 2008) and they used staples. So some hospitals are not using the glue. I am concerned about the area above the incision. It is puffy like swelling but the incision is completely closed. I am wondering if this will go away or if it is scar tissue forming?
November 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Kristen says:
Dear Heather,
I am so sorry you had such a bad experience with your c-section. You story was difficult to read. I was lucky enough to have a great experience with my emergency c-section for our now 2 1/2 year old happy and healthy son(who was concieved via I.U.I.). I breastfed 1 1/2 hours after my surgery, ate a huge meal 4 hours post and even showered that night. I was up tidying my room the next day(the nurses scolded me), I was off all meds after 5 days, and was vacuuming and cooking by day 7 post op. My incision healed beautifly as well. I am currently 27 weeks pregnant(natural conception) at the age of 42 and am scheduled for my c-section 3/10/09. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am lucky enough to live in the Boston area and will deliver at Beth Israel Deaconess (same as our son). I realize that there are risks involved with major surgery, but I completely trust my OB- he gave me the option of VBAC and I chose c-section. I will be 2 weeks shy of 43 at the time of this childs birth and I am not willing to leave anything to chance. I think the most important thing is that women should learn as much about all the options as there is to learn. Being informed gives you a greater advantage. I’ve heard it said that natural birth is empowering and women miss out on this if they have a c-section, and that they really haven’t “given birth”, but honestly, regardless of how the baby is brought into the world, is there any one thing on the planet more empowering than having the ability to grow a human being within our body and having the ability to produce life sustaining milk to nourish this little miracle? I really can’t think of anything more empowering than that!
Thanks for your time-
Kristen
December 14th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Genna Corrigan says:
Brilliant post! Thank you so much for the photographs. I had a section 14 weeks ago, and although I have a very healthy and happy son, I have never come to terms with what my body went through. My section was done after 30 hours of labour and after reaching the full 10cms – but unfortunately my sons head never lowered enough and he was in distress. I felt pounced on at the last minute. Nobody had mentioned a section until the very last second and it was definitely something I NEVER wanted. I understand how necessary it was for me, but I still feel absolutely robbed. Not of the childbirth experience – I am no hard-core “earth mother” and just wanted the whole thing over with – but I feel I have been robbed of my fitness. Nobody told me of the physical set-backs of a section and how long my body would take to recover. It gets better all the time, but 14 weeks on I still feel physically drained and sore. For someone who was pretty fit (I’m only 24), I’m finding it really hard to do things I used to enjoy like running. My body now troubles me in ways it never used to – sore joints, aching abdominal muscles and sore scar in cold weather (not so good considering I live in Scotland).
The photo’s here help me understand better the trauma my body went through and why I am taking so long to recover. Thank you for helping me get my head around it.
January 20th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Tiaras & Tantrums says:
oh my – those photos – I never had any issues with that . . poor ladies. I totally agree about the pain and recovery – that was terrible. It is terrible. I took me about 6 -8 months to feel okay again after my first and only 3-4 months after my second – my third – it took me a long time . . . I still get pains . . . as for the scars – argh – terrible now – a shelf I have and it is dented and loopy and my hair no longer grows there.
Very interesting posts!!
April 9th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Cris L says:
hy there
very nice website. I just had a c section on feb 18. after almost 24 hr labor. i am reading that it takes 6 weeks to recover but i am experiencing pain still. i feel I am getting worse with time. I have needle like pain from my incision down. I can’t sleep on my sides or on my stomach, I can’t sit and I can’t have the baby on me for long periods which is like impossible to avoid I am always with him. I don know to what extend is this normal.I wish doctors would have told me what to expect. All by pubic area all feels like needles are going inside is horrible. people are saying for me to watch out that they have not left something inside of me. thats a very scary thought because i don even want to think about being open up again. It does can happen because I have a friend who told me they left a piece of gauce inside of her and she went back to operating room. Can anybody tell me if they experience pain sensations like this. I would really appretiate
April 10th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Cris,
I am sorry you are still having so much pain. I don’t think, almost two months after the C-section, it is normal. I would suggest you make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible. If nothing else, they can make sure you don’t have an infection, or something else going on. If your doctor can’t explain why you are still having such intense pain, find another doctor who can figure out what is going on.
Please keep me posted- I am worried about you. You can e-mail me privately too. My E-mail is on the Contact page.
Please get this checked out as soon as possible.
Heather
April 11th, 2009 at 12:24 am
C-Sections- Five Years and Beyond- (Part 1) | A Mama's Blog says:
[...] was the third part in a series of C-section posts I have written. The first post in the series, The Reality of C-sections, has generated a wide variety of thoughts, feelings, and comments. One comment that kept coming [...]
April 17th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
morgan says:
Those pictures are WAY different than the ones I have from all of my c-sections! I have videos of each of the surgeries too- the cutting and everything else, and it doesn’t look like anything in those photos!
To get the babies out, my doctor or the OB asst. would put one hand under the babies head inside my womb, then the other doctor would push down on my belly under my ribs so the baby would slide out.
Definantly not glamerous, and definantly not fun. However, it’s definantly a life saver. I’ve read about what they used to do when babies wouldn’t come out and I’m very thankfull that I was born during a time when c-sections are a relatively safe option for both baby and mama.
That said, I have had a baby go into respitory distress. I’ve also dealt with a possible spinal headache and the other usual painful recoveries. C-Sections scare me, even after having had 4.
Even so, I’ve learned some things since my first c-section that have made the deliveries and recoveries a little easier. I try to share with other repeat c-section moms so they too can have a better experience the second time around.
April 18th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
skin caretaker says:
That’s one horrible experience, but I think most of these are successful without any implications… The doctor accounts for a lot of it, too
April 27th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
stephanie says:
your scare is one of the best the best that I have seen. I know you are you are thankful that it looks that good after three years. WOW
May 5th, 2009 at 4:27 am
vicki says:
People…giving birth is a risky business whether its natural or with medical intervention. These photos posted here are pretty gruesome and have to portray ‘worst case scenario’…but I can imagine there are some people out there with pretty horrific ‘natural’ birth stories that could match these c-section disasters.
I have had both natural and c section births and to be honest my natural birth was a complete disaster for me. All was going smooth until my last push when I felt and heard a ‘blood curdling crack’…I had broken my pelvis in 3 places and sustained ‘separation of the pubis symphis (sp?)’ I was unable to move for a week in hospital…unable to pick up or carry my baby. Then I had intensive physio and had to use a walker for the next 12 weeks before I could ‘get around’ in any sort of manner. For the next 12 months I walked with a serious limp…3 years on and I still have pain and discomfort from my injuries and this is on top of my daughter coming out with her hand first and tearing my vagina extensively requiring many, many stitches.
In December 2008 I had a c-section (planned) which was a totally pleasant and successful experience. My baby was handed to me immediately after my stitches were completed (about 10 mins) and during this time, my husband held the baby close to me…I then began breastfeeding with no problems.
I only had 2 stitches on the outside..all the others were internal (not a staple in sight). I had a quite bad pain for one night and then the next day I was up and about feeding and bathing my baby…what a different experience compared to my natural birth.
Heather, I read your posts with some bewilderment and wonder what your motives are here? Giving birth to a breech baby naturally can be extremely painful, exhausting and down right dangerous. My best friend is Canadian (I am Australian) and she gave birth to her breech baby naturally and it was so traumatic she couldn’t bear the thought of having any more kids.
In doing my family tree over the past few years, I realise with such sadness that many of my foremothers lost their lives during childbirth or the child did not survive the process.
I am not promoting c-sections but I don’t think your post portrays a balanced opinion on this subject.
I also don’t agree with your vaccination opinions.
May 5th, 2009 at 8:14 am
Melissa says:
Thanks for blogging about what to expect after a c-section. I had and emergency c-section after being induced at just 33 weeks due to my uncontrollable high blood pressure. During delivery the cord dropped and I was rushed to surgery. I was so scared, my husband was not allowed to attend. I demanded to be asleep. When I woke up my husband said I was gone for 3 hours. They finally took us to the NICU to see our baby girl weighing only four pounds. They told us she was floppy at birth. I was in so much pain and so confused about the birth. I was so much more depressed than with my other two vaginal births. It’s been 8 months now and I still have pain. The scar isn’t to bad but the belly flap is really upsetting and I’m having such a hard time losing this belly fat. It’s great to finally find a web site that explains what to really expect during and after a c-section. I thought maybe it’s just me, I felt all alone. So thank-you for posting your story!
May 7th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Cindy says:
Thank you for listing the truths of C-sections. I’ve known many people who have had them and haven’t had a hard time or a long recovery, but for me, I found it grueling and I didn’t believe it would ever end. I spent weeks sitting in my bed crying because my baby needed me, but my pain was so bad, I couldn’t even move. It would take me so very long to take care of my baby even when I had put everything I needed so close together and this was weeks after surgery. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a choice with my delivery. My baby was 11 pounds and 1 ounce at birth and there was no way I was going to squeeze him out. I’m thankful that we are both alive, but being treated like I was healing normal and that my pain level was like everyone else and being denied medication to help me function truly robbed me during this special time. Yes, I suppose I was healing normal, despite a bladder infection, fevers, and some other nasty things that went on for weeks, but my pain level is not like anyone else and it really broke my heart not to be able to hold my baby in ways I wanted to in order to console him due to my own suffering and pain. And, it is very hard to take care of another when you are in a great deal of pain yourself. This truly was a very traumatic experience for me. I am grateful for my son, but I will never go through this again and risk having another c-section. I’m happy for those who go through this and have a speedy and almost painless recovery, but I very much feel for those who don’t and have to also deal with added complications.
I definitely have a greater respect for mothers. And, an even greater respect for those who can push through when the odds aren’t very good.
If you don’t need a c-section, please consider a vaginal delivery before electing anything else.
And to reply to Chris L: Yes, I am also experiencing everything you just described. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I had written it word for word. I haven’t been brave enough to seek out an exam due to pain and I definitely don’t even want to think about having to go through the whole process all over again. If my worst nightmare came true, the hospital would truly regret every operating on me. Hopefully, as I’ve already expressed, it is just a different type of tolerance for me and I hope that I just have a lower tolerance for this pain and that nothing is wrong. I wish the same for you.
May 31st, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Alex says:
Wow. I gave birth at 19. I was diagnosed with gestational diabeties around 24 weeks of pregnancy. I know that women with GB usually have large babies, and require c-sections.
I didn’t have a huge baby. My son was 7lb 9oz. I wanted to have a vaginal birth and natural as possible. Well that didn’t happen. I had an active herpes outbreak (about 3 weeks before my son was born)and based on that (I was told a c-section would be my safest option) my c-section was performed about 5-7 days before the due date. Around 39 week or so
Maybe I have an unusual tolerance for pain,but I didn’t have the horrible pain that you described. When I was in the hospital, nurses tried to feed me a stream of painkillers, something mad my skin itch terribly (alregic reaction maybe)and kind of nausea. A lot of times I refused. Some nurses were annoyed to say the least. I could walk to the bathroom w/o assistance about 24 hrs after. (but very slowly) My mom (who was with me from the or to my release 3 days later, and also had a c-section herself almost 21 yrs ago ) was shocked at how well I was getting around. My second day at the hospital , they wanted to discharge me!! I insisted a stay another day.
Breatsfeeding has hard, my milk didn’t come in for a few days, the nurses didn’t want to give my son formula (even though I couldn’t produce more than on once after 20 min with a hospital grade pump). He dropped to 6lb 1oz! Those pseudo natural nurses thought once he had formula he wouldn’t want my milk?! (That was probably the scariest part for me). I had some pain a few weeks after. I went for a check up 8 weeks later and everything was fine. Looking back THE only major problem (thus far 18 mo. later) is that it took my son 6wk before he could successfully breastfeed without nipple guards/aides. In the future I hope to have a vbac, (God willing there’s not a lot of scarring to my uterus) I’m also hopeful because my mother had uterine fibroids while pregnant with me, and my cord was wrapped around my neck twice. I was an emergency c-section in the late 80′s and my mom had a vbac with my little sister no problem.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:16 am
pah says:
Hi,
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Regards,
Jane
July 27th, 2009 at 2:40 am
Katy says:
Sorry, but after having three children C-section (first two after 24 hour labor, third child was planned C-sec.) I must say I disagree with your opinion that recovering from a C-section is must worse than the labor itself. Yes, it is major abdominal surgery, but the pain of the postop period was NOTHING compared to those tortuous hours of continuous labor pain with NO relief between contractions. I was up walking the hall the next day after my surgery much to the amazement of the nurses. Yes, it may have been a lengthier recovery, but the bottom line is I am fine and my babies were healthy. There is not a perfect answer to the best delivery method for each pregnancy. I am just very thankful that I live in a time when there are options when labor does not go as planned. The final outcome of a healthy child and mother is really what counts in the end.
July 27th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Emily says:
While I have this this same story from so many of my friends and relatives about there c-section, I never had any of this mine. My pelvic bones are not structured for a baby to pass through and my son would have broken my pelvic to pieces had I had him vaginally so after 4 hours of pus
July 27th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Emily says:
While I have this this same story from so many of my friends and relatives about there c-section, I never had any of this mine. My pelvic bones are not structured for a baby to pass through and my son would have broken my pelvic to pieces had I had him vaginally so after 4 hours of pushing they did an emergency c-section. During it I was put to sleep for some reason and this was the only bad part I remember from the experience because while I was asleep I remember it was like I was on some bad trip you would see in some movie from the 60′s on people on acid or something. But after wards I had virtually no pain. My son was in the nicu after wards due to his heart stopping from the stress of being stuck in down there for some time, but to the nurses amazement I was up walking around (I think it was partly to do with I wanted to see my son and nothing would keep me from it, because he could not come to me), but even my incision sight I had no problems with, my stomach afterwards was almost as if I had a tummy tuck. A lot of this though I would have to say is due to one great doctor. But at the same time i am not down playing anyone else story of their experience there is some that have no problems at all. While at the same time I do have to say my son’s birth was very traumatic due to his heart stopping and him not breathing when he was born, which was due to the fact had they known about my problematic pelvic bones there would of never been a problem with him in the first place, the actual c-section was in no way a bad experience to me but like I said everyone’s body is different and while mine may have not been a problem some people may not experience the same as I did, not everyone will have the same doctor either.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Emily says:
Also to Alex’s post about the milk not coming in after wards, one of the nurses I had after having my son said that a glass of beer will get your milk flowing. She said they used to offer a glass of beer or wine to all the moms after birth and would suggest the nursing moms to drink the beer. Well the day I got home I tried it and sure enough it came flowing in, it worked just like the nurse said, the doctor even agreed with it, the dr said one beer is not enough to harm the milk you feed your baby but if you still dont feel comfortable giving to your baby pump and dump the first batch.
July 27th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
missmo1984 says:
Its unfortunate that people are afraid. But this is the reality of surgery. No matter what they tell you there are always risks and what you have provided is the raw deal of what can occur if things go wrong. If people dont like it i guess they can find sweet little stories to make everything peachy clean some where else. Listen, to be well informed is to be aware of negatives and positives. Thank you! I am a nurse so i would like to say i know what im talking about!!
August 6th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Hillary says:
You are ABSOLUTLEY right about everything you said. I was not prepared to have a c-section when I was induced in the hospital. I was 18 years old, scared to death, past my due date, and had also watched a million episodes of a Baby Story, and Birth Day. I was mentally prepared for the pain of labor and pushing this 9 lb 14 ounce girl out of me. However, I WAS NOT prepared for a c-section. My body refused to cooperate with labor, I wouldn’t dialte, and about 12 1/2 hours into labor, they gave me a go for a c-section.
Labor was NOTHING compared to this pain.
Fingers shoved up my vagina every hour to check me was NOTHING compared to this pain.
The c-section has been the WORST pain I have ever experienced in my life. Since my surgery was at night, all I remembered was seeing my daughter born, fighting the hell out of sleep in recovery so I could see her, finally holding her, then puking my guts out from finally being able to drink fluid. The next thing I knew I was waking up the next day with the feeling of a thousand knives stabbing me in my ovaries. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t laugh, cough, sneeze, nothing. I couldn’t even move my legs to the side of the bed without feeling the most un-godly pain right above my vagina. Everyone urged me to cough so I could get all the fluid out of my lungs from being put to sleep, but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t even change my own baby’s diaper in the hospital because I couldn’t even bend over. It took away SO MUCH bonding time that I should have had when my daughter when she was born. TLC does NOT show the real thing behind c-sections. The ONLY thing that would make me feel remotley better was standing in the warm shower, trying my best not to lose my balance and fall.
I hemorrhaged twice when I left the hospital. I’m talking blood pouring down my legs and filling the toilet, I coughed up blood, and could seriously not get out of the bed by myself to save my life. It was seriously a goal if I could do it by myself. Of course I had to learn to by myself, being 18 and all, my husband left me while we were still in the hospital, and my mom worked and went to school, so it was all left up to me. I couldn’t have done it without the grace of God.
The most horrible side effect besides everything described was indeed the belly flap. I was so disgusted with myself after I healed. I could not understand why it wouldn’t go away. I knew it would take more time than a few months, but when those few months turned into more months, I became very self-contious. Now with my daughter being almost 2 I can say that it is not as bad as it was and is reasonably better. I guess now it just looks like I don’t work my lower ab muscles..lol..when I do but they are just worthless! Still numb in the region too. I could get stabbed with a pen there and wouldn’t even fill it. AND I also have a dent on my left side of my insicion where the staple came loose. I am forever indented!
I think any woman that can honestly say having a c-section was not the most painful physical experience of her life must have had many drugs she was doped up on and had tons of people helping her around 24-7. No offense to those moms, but getting sliced open and an almost 10 pound kid pulled out of you is not a “less” painful matter.
I’m just glad to read about someone’s experience whose was EXACTLY like mine. I often wonder if every woman’s belly is like mine and all that good stuff. I guess it’s just a part of giving birth. I’ll take it
August 12th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Marie says:
I read your story and everything that you said is correct. During my pregnancy I read 5 books on all of the treatments, surgery available during pregnancy. I also watched an actual birth on the TLC channel in all different hospitals in the
U.S. 99% of the births were by c-section.
After seeing the procedure performed so many times and how aggressive the physicians were in recommending it coupled
with the information I had read I was horrified at the fact that it appeared to
have to do whatever they said. Their
behavior was bizarre due to the fact that
those decisions are made by a physician
or midwife not nurses. I was harassed the
entire time I was at the hospital and to top it all off they called DYFS(child protective services) and had my newborn
placed in fostercare the reasons cited were refusal of c-section, fetal heartrate
monitoring, fetal scalp stimulation, Sonogram, medicine and past psychiatric
treatment. Even though the fetal heart
rate monitoring, sonogram and fetal scalp
stimulation was done and I never refused
medication or a c-section if it was medically necessary the nursing staff lied
in their documented notes. Yes depending
on the hospital that does happen. It has
been over 3 years and my lawyer recently
filed a petition for certification with
the NJ Supreme Court and it will take a long time just to get my case heard. If I
could go back I would have used a midwife
and gone to Morristown Memorial Hospital
or Overlook. I’ve done some research
recently and found out that Casey Pellicer
an infant born at St. Barnabas Hospital
in 1998 four months after his birth had
surgery and was deprived of oxygen and
it resulted in brain damage. He won a 70
million verdict,however, that was vacated
by NJ Supreme Court and the case was remanded for a new trial. I’m sure he will win the case. In addition, in 2007
an infant Rebecca Rabinowitz was born at
St. Barnabas and was discharged too early.
The next day the parents rushed her to the
emergency room and the DR. told the parents that there was nothing wrong of course that turned out to be a lie and
the baby died the next day. I do not
recommend anyone go to St. Barnabas to
deliver their baby because you will not
only have an unneccessary c-section but
you will get abused. I think if I could
go back I may have even considered a home
birth with a midwife. In the end I hope
I get my baby back.
be detrimental to maternal and fetal health. Basically, I can to the conclusion that women and their fetuses were being harmed and that the matority of
time it did more harm than good. The c-section surgery just seemed so high risk
to me and the natural birth seemed low risk. I made the mistake of not using a midwife and used an OBGYN(a surgeon at heart) and went to St. Barnabas Hospital
in Livingston NJ that has an approximate
75% rate. I met with resistence the minute I arrived in the maternity ward. Before my Dr. even arrived without my permission they administered pitocin, The
nurses were highly abusive screaming at me
constantly that I would have to undergo
a c-section. That also stated that I would
August 16th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Mari says:
I can’t agree with you more, C sections are horrible and after two C sections the scarring is worse and overflap belly is for ever even if you lose the extra fat. I still feel numbness and the cut was not done even so is deeper on one side than the other. And sometimes I feel pain out of nowhere. Both were emergencies because my pelvis is very stretch and I had big babies who kept getting stuck, I honestly don’t recommend it.
August 23rd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
claire says:
my experience of childbirth was horrific and will haunt me forever….however it was a natural labour.
my labour was 26hours with 13 episodes of foetal distress on the ctg.
my son was born vaginally after 2hours of pushing
he had the cord wrapped round his neck twice, tightly and had sustained serious head injury due to the excessive manipulation of his skull to get through my pelvis.
he was blue, floppy and unresponsive. he didnt breath spontaneously and had to be actively resuscitated for 10minutes using and ambu bag.
he was taken to scbu where he began to fit due to oxygen starvation and brain injury. we were told he would have level 1 or 2 brain damage and would probably never lead a normal life.
i didnt get to hold him for 3days as he was heavily sedated and medicated.
A natural labour does not guarantee such things as bonding, breast feeding, getting to hold your baby…….i have never had a more horrifing experience than natural childbirth.
if i could turn the clock back i would grab a c section with both hands. a section is not the easy route but neither was my labour.
section is not right for everyone but there is noway i could ever attempt a natural labour again.
August 24th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Tracie Harris says:
Thank you for your truthful portrail of a C-section. My first C-section was an emergency from an induction that was too early and my little man just did not want to come out 2.5 weeks early so my OB could go on vacation!! I was induced at 8 pm the night before with cervadil and then started on Pitocin at 5:30 am the next morning and he was not delivered until 11:00 that night. So I got to go through the pains of labor 17.5 hours before they decided to take him. My epidural was ineffective in stopping the pain when they tested me with the little shocker thing they have so they had to knock me out cold, I did not get to see my precious little man for 4 whole hours after he was born, and that is something I can never get back. After the c-section I was not informed how to take care of and clean the incision so two days after being home I developed a high fever and discovered what I thought was bleeding but later discovered was pus oozing from my incision site where it was infected. I had to be off work for 10 weeks as did my husband who had to clean and pack my wound twice a day!!! And the pain you talk about is very real, it is hard enough caring for a newborn without being able to bend over, sit up, or stand for very long. Breastfeeding is very difficult because you always have to be mindful of the incision and how you move.
My sweet daughter was born 2 years later and she was also a c-section, Dr wouldn’t have it any other way due to the infection in my first incision and worries of ruptured scar tissue. Her delivery went much smoother and I did get to see her when they delivered her and then about 30 minutes later I got to hold and feed her, thankfully the spinal still had me numb from the pain. I knew what to do with the incision this time cleanliness wise so when I went for my week check-up to have the staples removed we thought it was smooth sailing until 2 days later I developed a HORRIBLE rash from the glue they used after the took out the staples to keep the incision closed longer!!! That was another painful experience I had to indure on top of having a 2-year-old, newborn, and c-section pain to deal with.
It is now 3 years since I have had a baby, I am done the good Lord willing, because I just don’t think I can handle that again. I still have sharp stabbing pains in my stomach if I move to quickly or at certain angles and I have that lovely belly flap as a momento of my experiences.
I have watched both my sister and SIL have babies vaginally and it pains me everytime because that was my wish, to have my babies and then be able to just enjoy them not have to worry about my own healing.
I caution everyone who reads this DO NOT let your Dr. “talk you into” a c-section without making sure you know all of the facts, good and bad. My gut told me not to let my Dr. induce me because my protien and bp had gone back down to normal once I was on bed rest but a 22 year old who is in her first pregnancy and tired of being pregnant anyway is easily swayed especially when it is her first baby and I did. Had I waited 1-2 more weeks my little man probably would have come on his own and been a healthy happy little boy instead of an underweight baby with jaundice and acid reflux because he was not ready to be here and the DR. guesstimated his age!! Think of your little ones as well as yourself before you do anything with delivery. If not you might be facing a longer road than the 1-2 weeks you might have weighted for your baby to come on their own!!
Thanks again for this truthful blog, its something I think women needed to know!!
August 27th, 2009 at 8:49 am
MommaofTwoboys says:
Having birthed my first child vaginally and had an aweful experience – a severe shoulder dystocia (where the head comes out, but the shoulders get stuck…an emergency because the baby can become asphyxiated) with my son having a clavicle fracture, a manual placental removal, severe 3rd degree tear of the perineum, a major post partum hemorrhage that almost killed me, and a vaginal hematoma (large blood clot) afterwards where I could not sit for two weeks. This is compared to my emergency CSection for my smaller second son for heart rate abnormalities – and despite the fact my incision did fall apart a bit, I felt WAY better than with the first delivery! Day and night comparision…
Just be aware that there can be major complications from vaginal delivery, and that the OBs suggest elective or in labour Csection for certain conditions (like macrosomic (large) babies and breeches) to avoid disasters like my first delivery…
Just to represent the other side of the story…
August 29th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Sara says:
Thank you for writing about your c-section!I can relate to what happened to you because I had one myself. I also thought I did not have other options other than having the doctor turn the baby around. The doctor obviously scared me about turning the baby around (my baby was breech). After I saw the doctor I read about c-sections (obviously from the medical point-of-view)and I knew there were risks. Yet, I wish I had read about c-sections from other women’s experience and point-of-view because the experiences women live through speaks louder than what a doctor has to say. Anyway, after the c-section I ended up getting pleural effusion (water in lungs– I had to stay an extra day at the hospital), a sinus infection, and tendonitis on my right hand. It was extremely hard to breastfeed and to even take care of myself! I ended up with post-partum depression along with anxiety attacks. It has been 8 months and I feel pain around my “c-section” that I did not have before and now I am hypothyroid. I do not want to have anymore children because this “c-section” made it worse on me (I was already dealing with asthma, being celiac, supposedly having interstitial cystitis, adverse reactions to most antibiotics–just horrible). I know that other women have it worse, but to me it was an aweful experience. It was suppose to be a joyful experience.
August 31st, 2009 at 10:55 am
selfish account says:
Wow – how incredibly what an unbelievably self centered view of your birth. Why do you leave out how studies have shown vaginal breech deliveries to risk such unacceptably high rate of neurological injury and asphixia that they can no longer be justified. There is no mention of what would be best for your baby or how happy you are to have had a healthy baby that wasnt in the NICU while you relished in your intact belly. You are like those fanatical people on TV shows b/c you care more about you stupid belly than your baby. Hello … ITS IS ABOUT THE BABY NOT THE DELIVERY
September 7th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Selfish Account,
My intent for the post was to alert women of some of the issues and complications that they may encounter when they have a C-section. I felt a lot of the information I included in the post was not information that is readily given to women beforehand.
In making any decision about our health, and especially when dealing with bringing a new baby into the world, we should have ALL the facts, information, and possible outcomes disclosed before the surgery.
In my experience, and what seems like a lot of others experiences (based from some of the comments here, and private e-mails I have received), none of the negative outcomes were discussed before- hand with many women. Or they are quickly brushed over, never discussed in any detail.
Of course every woman is happy her baby is born healthy, but women are NOT happy when the C-section experience causes them countless problems, emotional, and physical that they were not aware of before agreeing to a C-section. Furthermore, these problems can and do affect their babies and the rest of the family many times.
If a person has heart surgery, and the heart is repaired we can assume the patient will be happy his heart is fixed. If he was not informed of the complications beforehand, does this mean the patient is “selfish” when they voice their displeasure on the complications they were not informed of before surgery?
I find the “defense” that a woman should be happy no matter how her C-section or birth experience goes because her baby is healthy, flimsy and weak. We don’t hold any other surgery patients to this standard so it is time we stop expecting women to be happy no matter how their C-section goes.
I have heard from hundreds of women, who trust their doctors, nurses, and hospitals BEFORE the C-section. However, once complications arise women feel like they were misled by these healthcare providers because the realistic aspect that complications can and do arise, were not fully disclosed to them before the procedure.
Everyone has the RIGHT to UNDERSTAND and QUESTION any procedure being done on their bodies. If they don’t know the questions to ask, how will they get accurate answers? If the healthcare providers don’t disclose potential realistic complications of C-sections, how can we say that a woman is making an informed decision?
My doctor told me flat out delivering a vaginal breech baby is not any more “dangerous” than a regular vaginal birth. I had not other complications where a C-section would have been “needed’ other than my baby was in the breech presentation. But because medical schools aren’t even teaching breech vaginal delivery anymore, women with breech babies are automatically given the “choice” of a C-section. Unless they can happen to find a doctor relatively close to them or a midwife (providing the state they live in allows midwives to attend breech births), they are out of options. A C-section is the *only* way they can deliver their baby in the hospital. What kind of choice is that? Assuming you do want the expertise of a doctor and nurses, it is that, or find another place to have your baby.
I refuse to believe no matter how many medically necessary C-sections there are, that it is in the best interest of *every* woman with a breech baby to have an automatic C-section, just for that reason. This standard procedure for delivering babies because they are breech is not in the best interest of women and their babies every time.
There are a lot of sources on the web citing the safety of VBAC for most women (obviously it is not safe for every woman every time.) Here are just two links you may wish to check out.
Several studies suggest that PLANNED C-sections can be up to THREE times more risky than emergency C-sections. http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/02/12/c-sections.html
Elective C-sections for non-medical emergency reasons are more risky than vaginal birth: http://www.ican-online.org/vbac/postion-statement-elective-cesareans-riskier-than-vaginal-birth
I’d be interested in reading somewhere the statistic you quoted, “studies have shown vaginal breech deliveries to risk such unacceptably high rate of neurological injury and asphixia that they can no longer be justified.”
I feel what is best for the woman IS best for the baby. After all, the two are connected and share a body until the baby is born. In the end, it is what each woman decides is best for herself and her baby. Some may call this being selfish. I call it being informed and educated.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:20 am
tess says:
Thankyou for posting this. I have had two c-sections, both at the end of long labours. The first one may, looking back, not have been necessary. But you are vulnerable and not in a position to question after 24 hours of labour. I am left with an “overhang” which has affected my self esteem or at least my sexual confidence and at both c-sections took a long time to recover from physically. The first one left me feeling a failure and disappointed although hugely glad my baby was alive and well. Cheers!!
September 14th, 2009 at 1:27 am
tess says:
I’ll just add. I’m in Australia and at least here c-section is commonly thought of as “the easy option”. No way! At the birthing classes c-section was briefed over in about half an hour and no discussion took place about it. Women should be educated fully even if just to be prepared, and they should have extra support afterwards. Noone would think to expect anyone else who’se had major abdominal surgery to look after a baby virtually on their own straight afterwards. I remember having to do things that made it difficult for me to heal. Thanks
September 14th, 2009 at 1:31 am
suzanne says:
I am a member of the medical community myself and you have pretty much hit this nail squarely on the head. At issue here are three things a) time b) money/profit and c) liability.
Everyone knows this, but no one with any power has any incentive or ability to fix it. Say you’ll take more “A” with an L/D(a natural birthing center for instance) and automatically “B” goes down and “C” goes up, putting you out of business pretty quickly. The medico-legal establishment will see to that.
Couples/women get “sold” C-sections just like folks get “sold” fancy caskets at the funeral homes, and for the same reason. $$$ Believe it or not as you wish, but talk to women who are practitioners (like me) and see what types of births they try to ensure for themselves … I promise you won’t find many elective C-sections! Most of us do everything in our power to stay out of the giant sucking vacuum that is the hospitalized birth process. When I was “diagnosed” as pregnant I immediately called the head of our OB/GYN Nurse Practitioner’s program, only to learn that the nurse-midwives were being “phased out”. Luckily, she, as a four-time natural birther herself, knew of ONE pair of “progressive” physicians in our large city who she said would be the least likely to dope me up and/or cut me open. Their CS/VB stats (obtained for me by another friend) confirmed this. Also, they didn’t share call with other practitioners who would … that’s a huge point always overlooked! Don’t count on the one “nice guy” in the practice being the one who attends you.
I went in armed to the teeth with knowledge and took control from my first visit with BOTH physicians, and they were fine with that, as I was with the ultimate possibility that we might have to go another route in a true emergency. We negotiated everything from monitoring type and frequency to medications to what I could wear. It was all noted in my chart, plus I took it (with both their signatures) with me to the hospital. They were totally cool with all of this too.
I took the intensive Lamaze classes and practiced diligently, and luckily all went according to plan. My daughter made her appearance right on schedule, no meds required, and less that 2 hours after delivery I was up hanging up my clothes in the closet and walking down the hall to the nursery asking to have my baby back.
The next day we were home and I was pretty much able to resume my normal life .. no headaches, no gas, no incisions. Just vaginal drainage for a week that we ALL have, regardless of delivery route.
And yes, many people thought I was “crazy” not to turn all this over to my doctors ..that is, except for those I worked with in the medical field! We all know what goes on …
Oh, and that daughter, who is now also a medical practitioner, just pulled off the same feat (natural birth) with my granddaughter, but 25 years later and in a much bigger city, it was MUCH harder for her to do so, because of the prevailing anti-VB “climate”!
A fascinating stat is to compare birth route against insurance status … amazingly, uninsured women are much better at pushing out babies than insured ones!
http://www.springerlink.com/content/p32055107425716n/
Things that make you go “hmmmm”!!
September 17th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Sandy says:
Hi!
I wanted to say that I had 2 csections and they both turned out well. I will say that they are extremely painful at first, I didn’t take any pain meds after the first day except at night to sleep. While it was painful, it meant more to me to be alert to hold my children. I made a point to get up and move as soon as they would let me. It was excruciating…but it helped me deal with the pain a bit more and by the time I left the hospital after 4 days I was pretty good to go.
I was never tied to the table either, except my legs because they were so numb. I was able to move my arms and touch both of my children. I think that has more to do with hospital policy than having a c-section. It maybe something you ask when you go to a hospital tour. You don’t have to go to any specific hospital as long as the doctor/midwife you want has privileges at the one you choose.
I has one at one hospital and one at another…I will say I liked the first one better! They gave me a belly support band ( a really big elastic belt) the first day and it helped a ton…the second hospital didn’t and I actually asked for one. I have a friend in Scotland that had a section and they didn’t give her a support band at all…
My scars are fine and they healed great…though I do have a lot of numbness. My husband had a hernia in the same spot as my section and he said that his scar/area is still numb and feels weird as well. It helped to know it was normal! LOL
I will say this though…people do forget that it is MAJOR SURGERY. This isn’t like getting your tooth pulled. They are cutting you open and taking something out. It’s gonna hurt. The risks are high for infection or other complications.
This is why I had my tubes tied…due to the way my pelvis is made I cannot deliver naturally…and two times was plenty for me. I took the risk, came out fine both times…I don’t know if I would do so well again.
September 21st, 2009 at 6:48 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Suzanne,
Thanks so much for your perspective and balanced comment. The link you provided to Springerlink, was very eye-opening.
I hate that sometimes it seems like women are “against” their doctors, nurses, and hospitals. I wish there was a more cooperative spirit.
Maybe if more medical professionals, such as yourself would speak up, the birthing climate would improve.
I am so glad that you and your daughter were able to have a natural birth. I like to think that the examples my generation is setting today, will help lower the C-section rate in the future- when our children are having babies. Your story is proof that this can happen.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.
Heather
September 21st, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Brandi says:
I just devoted a full hour and a half to reading this entire post and all the comments in it! I can appreciate your experience of having a C section, but I have to say, it did scare the living daylights out of me! My daughter was born 3 years ago via vaginal birth and I had an awful experience. I’m a small person and apparently my pelvis wasn’t large enough to fit her slightly larger than normal head through! My doctor didn’t do an episiotomy and I ended up with 4th degree tears in both directions and a broken tail bone. My recovery was very hard. And now 3 years later I’m 26 weeks pregnant with my 2nd daughter. Things are MUCH different this time though. A year and a half ago I had a tumor the size of a grapefruit removed from my right abdominal muscle. An implant was put in it’s place. The only thing that is left of my right abdominal muscle is about an inch at the top and an inch and a half at the bottom. So basically both my doctors and I are going into this birth with little knowledge about my birth. I have to have a C section for multiple reasons. Since I have no stomach muscle on the right side, it would make it extremely difficult to push! And also, from my first birthing experience my doctors have suggested a C section as well. I trust my Dr’s greatly as they are all high risk maternal medicine specialists and also because they have already shown great care with not only myself, but my husband and daughter. As far as the recovery from my vaginal birth, I’ve never felt 100%. I still have pain in my vaginal area. My stitches “fell apart” on several occasions and I experienced an infection. That being said…..I am scared to death of this C Section. I find the fact that I don’t have to go through labor pains very appealing! BUt I find the fact that I will be awake while having major surgery extremely frightening. I have problems with anxiety and am very scared that I won’t be able to control it during the surgery. The recovery doesn’t scare me at all. I have a pretty high pain tolerance. I recovered extremely quickly after my surgery last year, after having my stomach muscles ripped out! So I’m thinking this might be at least slightly easier. I’m also not worried about the scar. I already have a 7″ vertical scar on my right side from my previous surgery. I’m just happy to be able to still have children!
Brandi
September 28th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Crista says:
I’m sorry but the thought of having a c-section is truly horrible. What a terribly unnatural way for a child to be brought into the world. That being said they have saved lives, so they do have their place. The number of c sections being performed today is much too high. The WHO estimates no more than 5% of births should be c sections, but we all know the statistics. Doctors can actually be sued for not performing a c section, which obviously contributes to the problem. Plus, they can be scheduled. Why do 90% of c sections happened in the middle of the day and not in the middle of the night? I had the most amazing natural childbirth. I attended Bradley classes and PREPARED for my son’s birth by eating right (100 grams of protein per day) and exercising. A Harvard University study proved you can actually prevent mainly pregnancy complications like preeclampsia by eating the right foods during pregnancy. I also got rid of my OBGYN when I heard her philosophy on c sections. She stated, “If you need a c section you’re going to have a c section.” Obviously my midwife was supportive when I mentioned I wanted to try to do it naturally. Women are never given options. When a problem arises, doctors push a woman to a c section. I honestly feel for women that have had c sections. I was so connected to my childbirth experience. I think about constantly. It was such a life changing event. I’m a different person after giving birth. I was walking around few hours after his birth. My son was born so alive and alert. The nurses all knew I did it drug-free because of how alert he was. Please educate yourself about the horrors of c sections. Thank you for this site. Hopefully more women will begin to understand they are in control of their bodies.
October 4th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
meg says:
Someone who works in a hospital told me that if c sections were not performed, a hospital would not stay in buniess.
50% of a hospital’s profits are earned in the maternity ward. Labor is a business.
They charge insurance companies $50,000. A vaginal delivery is a one third of that.
October 4th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Megan says:
Wow, I have been reading these posts on here for quite a while now.
I myself had a C-Section 11 days ago. Although I am extremely happy my baby girl is healthy and happy, I wish I could have delievered naturally!
I was due Oct 9th. On Oct 20th at about 4 pm, they started inducing me, I was still not dialated what so ever. The next morning I went in and they started the oxytocin “drip”. My water would not break, and broke on its own 2 hours later, I was in hard labour with in 20 mins. I was in hard labour all that that day and that night aswell, I was still only 4-5cm dialated. I was having contractions 2-3mins, less than a min apart, and 15-20 in a row. They were loosing my baby’s heart beat! Finally at 8:05am on the 22nd I was informed they were giving me an emergency C-Section, I wasnt given a choice. By that time I didnt much care anyways, I just wanted my baby out and healthy!
Anyways….. The recovery of MY C-Section was/is just as hard and painful as you explained!! 11 days later, it still hurts to laugh, cough, sneeze or move quickly. Everything I do like sit up, stand, walk, its all in slow motion!
I read in one of the responses that in Canada it is different and your hands are NOT tied to the table, that infact is not true. Maybe just in that hospital or that case. Mine deffinately were tied down, and I was stapled, which I read in a seperate comment they dont do anymore either.
I think alot of these people are too opinionated. You are doing nothing wrong by sharing your experience.
Here our OHIP pays for the surgery, however it is expensive when my boyfriend had to take time off work to stay home and help me. I am a new mom, and with the c-section and first baby things can be overwhelming. Since he is a truck driver and gone for 1-2 weeks at a time, it was not possible for him to be home to help without taking weeks off of work.
I have yet to see the full recovery of my surgery, I am scared to see how my body completely heals. I am only 19, and have the rest of my life, lol. Im not complaining, I am happy to have my daughter safe at home!! I still have to go back in and be checked out, my bladder is still leaking blood, the nurses told me it was from the cathiter, but since then I have read some things online, and it in fact is NOT suppose to do that!.. We will see how it goes.
I just wanted to let you know, I enjoyed reading your post. Since I was released from the hospital 3 days after the surgery, and been home I have been feeling like I am lazy and not taking this well, and just keep reminding myself women do this everyday! I refused to take the morphine, and stopped taking the tylonal 3′s after about 2 days! But now I can see this is just the way it is!
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:01 am
LaTonya says:
I didn’t bother to read the posts. Each person’s experience with a C-section is going to be different because there are so many variables involved. With that said with my experience I’d have to agree you. We are not given an accurate depiction of what a c-section is.
I underwent an emergency C-section on the 5th of October. I hadn’t even considered the possibility of having a c-section. I arrived for an NST at 8am. Went for biophysical at about noon and was admitted around 1pm due to high blood pressure, possible pre-eclampsia and baby failing NSTs consistently. I went in for a c-section at about 2:15pm. It sent me for a spin when I was told my baby would be delivered that day. I was not prepared for that at all. I couldn’t reach my husband in time it happened so fast. My mother who was a L&D nurse was there with me in the operating room.
For me the pain of the epidural was the worst. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced and you have to sit still and take it. It was awful. While in the operating room after the epidural there is no pain but it is definately frightening. I vomited twice, the room was spinning, I was not able to breathe twice. Afterwards I was told that my heart rate dropped dangerously low.
After my baby was delivered I heard her cry and then she stopped breathing. After the repiratory therapist worked on her, she was shown to me. She was beautiful, but then I noticed that she started gasping for air and she was taken again. In an effort to help her breathe the first time the resp therapist injured her lung and she ended up needing to go to NICU.
My pain after the c-section, in my opinion was not that bad. it was manageable with pain medication. But the pain medication DOES NOT alleviate all of the pain…..not even close to all of the pain. The epidural lasted for about 2 hours, so there was no pain in the abdomin until the next day…I then began the pain meds. You are right it will hurt to cough, get out of bed etc and you will be advised to not wal stairs, drive, or lift anything heavier than your baby for 6 weeks. I was able to walk to the NICU and see and feed my baby that evening however and did so every two hours from 11 am until 8pm each day I was in the hospital. So don’t think the pain is so bad that you can’t do things. Just stay ontop of you meds and you’ll be alright, and be sure to attempt to get up and walk around, shower and use the bathroom regularly. I was told to not do things for 6 weeks but I’m bad at sitting around. Just be smart about it and pay attention to your body and don’t over exert yourself and you’ll be fine.
It is true that a c-section is MAJOR surgery. My nurse said to me, “if you saw what they do to you down there, you’d understand that there is going to be pain for a long time, even with pain meds.”
The complications for me, where frightening. I couldn’t breathe, my baby was injured, I have lost feeling in four of my fingers on the left hand. I was told that I was given an incision that will allow for vaginal birth with future pregnancies, but I am seriously concerned now about future pregnancies whether vaginal or c-section.
November 4th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Sarah says:
Just wanted to share the experience of my best friend who had her daughter naturally 5 years ago and still curses the doctors for NOT giving her a c-section. Despite the fact that they could see on ultrasound that her daughter’s head was extremely large, they decided to let her push- and it tore her all the way to her rectum. As she was delivering, she repeatedly told the doctors that she didn’t think the baby was going to fit through, and they had her continue pushing anyway. Five years later, she suffers from incontinence and pain, and nastier scarring than any c-section would have given her.
On another note, I had an emergency c-section 10 years ago, after going into labor with a breech baby. I read about how attempting to turn a breech baby can cause serious distress to the baby and decided not to let them attempt it. And my daughter was perfect, and alert after delivery. I was able to climb stairs a week after I delivered. It was painful, but worth it to have a healthy baby
November 10th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
April says:
I’m not trying to down your experience or anything, and even though you made a post to clarify that this is just your opinion, when reading your actual post you state things in factual form as if they are true facts when they are not. The truth is, MOST c-sections are NOT horrible like yours. I’m sorry yours was so hard, but really all you are doing is scaring women. You can’t say that you don’t mean to because you really are! A lot of your facts are wrong, too!
1) They do NOT remove the uterus during surgery anymore.
2) They do NOT cut through muscle anymore.
3) In one of your pictures you say it was 11 weeks after, but it was really only a few days after. You can tell because the tape marks are still there and the stretch marks are still clearly fresh.
4) Injury rates are just as high if not higher during vaginal birth as opposed to c-section.
5) Morbidity rates are certainly not higher during a c-section(maybe in emergency situations, but not in planned ones like for breech babies.)
So yes, your misleading facts are scary.
However, I will agree with you that women should be allowed to at least attempt a natural breech delivery if they want to. No woman should be forced into something she is uncomfortable with. Whether that be a natural birth or a c-section, the mother should have every right to choose what she is most comfortable with and the fact that they are trying to “outlaw” natural breech births, and elective c-sections for those who want them really sickens me.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Ina says:
Uhm I just decided to have a vaginal birth after seeing and reading this… So thank you for the information. I just never thought about the downsides and I feel kind of stupid now.. Vaginal it is, since I have no medical reasons for C-section. I wish you all the best.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Victoria says:
I also had a HORRIBLE c-section. The pain was intense for even longer than 3 months, and my bleeding also lasted longer. My son is nearly three and I almost cannot use the muscles near the incision. My incision was put together with steri-strips and you can barely see it, but I do have the ‘overhang’ even though I lost ALL the pregnancy weight and MORE before the ‘fourth trimester’ was up (mostly due to anemia from the surgery). Did I mention I breastfed during all of this? I could not get up in the middle of the night with my baby, my husband had to and he had to go to work the next day! He would set us up with diapers, food, and water on the bedroom bed. He’d turn on the TV for us and we’d spend all day for nearly two weeks on the bed because I could not move around. The skin is numb between the scar and my belly button–but even today the FLESH undernearth the skin is VERY TENDER. I cannot wear jeans with a zip and button top. I have to make my own pants and skirts that are HIGH WAISTED or continue to wear maternity jeans. MATERNITY JEANS!!! Did you also know that the surgeons sometimes have to handle your colon? Whatever is in the way, they have to move it. Cesareans should be a LAST RESORT–never an option!
November 14th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Victoria says:
Oh, and my hands WERE tied to the table. I was in shock and the shaking was uncontrollable and violent.
And yes, vaginal births IN THE US are almost just as dangerous as a c-section, but NOT IN OTHER COUNTRIES. This has to do with the extremely incorrect way we force our women to give birth—pushing for 10 seconds as hard as they can, pushing while on their backs, giving birth out of their homes, and the lie that birth is medical and not natural being drilled into their heads since…well, birth. In Greenland, you are not attended to by a doctor unless you are high risk and you almost ALWAYS give birth at home. Their mortality rates are MUCH lower than ours! In point of fact, America has one of the highest mortality and injury rates on earth. Even women giving birth in huts in Africa have a better chance of having a safe birth and healthy baby than the ‘healthiest’ pregnancy in America attended by the most experienced physician. Birth is a business in America, and it’s killing our babies and mothers, and in my opinion is one of the leading causes of postpartum depression.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:47 am
April says:
Yea.. Victoria.. You’re entitled to your opinion about birthing options and places, but your facts are HORRIBLY wrong.
Of those you listed, America actually has the lowest infant mortality rate.
Infant mortality rate by country:
America– 6.3
South Africa– 44.42
Central African Republic–96.8
Greenland– 10.72
Those are deaths/1000 live births
So no.. it’s not safer to have a baby in a hut in Africa as opposed to a hospital in America.
However, I will agree that America doesn’t go about birthing the right way and that most women here are scared to death of it. Myself included, which is why I’d much prefer a c-section.
November 14th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
Bao says:
I was wondering what treatment was given to you before and after to help prevent infections?
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
Sara says:
Just read your article and I have to say that I wish I hadn’t asked for a C Section during labor. My doctor originally wanted me to have a C because my baby was weighing it at 9lbs plus at 36 weeks when I went into labor. However I knew that size alone doesn’t constitute a reason for a C and tried to deliver vaginally. Even though I was progressing normally in labor, they broke my water and started pitocin. I was so focused on my contractions and breathing and birthing ball that I pretty much just said yes to whatever. My doula unfortunately wasn’t really that helpful as she thought internal monitors were a good idea…so I went from manageable on a birthing ball at 5 cm to on my back with camelback contractions at 10 cm in 45 minutes. I pushed for around 4 hours but the baby was sunny side up and it was agony. I finally asked for an epidural and lo and behold it did nothing.
I told them I was too tired to push and they urged me to keep trying. I pushed for another 30 minutes and then just could not do it anymore. The doctor said the baby had a big head and it was probably best for a C section when I stupidly asked for one.
I had no idea how absolutely horrible it would be. I won’t go into it, because you describe it so well. But I will say this…recovering from a C section after trying to push out a baby for several hours is a special hell.
But what is even more insane is that the hospital where I delivered doesn’t have showers in the mother baby unit rooms. So I had to walk down a long hall way with an IV pole, staples in my stomach, feeling like I was being torn apart with a steak knife. And then once I got to the shower, I had to use antibacterial soap and wash the incision site. Then after getting dried off and redressed…arms over head kills…..walk back to the room, get in the bed, and nurse. The first time I tried this shower procedure, I ended up in tears and pulling the cord so the nurse could come get me. I also could not bend well enough to change my peripads.
My fiance knows everything there is to know about maxi pads now.
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Beth says:
I had a c section almost 10 weeks ago with my first baby. Through my pregnancy I knew I didn’t want a c section (mainly because of the scar and having anxiety about being awake). But – luck was not on my side for that. My water broke 5 days after my due date on thurs at 10am. I went to the hospital and was 1cm dilated. Friday at 3:00 after 30ish hours of pitocin..I was still 1cm. They decided a C section was best…and it turned out I had a small infection from my water breaking and the baby not being born quickly. I think the worst part of the whole thing was my anxiety which caused nausea on the table. My hands were tied to the table during the procedure, but they released them after she was out so i could touch/hold her. The pain was bearable. I took a walk that night in the hall (12 hours after surgery) and got a shower the next day. I walked saturday night and got myself ready for bed. Sunday I was up ready to give the baby a sponge bath. I was released Sunday night, and walked up my stairs to my apartment. I had eye surgery earlier in the year (i am cross eyed) and would have 10 c sections before I would have eye surgery again. I do believe it depends on the person. I was lucky to have an excellent experience. My scar is healing well and other than some numbness around the incision, I have no pain or problems. I do think people should have more information and education about c sections. If my friend hadn’t told me they pretty much rip through your muscle…I would have never known. It does seem to be a trend lately. I never would have voluntarily asked for one unless it was necessary – but in retrospect I’m glad it happened the way it did. I thank you for your information. And its horrible that your experience was a bad one.
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Jessica says:
Here’s my problem with this post:
I had an emergency c-section due to my baby’s heartrate dropping during contractions. I was absolutely terrified because I had researched c-sections. I didn’t think they were glamorous or easier than vaginal births. My experience was completely different than yours (just like vaginal births!). I was in very little pain during my 3 day stay in the hospital. I spent an hour in post-op and then spent every second of every hour of those 3 days with my baby (minus an hour or so when he was with the pediatrician). When I went home I only needed my pain meds once a day, not the 3 times I was supposed to take them. After 3 days I didn’t need them at all. I didn’t have staples so the only “wound care” required was washing with warm water and soap while I was in the shower. The steri-strips fell off on their own. So, my experience was great. But that’s MY experience. Just like the above was YOUR experience. Your article is written as if that’s what happens most of the time. Not true. Just like it’s not true that my experience is the norm. Every women I spoke to about c-sections recommended them! But every experience is different. I had the fastest recovery of anyone I shared my story with but they were all still pro-cesearan section.
I think it’s great to put out there what happened to you, as long as you make it clear that it’s not always going to be that way. You’re not always going to have an awful experience with a c-section, just like you’re not always going to have a great experience with a vaginal birth. I’m not saying you shouldn’t share your experience but I agree with some others that the tone of the post makes it seem you’re trying to strike fear in the heart of expectant mothers. Like I said, my c-section was an emergency, it had to happen. Had I read this prior to my delivery I would have been even more terified – and that’s saying a lot. So if you’re reading this and you’ve yet to deliver, there’s no way to know what your experience will be like. You can make a plan of what you’d like to happen but be ready for that to change. Whatever your experience might be just remember that if you come out of it with a happy, healthy baby and mom then you’ve had a successful delivery!
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Dawn says:
I would just like to add my experience, I had a c section 15 weeks ago and I agree that the recovery is extremely tough and long! I was unable to drive for 6 weeks and my scar also was infected and still is now.
My little girl beastfed ok, but unfortunately I ended up with an abscess following several bouts of mastitis! so I had to stop! Not caused by my section though.
I would just like to say that despite the above, the birth was VERY easy and the experience quite pleasant. I was introduced to my baby very quickly and was up and out of bed less than 12 hours later.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
michelle says:
I had my first c-section 12/09 after many vaginal births. It has been very difficult to recover from. My hands were strapped down, I didn’t see my baby over the curtain, no one would tell me how she was, after they took her to the nursery, no one would tell me what they were doing that was causing pain, pressure and shortness of breath as they repaired the incision.
My pain was not adequately controlled (and I’ve done several pitocin labors w/ no meds) and they seemed reluctant to give me pain meds.
My incision opened up 2 days after I got home – I am now having to pack the wound w/ a dressing impregnated w/ silver to heal it (4 in X 1 in X 1 in deep).
I developed pneumonia in part because it was so painful to cough.
My baby was suctioned – a tube ran down her throat to remove the fluids that would have been squeezed out if I had a vaginal birth. None of my vaginally birthed babies had to be suctioned.
She has a hemotoma on her head from some type of injury when she was removed from my uterus.
My uterus was taken out of my abdomen to be repaired. Again, this just happened at the end of December, 2009.
I didn’t get to hold her while I was being stitched up. I saw a tiny bit of her face and her hand before she was taken to the nursery.
Thankfully, I didn’t have staples, but many of the drs in the area do use staples.
I also knew enough to refuse the drugs they wanted to give me after she was out to “calm” me. So, I was able to remember everything and nurse her when I was back in my room. You can say no to them but you have to be informed that they’re going to want to give them to you. Or, they’ll just do it.
The spinal took over 40 minutes to administer – they finally had to call a dr in to place it. I have pain and a bruise the size of the palm of my hand on my back from all the pokes.
I had pain when I urinated from being abraded from the catheter. I still have pain while urinating – I assume from the bladder being manipulated because there is no infection.
Some of the problems w/ vaginal births are because of drs who don’t help women into better positions to push – just like some c-sections are more difficult because a dr isn’t as skilled. I pushed all my babies out squatting or side lying and never tore and didn’t have prolonged pushing phases.
I agree that women aren’t fully informed about what can happen during a c-section. Lots of women do recover uneventfully, but I’m not one of them. My c-section was necessary and I’m grateful that we’re both ok (cord prolapse), but I would never sign up for an elective c-section.
January 8th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Kristen says:
I like that you did a post on this. I have a c-section go VERY wrong due to malpractice. I should have sued. I was talked out of it. I almost DIED! I was fine until a week after being home. I called my doctor saying my stomach was hot to the tough and I was in a very high amount of pain. He had me come in, and said “ohh you might have a small infection, take these antibiotics and it will go away” So I go home irritated but do what he says. The next say my stomach literally exploded while I was changing my daughters diaper. I looked at the floor wondering why I heard a water dripping noise. Well it wasn’t water… it was tons of blood. I was also home alone so I called my husband and he rushed me to the ambulance. (we live in a small town.. they are slow and it was just faster this way.) Turns out… I had a STAFF infection due to non-clean tools used in surgey. Well the doctor jus tsaid something was unclean.. “no big deal” he says. My blood was SO low that the paramedics didn’t understand how my heart was beating. I had enternal bleeding that filled my stomach along with infection that made my scar just open right on up. Scaries moment of my life at 19 years old. However, I now have a 10 month old healthy baby girl… I still get sharp pains in my stomach from time to time… but it took 7 months to heal from that. My recovery consisted of about 4 feet of gauze being packed into my stomach and ripped out twice a day every day for that 7 months… every month or so we’d narrow down the length of gauze. I have never felt so much pain. I also had home health for that time too. My home health nurses were in amazement at the fact that this happened. They just didnt understand how my doctor could act like it was not a big thing.. After going to the hopital for my stomach exploding they had to give me a second surgery and clean it all out and give me blood….Here are a couple of links to the pictures. The one with the big black scab looking thing is rotted skin where there was a blood clot. They had to remove it not long after so it left me with two holes with a bridge in between. they almost cut the bridge out as well because it was not attatched underneath. The second link is of a picture about 2 and a half months in recovery showing both holes. I also have a video of having to pack the wound..I will just post the pictures though. Oh I will also post a link of what it looked like after stuffing the wound… Unless you’d like to see it haha… anyway here are the links:
Picture one: Hole = approx 16cm deep and 8 cm across. http://tinypic.com/r/200pc2b/6
Picture two: two holes the top is where the blood clot was. also had to be stuffed. http://i46.tinypic.com/x29kdw.jpg
Picture three:… packing time! It doesn’t look like it since it is packed pretty tight, but this is about 3 feet of gauze at about month number 5 of healing http://i47.tinypic.com/jpwnxw.jpg
The top hold healed more quickly width wise but was still deep in the last picture.
Kristen
January 13th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Kristen says:
I forgot to add, my reason for having a c-section was that even after being enduced for 24 hours, i would not dilate to ANYTHING. I was 41 weeks at this time.
January 13th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Kristen, I am so sorry you had to endure this. This is one of the most horrific C-section stories I have received. I am glad you are recovering and your daughter is healthy.
I receive a lot of comments on this post, some very critical, and I have defended my position many times. Stories like yours continue to show that even as of last year, things do go wrong with C-sections, and it is a major surgery with the possibilities of major complications. That is the reality of C-sections.
Thank you for sharing the link to your pictures. I know they will help inform others on the risks and complications involved with C-sections.
Please keep in touch, let me know your recovery goes, and how you are doing.
Heather
Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience.
January 13th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
sarah says:
i ran across your blog trying to find a picture of the classic “belly flap” for a friend of mine but i ended up reading this post. i feel that what you are saying should be told to EVERY mother who is expecting. i KNEW the complications that could arise, medically, by researching it myself while i was still pregnant. BUT no one ever thinks about the emotional complications after a c section.
on 4/15/09 i was admitted to the hospital for induction, i was 11 days overdue at that point. when i met the doctor on call she asked “why arent you having a c section? you have gestational diabetes and your baby could be HUGE” i said “because i DONT want a c section.” after the doctor left the nurses placed cervidil on my cervix. i was already contracting when i arrived but was unaware of it. all night long i was in pain…not from labor…but from a tooth ache that i had been having all throughout my pregnancy. when the nurse asked if i needed pain meds i told her “YES, my tooth is killing me.” so i was handling the contractions better than i had anticipated, thanks to my stupid tooth! i labored for 12 hours over night and woke up to a nurse sitting at the foot of my bed. i asked her if she could check my blood sugar so that i could have something to eat. the nurse replied with “we’ll see, we need the doctor to come in first.” at that point i KNEW what they were going to say, so i just started crying. i kept saying “i didnt go 12 days overdue to have a c section” i even begged them to let me go home. just as i was panicking the doctor walked into the room and my baby’s heart rate dipped into the 70′s for over 4 min, the nurse jumped on top of the bed and jammed her hand inside of me, trying to check my cervix and remove the cervidil. i was only 1 centimeter dilated so the doc said “see, we need to get her out” i was freaking out and agreed to the c section out of fear that my baby would die. so they set me up for an emergency c section but my baby’s HR came back up and said that they were going to wait for 30 min before taking me into surgery. i had heart surgery 3 months before getting pregnant and being wheeled into the operating room…seeing the doors close behind me really freaked me out, so they let me walk to the operating room….silly i know…but it made a huge difference in my mind, seeing the doors and walking through them and the door closing at my back rather than being wheeled backwards and seeing them close in front of me.
i was sitting on the operating room table, stark naked, as the anesthesiologist placed the spinal. as he was trying to find the “spot” i could feel pain shoot all the way down into the bottoms of my feet. after the spinal was placed they repositioned me and started prepping for surgery. a few minuets later the nurse brought my husband into the room, he sat by my head and tried calming me down. as they were working on me i kept feeling this weird pain…but i was scared that if i mentioned it that they would put me under general anesthesia and i would miss her birth…so i said nothing and just endured the pain. turns out what i was feeling was the doctor cutting through my nerves. after a few min i heard a tiny cry from around the curtain. my instinct was to bring my hands up to my chest and face, but i couldnt, they were tied down. then the nurse walked around the side of the curtain holding the most beautiful baby that i had ever seen. i continued to subconsciously fight the restraints, it was horrible. i wanted to hold my daughter so badly but i couldnt, i didnt even have the choice to do so. i then watched as they took her out of the room and asked my husband to follow. i was ALONE and i missed everything. i feel like i was a bystander at my baby’s birth. i had NO part in her being born…other than being strapped to a table.
when they wheeled me into the adjacent recovery room, i kept asking “where is my baby”, “please, can i see my baby”, “how long do i have to wait to see my baby” i felt like i was begging to see my daughter. about an hour and a half after her birth the pediatric nurse came through the door with this screaming baby and says “she is hungry mama” and proceeded to place her on my breast and kept jamming my nipple into her mouth. i just started balling. i felt like a freak show…sitting there, crying and having this strange little person thrust upon me. i was at odds with how to breastfeed. it took me half the day to figure out when she was latched correctly or not. my milk came in quickly and i was terribly engorged and my DD refused to latch because of it. the first few days of my daughters life were horrible. it makes me feel bad even thinking about it.
i was in horrible pain after the surgery. every 4 hours, on the dot, i was asking for pain meds. i was so drugged up that i only remember bits and pieces of the hospital stay and what i DO remember, is being frustrated…i did not feel like she was my baby…i just cried… a lot. when we went home things didnt get any better. she still wouldnt latch on because my boobs were so swollen. so i sat in the other room and pumped while my husband fed her breastmilk from a bottle. this was a huge defeat for me. i NEVER wanted her to be introduced to a bottle…but THAT bottle was in the back room calming my baby down. i felt like a failure…i couldnt even give my child the basic necessity of feeding her or calming her let alone birthing her. it took almost 10 days before the engorgement went away. luckily i figured out that i could get her to latch on by drizzling breastmilk over my nipple and into her mouth. i also continued to pump so that i could have a bit of backup supply. i didnt notice until a couple months after she was born that i had been dating the bags of milk wrong….way wrong, i dated a few of them years before she was born. not only was i dating her milk wrong…i can hardly remember the first 2 weeks of her life because i was still having to take pain meds to control the pain.
it took me months before i actually felt like i had truly bonded with my daughter. NOW i couldnt be happier and more in love with her but even just thinking about my c section experience makes me cry. i have had to stop and take several breaks while writing this because i couldnt see from crying so hard. SO, other than being in intense pain and feeling my nerves being cut, my c section had NO medical complications BUT i had severe emotional complications. i am not sure that i will ever get over the emotional trauma i experienced when my daughter was born. i am still dealing with postpartum depression but things are easier now than in the beginning. at first i sort of resented my daughter for the way she was born. but i realize now that it is no more her fault than my own…we are both victims of a casual medical outlook on c sections. IMO they should only be reserved for life and death situations. i personally dont believe that my situation was life threatening…but more along the lines of “needing to be closely watched.” i am happy to say that i am still breastfeeding my daughter at 9 month and hope to continue doing so until she is two years old.
i guess the point of my commenting is that you should be applauded for trying to help make women aware of the incredible toll that a c section can have on a woman, not only physically but emotionally. becoming a mother is supposed to be a joyous time…not traumatizing. the physical pain took a backseat to the emotional pain, in my case, but i must say…the pain was excruciating.
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:02 pm
A Mama's Blog says:
Thank you Sarah for sharing your story. I am SO very sorry you had such an awful experience with your C-section. I am so glad the nursing is going better, and that is great you are planning to nurse until your daughter is two!
Even though this post is almost 2 years old, I am still learning from comments women leave. When you write, “i am not sure that i will ever get over the emotional trauma i experienced when my daughter was born,” that struck a nerve with me.
Your comment has inspired me to write another C-section post- something I haven’t done in almost a year.
Hang in there, and enjoy your daughter. The trauma does get better, but you don’t forget, and I don’t think we should…by remembering it will enable us to pass our exeperiences with C-sections on, and hopefully help make other women aware of the risks.
January 24th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Ang says:
I dont know if this happened to anyone else, but I could actually feel it when they were doing the c-section, and I soon found out why they strap your arms down=I was yelling PAIN PAIN and they said no pressure,then I started freaking out, b/c it felt like they were ripping my insides out=and I felt them pumping more medicine in but it just felt like water running down my back, and didnt stop the pain. When they strapped down my arms I remember thinking whats this? i never seen this on TV(I watched those pregnancy shows all throughout my pregnancy) and was thining, well if I wanted I could slip my arm out sideways cause the straps are lose this is ridiculous lol, but when I freaked out I was just trying to flail my arms and had lost reason due to pain, so the straps actually did work-as SOON as they got the baby out they knocked me out, I didnt get to see my baby for almost 6 dam hours after I came to-I think that was a problem with the nurses though, it made me really mad, by the time they came I was trying to get up and go down the hall(wow it is VERY hard to walk after a csection)to find out why they hadnt brought my baby-I had been ringing and ringing and they kept saying oh were bringing him, and I didnt even know what he looked like! oh it was horrible=and then the recovery…My husband had to work, there was no option of him getting time off, so I was alone with my baby and all the pain, I thought I would be so happy to get home, but when I got home, no more upright bed! and getting up off a regular bed after a c-section, wow horrendous pain-liftin even a little 6 pound baby-OUCHHH and yes I got the dam stomach hang makes me sick, I didnt even want to go outside b;c I was so embarrassed about that, Ive always been heavy set, but I aint nver had my stomach to hang until I had the c-section! I didnt want the surgery anways, but I was in labor for almost 40 hours and not even dialated to 2, and of course they were filling me plum full of patocin which was giving the killer contractions without the benefit of frikin dialting. Well if I could go back in time, I swear I would NOT havve gone to the hospital until much later, I wonder how things wouldhave went without all that pitocin-I was just scared cause my water had broke
January 24th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Ang says:
Oh and by the way, I wanted to breast feed, but no one told my when you have a csection you have to TELL them not to give your baby a bottle,so when my boy came out,unbeknownst to me,they shoved a bottle in his mouth directly (I only found this out when I got the pictures developed that his father took)so I couldnt understand why he just would NOTTTTT nurse, and I tried and tried and tried but he just wanted that bottle-my milk finally dried up around 4 months.Oh and I had stitches, and on one side they came open a bit so my scar is thicker on one side too, but after what I know now, Im just thankful I didnt get an infection!
January 25th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Ang says:
Ok one more thing, though the experience was dreadful, and I didnt get to see him for many hours afterwards,I do NOT feel it affected my bond with my son at all,the first time I laid my eyes on him,was the HAPPIEST moment of my life, hes 3 now and most DEFINATELY a mammas boy-lol
January 25th, 2010 at 12:11 am
lisa says:
i had to have a c-section with my second child. she was breach and i was 3 centimeters. They gave the excuse that they had c-sections planned for later that day and if I didnt get it done right away, they might not be able to schedule me in…..WHAT? now that I am not terrified of my baby dying, and I’ve had time to think about it, that is a lousy excuse to put a woman through that kind of ordeal. I was not having contractions or anything. I was crying and one of the nurses told another one, look out, this one is dramatic. they were shaving me and i was apologizing for crying and when we got into the emergency room, i was still crying and the nurse told me dont be sad. today is your baby’s birthday!(trying to cheer me up) and the only thing I could think of was hey lady lets switch places and see how you feel in my place. when they had my baby out and were checking her over, i started hyperventilating and i think one of them even rolled her eyes. (even though it was something that they said would happen because of the drugs they put in me)well, after my c-section i was so groggy from all the drugs they were giving me I could barely keep my eyes open. I could barely focus on my daughter. I could barely hold her to breastfeed her. the nurse yelled at me because i was supposed to be up walking around, but I asked her how could i do that if I couldn’t even keep my eyes open? finally they cut down the drip and eventually they just gave me storebrand meds. I glimpsed my staples one time and never looked at them again. i even cried. I thought i looked like frankenstein! and oh the pain! vaginal birth was so much easier. they tell you you will heal faster with a c-section and that some women even favor them. bullcrap! well, it wasn’t that way for me anyway. I was in constant pain and had a 7 year old and a newborn to take care of. To top it all off, when my daughter was 2 weeks old, my stupid husband got this great idea for us to go to a theme park. we got into a big fight and he went while me and our newborn stayed home. I mean, I wasn’t even supposed to be lifting her without help! when my daughter was about 8 weeks old, i was healing pretty good, but the area where the stitches were tied off inside of me were killing me! it was itching and burning where the stitch knot was rubbing against my skin inside! It drove me mad! The more I moved, the more it bothered me!
My daughter is almost 2 now. I can’t see a scar on my abdomen anymore. Not sure about the belly flap yet because I am overweight now anyway. When I get back in shape, we’ll see how that looks. (crossing fingers) I have trouble with my back now though. does anyone else have back pain now since their c-section?
On a side note, my divorce is almost finalized. There were alot of problems in my marriage. But what kind of jerk expects his wife to walk all day when she just had a c-section?
well, I’ve never wrote about this before, so it feels good to finally get it all out.
for myself personally, now that I’ve been through one, I would never willingly choose a c-section over vaginal birth unless it was absolutely necessary. But alot of people are turned on by the fact that you can choose your child’s birthday that way! how silly is that?
January 29th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
belle says:
hey i love this post! i was surfing the net to find ways to get rid of my c-section stomach and what i call a [ flap and fold]….i stumbled upon this blog in doing so.
i love hearing about different experiences about this it’s very weird. i had my c-section at cedar sinai hospital in los angeles it was the best surgery ever i didn’t have ti get any stitches and my scar is small oh i also didn’t feel any pain. while i thought they were still prepping me for it i asked me husband when are they gonna start the surgery and as i got the question out of my mouth the doctor said and we have a baby…i did not feel a thing they have the best paing treatment ever.
now i had emergency c-secton i mean i cried and i cried because i knew what would happen after having one. i went 42 weeks in my pregnancy and then i went to be induced everything was going well. i had dilated to 6 1/2 centimeters and the doc comes in and says your babies heart rate is slowing down you need to have an emergency c-section. i went crazy man the babies head wasn’t coming down.
i said all that to say that i was horrified at the thought of having one for my own reasons. i must say those reason rang true.
my stomach at the bottom has not gone down im so sad. but i was walking the same day i had my c-section and my nurse would get mad at me because i was not taking the pain medication. i had my baby almost 7 months ago and i still have the pain medication that they sent me home with…….
my husband wants another baby but i don’t i can’t do it again because i feel like my stomach is gonna get worse.
i have not come across anyone who got rid of the stomach after c-section.
January 29th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Erika Carlson says:
I have to comment on the woman who had an 11 pound baby via “emergency” c-section, and was very unhappy with the procedure and related events. She commented that her 11 pound baby might, and she thought, probably, wouldn’t have been able to be birthed vaginally. A close friend had a 9 lb, 10oz baby by “emergency” c-section also, was told she couldn’t have birthed such a large baby. She then birthed (at home) a VBAC 10 lb 11 oz baby with no tearing.
Witnessing this birth, and hearing her story was a turning point for me, I birthed both mine at home, happily, with a midwife. In my view, doctors don’t really know what women’s bodies can do!
January 30th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
Dawn says:
thank you for this. I was actually looking to find out how common it is to have damage to the bladder during c-section.
I had both of my daughters by c-section. The 1st due to footling breech. Unfortunately I was not told about a possibility of getting her to flip. My husband was in Iraq, and I had been scheduled only with 3 days notice, as my dr wanted to avoid an emergency c. No chance of hubby comming home.
I had a problem during surgery where I had mentioned to the anesthesiologist that I may need more epidural medicine than most because I have had a past of resistance to numbing medicines. he shrugged it off as a common worry, and halfway through the proceedure I felt sharp pain inside, They gave me something else for it, and I lost time, people told me things I have no recollection of from that day. I had a fallopian pregnancy just over a year after my daughter’s birth. It was in an unusual spot, instead of in the middle of the tube, it was right where the tube connects to the uterus. I didn’t know until it ruptured. The tube pretty much tore off, and could not be saved. I didn’t know if my other tube worked or not, but less than 5 years later I was pregnant again, and if I had not had the damage to my uterus where the tube tore off (the dr explained he had to put some stitches in my uterus as well) I would have tried for a vbac, but I did not want to risk uterine rupture. The dr agreed. I my second daughter decided to come nearly a month early. I had gone into laber several days before, and spent 2 nights in the hospital after they gave me all kinds of meds to stop the labor. I was back 2 nights later, no more stopping her.
this time I suffered damage to my bladder. The catheter punctured through my bladder, and this time I had to recover with go figure, the catheter that caused the damage to begin with, inside the bladder because the dr didn’t want my bladder to fill up with urine, so it could heal( for a week and a half!). But this time the anesthesiologist took me seriously (a woman)so at least I didn’t feel pain during. As far as breastfeeding goes, I breastfed my 1st for 10 months, and my second is currently 8 months, and still breastfeeding. because of this I don’t believe any women that say they “can’t” breastfeed because of a c-section. It may hurt more, but I think the moms that say this may in some way not want to breastfeed, and that is fine, it is her choice. I think this excuse just makes it more ok in her mind.
I chose to have my remaining tube tied at the time of my 2nd daughters birth, and my dr said I had so much scar tissue in there, that things were adhered together in there (likely from previous surgeries) and that I should never have any other abdominal surgery unless absolutely necesary. he was ready to gnaw my tube off with his teeth.
January 30th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Dawn says:
April,
the way anatomy works, muscle has to be cut through to get to the uterus!
January 30th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
gina jude says:
I had my first c-section 21 years ago, I was young and naive and when the doctor told me that my daughter was breech and it was necessary I did not ask questions…. when I awoke from my surgery, much to my surprise, I discovered that my incision was made vertically. I have had 2 more since the first also vertical… after the third i had a difficult time recovering, just was not feeling right …three weeks later I was rushed into emergency room the diagnosis was a pulmonary embolism due to the c-section, which nearly killed me. My stomach is the bane of my existence I am still a young woman, I have a healthy diet, I exercise on a daily basis , but still have this hideous stomach…..I wish that I had had more knowledge, and read of peoples personal experiences back then. If anyone knows ways of improvement other than surgery I would love to know. thanks
February 8th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Traci G. Perg says:
I wanted to leave a comment to thank you for this resource. It made me angry to read some of the self-righteous comments made by other people about how you were trying to scare women. Guess what guys? The doctor doesn’t always explain stuff. The extent of my pre-op teaching was “You’ve been in labor a long time and this isn’t happening. Honey, let’s go down the hall and have a baby.” My hands were tied down during the procedure. My baby was taken away. All of these things were done over my protests. Although a doctor is “supposed to” explain all the risks and benefits of a procedure as well as the risks and benefits of NOT performing the procedure, they very rarely do. I can say that with confidence because I’m an RN and I’ve sat by the bedside of countless patients while their doctor glossed over or downright lied about the risks. So, thank you very much for having the courage to share your experience.
February 10th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Danielle says:
My stories are long…. But I hope some actually take the time to read…
For the video version (http://vimeo.com/7470732)
I will start with the pregnancy of my first child, Camden. When I got pregnant, I was not all that educated about natural birth in general. I had worked as a doula, but through a crappy agency which I separated from rather quickly. So when I found out I was pregnant, I figured seeing a female Obstetrician would be like seeing a midwife. WRONG!!!!!!! But, I was pleased with my provider for the most part. I was considered a “high risk” patient because of surgery which I had on my cervix in my teen years, so of course like so many other women, I blindly followed what my Doctor told me, because of course, Doctors are never wrong…. right?
As my pregnancy went on I started seeing another female Obstetrician in this practice I proceeded to dub “The Wicked Witch” she was mean, old, cold, and simply rushes me without ever answering any of my questions or concerns. Then it seemed as though, every time I would schedule an appointment with MY OB/GYN I would always end up seeing this other Doctor. It was driving me crazy! Same went for if I had to call the “on call” for the evening, something felt wrong or something was off, and this same Doctor would always insist I went to L&D and be checked. By the time my son was finally born, I am sure they were all glad they wouldn’t be seeing me again!
Then in early November, our family was struck by a tragedy. My husband’s brother died suddenly at the age of 23, which sent our whole family into a tail spin, this was 4 weeks before my due date. From that time on, I proceeded to get sick daily, sometimes several times a day, I started losing weight despite eating like I regularly did before. At my last visit at 39 weeks and change, the Wicked Witch expressed concern that I was losing weight (15 pounds by this point) and that we should go ahead and schedule an induction before it has an impact on my son. Of course like any mother would, I freaked out and agreed. I didn’t want to have something happen to him, and in a way, I was happy because I was uncomfortable like EVERY pregnant woman was in the end.
I went in that Tuesday to get induced. It was December 11th 2007, and we showed up at 6:00am, and they escorted us up to my L&D room, and looking back on it, I wish I knew what I was getting myself into.
My L&D Nurse came in for my little questionnaire/intake and when I said I did not have a desire for an epidural, she and the Wicked Witch OB laughed at me, and told me I would change my mind shortly. From then it just proceeded to get worse!? By 9:30 I was hooked up to pitocin, which in my opinion is PURE EVIL!? Like they had said, after 2 hours of pitocin, 3cm dialated, I was begging for an epidural. I got the epidural but it didn’t seem to do much for me. The OB came back around at noon time, checked me and said I made no progress. I was still at 3cm, -1 station, 80% effaced. Which was a total blow to me because I was hurting and I thought I would have progresses SOME! She told me she was going to go have lunch, see a couple patients and she would be back around 2pm.? My husband and my mother went to get something to eat, I tried to rest a little bit, and eventually she came back. At 2pm, there was again no progress. And this is when she said, well, I am going to come back at 3, and if there is no progress then we are going to have to book an OR. I knew then my worst nightmare was coming true. This cascade of interventions was directing me straight to a cesarean section. From the start of my pregnancy, when I was told about placenta previa (which corrected itself) via ultrasound, I cried at the thought of a cesarean.
She came back at 3pm, and there was no progress, or at least that is what she told me, and they started preping me for surgery. The OR was cold, and bright, and without my husband, it would have been even more terrifying.? In the back of my head I was happy I was about to meet my son, but I was scared to death.
He was born at 4:37pm screaming, 7pounds and 7oz. Which then one of the OB/GYN’s commented, someone of my size (petite frame and short stature) would have never been able to birth that baby. Ya ok!? My mother, my size, gave birth to an over 10 pound baby, HER FIRST CHILD!
My recovery sucked, and during that time, I reached out to ICAN and learned there was no chapter in my area. So, I started one.
In September 2008, we learned we were expecting our second child, and even before I got pregnant, I knew I never wanted to go through another cesarean, nor would I willingly go through it.
My pregnancy was? uneventful, NOT HIGH RISK, attended by amazing Midwives, and so much different from my first.
On May 16th, I was doing a baby fair at our local hospital for our ICAN chapter, talking with mothers all day, giving out information, and around noon time, I started to feel… off. Something just wasn’t right.? Thankfully for me, my Chiropractor was at the booth right next to me at the baby fair so I made my way to him and got adjusted. Once I got adjusted it all clicked. I was going into labor at a baby fair. Were we in a movie?
Next thing you know, the women doing the booth with me said I looked white as a ghost, like I was ready to pass out, so they made me have some water, and eat candy. Lovely combo, but it helped! I wrapped up the fair and headed home. I called my doula and let her know what was going on, but I wasn’t certain I was in labor yet.
I laid down when I got home and tried to take a nap, but I couldn’t get any rest at all. My contractions kept getting closer and stronger. It seemed as though my labor was progressing fast, and I wasn’t sure what real natural labor was like because of my induction the first time around. I called my doula back up and she decided to head on over, and off to the bath tub I went to relax and try to work through the contractions.? Back labor, all the pain was in my back, and later on I found out my little guy was posterior.? By the time my doula got to my house, and things really started to rock n roll, it was around 8pm.? I watched the season finale of Brothers & Sisters which I had DVR’ed, listened to music, and spent a ton of time on the birth ball. Hours seemed like minutes, and next thing I knew it was midnight and I called my midwife. I told her I had been laboring for a while, and things were getting more intense, contractions were about 90 seconds apart, and we still had a 45 minute drive to the hospital I picked, which was one of the most VBAC friendly in the area. So around 12:30am we headed off to the hospital in a 3 car caravan. Myself? laying in my doula’s backseat trying to sleep in torrential rain on the highway. My best friend in her car, and my husband in our car.? We arrived at the hospital between 1 and 1:30am.
We got all checked in, and my midwife greeted us, and gave me a little check. I was 2-3cm which made all of our jaws drop. My labor was so intense we all swore I would be further along!? I decided to get on my hands and knees with the birth ball for a while, then take a shower, I thought about getting in the tub, but it was nearing 4-5am and we all wanted sleep. I couldn’t rest for the life of me.
At this point I asked for an epidural so I could sleep. I knew no matter how much I planned that I would not have one, things change when you are in the actual situation.
I got the epidural around 6am.
I was able to sleep until at 8, when my midwife came back and checked me again 3cm at most.? What was going on?? Why was I not dialating? What was wrong with my body?? Contractions started to slow, then get back to being a minute apart, then slow, then get quicker. Something was just not right, and on top of it all, I am sure the epidural was not helping either.
Around noon time my midwife popped back in and checked my cervix one last time.
Still 3cm and now my cervix was starting to swell, and we were having complications.
I was devastated, my VBAC was crashing and burning in front of my eyes.
My body was defective, I could not birth my baby, my own plan had blown up in my face.
My epidural to sleep, selfishly kicked me right in the ass!
My Midwife consulted the on call OB/GYN who came in to talk to me, along with the Resident who was on call. They were both amazingly warm, friendly, and comforting, and at that point I knew that a cesarean would be how my son was born. But I was not as bothered by it this time around, because after nearly 26 hours of labor, something was wrong, seriously wrong. My mothers intuition turned on and my son was in trouble.
At 1:59pm Benjamin Emil Elwood was born, bruised and looked like he had been through a war! When they opened me up, he was jammed behind my pelvic bone, which his forehead was pressed up against it all that time. He wasn’t coming down, his head wasn’t applying pressure to my cervix for it to dialate. At that moment I knew I made the right choice consenting to the cesarean.? I knew in the long term, it helped my son, and that was simply the way he needed to be born. During the days after my midwife would come see me every morning, sit, chat, and just helped me get through it all. I still today, cannot write about this without crying because the scars from his birth are still fresh. Nearing 6 months old, the pain of the failure is not any lighter. It seems like it was yesterday.
The story I tell is a story of a completely unnecessary cesarean section with my first child, and a life saving cesarean with my second.
The story I tell is a story of pain, and hurt, and betrayal by the one person I trusted the most, my Doctor.
The story I tell is a story of hope for other mothers to learn and become educated from my words.
The story I tell is the story of my sons, the loves of my life, and the ones who have made me the mom, advocate, and woman I am today.
All in all, I am now the North East Regional Coordinator for ICAN, a chapter leader, and the head of a maternity care campaign in my state of Connecticut. My experiences, my children, and my battle has made me become so active that I have been honored to support other women who have been where I have, and I have helped others to prevent unnecessary cesareans.
February 11th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Christa says:
When people say completely asinine things like “They went to medical school, I didn’t!” it makes me crazy!!!
REMEMBER, that OB/GYN’s are surgeons FIRST!
My best friend had a c-section. She was induced, and she was “only” 5 cm’s dilated after 8 hours. They convinced her it wasn’t going to happen, and talked her into a completely unnecessary c-section. The TRUTH is that they didn’t want to wait for the baby to descend. That’s the truth. The baby never had a moment of distress.
This is the MOST USED EXCUSE for c-sections. “failure to progress”. It’s a sham, most of the time.
February 11th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Ashley says:
I just wanted to share my C-section experience.
I was scheduled to be induced June 26th, 2009 because according to my doctor I was 42 weeks (they estimated).
I went into L&D at 7am but I had to wait until 8am to get everything started because right when I got there they had just started an emergency C-Section on another women, i started crying because i knew i didnt want that to happen to me and then it seemed like it took forever from the time i heard them announce the birth to when the baby actually started crying. At 8am pitocin was started and my doctor checked me and i was at 1-2cm (which i had been at for almost a month) my doctor decided, without telling me, that he was going to break my water at 8:30am by noon i was dialated to 4cm and thats when i actually started feeling the contractions even though they were 45-60seconds apart for hours before then. I decided to use the labor ball which worked great for 2 hours, i asked to labor in the tub but they wouldnt let me because my doctor had already broken my water and they told me to lay down, stupidly i listened to the nurses. Back labor set in horribly! I got an epidural at 2pm at that time i was dialated to 5cm, at 4pm i was dialated to 6-7cm and my doctor checked me again at 5pm, he said i hadnt progressed at all within the hour and if i didnt progress more within the next half hour he wanted to do a csection, i freaked out i couldnt stop crying because throughout my pregnancy all i had imagined was giving birth naturally (i didnt even want an epidural but my nurses wouldnt stop telling me to get one even after i kept telling them not to ask me). At 7pm my doctor said he was going to do a csection because it was taking too long and it took until 8pm to get everything set up, by this time they had stopped pitocin and gave me more epidural, i was so out of it i couldnt even see my moms face. I was then tied down to a table and at 8:34pm my son was born, perfectly healthy 7lb 5oz 20inch baby boy (now does that sound like a baby that had been cooking away for 42 weeks? i dont think so).
After my csection i wasnt able to hold my son for almost a full day because of the effect the epidural and another pain killer had on me, so i lost out on the important bonding time and it makes me feel horrible that i will never get that back no matter how hard i try. I wasnt able to breastfeed, i was in too much pain to move at all. I was released from the hospital 3 days after my son was born but had to go back that night because i couldnt handle how much pain i was in. The emergency room doctors found a hematoma in my abdomen from the csection, i was readmitted, i had a bunch of ivs of antibiotics to try to break up the hematoma, nothing worked. A needle was stabbed through my stomach (right next to my belly button) to see if the hematoma was filled with pus or blood (it was blood), i was givin more pain meds. I was then told i had pneumonia (which i later found out i never had) so i wasnt aloud to see my son for a week, i couldnt take him to his first doctors appt or anything.
I got fevers of 104.5 every night for a week while in the hospital, the nurses didnt do anything to help me, if it wasnt for my mom and my best friend i would be dead today i have no doubt in my mind about that.
My Iron level was tested because i got really really pale and found out my iron level had dropped down to 5, i then received 2 blood transfusions and was released yet again the next day.
The 2nd time i was released i ended up going to a different hospital because i was sick of not being treated properly at the first hospital. At the 2nd hospital they reopened my incision cut through the muscle wall and drained over 2 pints of built up blood.
So after being in the hospital for almost 3 weeks, i dont see how anyone would want a c-section, i know most dont get the complications that i got, but i pray everyday that when i do choose to have another baby (if i do) that i will not be forced into a csection because of labor “taking too long” the only reason my labor was taking too long for my doctor was because he was going on vacation the next day and wanted to go home, so yes my csection was not medically necessary. I have pictures but i do not know how to post them on here.
I just hope that anyone considering a C-Section knows the risks involved, yes there are risks with a vaginal birth but they are way less likely than with a C-Section.
Thank you for anyone that actually read my whole post and thank you AMamasBlog for creating this article.
February 11th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
April says:
Dawn,
Unless it is a DIRE emergency using the vertical cut instead of horizontal and the baby has to come out like NOW they do not cut through the muscle! They do stretch the fibers apart, but they don’t cut through them, which makes it much easier to heal from.
February 21st, 2010 at 10:41 pm
ANN says:
I didn’t read through all of the comments, but I just have to add this one in. I almost lost my baby due to my OB strongly encouraging/scaring me into having a second C-Sec.
My first was breech, my second she said that the skin seemed really thin around the scar and I was putting myself and baby at a huge risk to have a VBAC. This of course, was not the case since I asked her after the surgery and she told me that the skin was not ‘as thin as she thought’.
Anyway, my baby girl stopped breathing after a half-cry when they took her out. 4 doctors worked on her at the table while I could just stare and pray. She was gray-colored when they whisked to to the baby ICU and hooked her up to oxygen, antibiotics, fluids, etc. The doctors were amazing, got her breathing and she ‘recovered’. The worst half hour of my life was this not-knowing on Christmas Eve 2008 (yes, the OB scheduled it for Christmas Eve since the rooms were all booked for every other day/time). I lay there on the table unable to move …. with tears running down my face praying my little baby would pull through. She was in ICU for 2 days.
For 3 months afterward, her face would turn beat red as she stopped breathing – 2-3 times a week. I’d pick her up, gently pat her back and gently nudge the heel of my hand up her stomach – almost like heimlich. This always got her breathing again, but it never got any less scary. Now, at 15 months, she is heading to a respiratory specialist because she has chronic lung problems associated with the C-Section delivery…her ‘very bad case of wet lung’ as they called it. She always has breathing issues, and when she gets the sniffles, it is serious enough to whisk her into emerg because she can’t breathe! She has had 2 sets of Chest X-Rays at this young age because even the doctors are worried they are missing something.
My point is I guess, something I hadn’t really considered before Hallie’s birth….Its not just the MOM who is at risk, the baby in an unnecessary C-Sec has a risk of many complications…the rate of asthma in C-Sec babies is 50% higher than V births! A more minor result, is that my baby girls voice is husky like she always has a cold (perhaps she’ll be a country singer:) and doctors have told me that is probably because of the tubes shoved down her throat at birth. I’m so thankful for her every day, she is an absolute joy, but so angry at OBs and the media who push unnecessary C-Sections because she shouldn’t have to go through this!
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:17 am
Robyn says:
The reason you get so much negative feed back is because of your choice of wording. “The reality of c-sections” “I wish someone told me how c-sections REALLY are” “Maybe if I could only have found out the TRUTH about c-sections” as if all the positive things you’ve heard from people were lies.
The reality of c-sections is the same as vaginal birth. Some are wonderful and amazing one of a kind experiences, some are horrible and life altering. That’s what you should be saying.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Ann says:
I love your blog – just started reading it. And I think you wrote this post a little for yourself and then for others. So I don’t want to criticize you or anybody else. I just want to share what it was for me:
First of all, every birth experience is very different and unique! And I am glad for you that at least one was a good one.
With my first child, I wanted to do it naturally, but because there was meconium in the water, they gave me 24 hours to deliver. I was in mild labor for over 12 hours, and got scared of having to have a C-section. So I thought an epidural will accelerate things. I got it and, for me, it did opposite, it slowed things down almost completely. In my 22nd hour, the heart beat got low and I ended up with an Emergency C-section any way. Something I had tried to avoid all along! It was sooooooo (!) disappointing. It took me months to get over it… but I had a beautiful baby in my hands and THAT was (and is) more important.
BUT it was not that bad from the medical point of view. I took meds for about 24 hours, then I refused – which was fine in my case. I recovered pretty quickly and was up and walking normally by week two. Yes, you can’t laugh or cough for a couple of days, but there is worse in life!!! And I can rely to that too – as I had to have a radical hysterectomy. THAT did take me full six weeks to recover from. And there is a reason! With the C-section, they only (!) cut through some layers of skin down to the uterus. In a Hysto, they cut everything, muscles and tissue and all. They did staple mine too, in both cases, and it was great. It did NOT hurt to take them out, it is just a little uncomfortable to have them in and bend over…. Also, my baby was NOT groggy at all after birth, just normal sleepy like all babies are! My second was just as tired after a vaginal birth!!!
Though I have to say that the previous C-section actually saved me from being cut open top to bottom with my hysto! So it was good that I had that before, so they used the old scar! Great.
Also, I have a friend who has had three C-sections now, and she is up moving after a couple of hours, left the hospital the same day!, and goes about her business like every woman who gave birth vaginally. It’s amazing! She had no trouble breastfeeding either.
April 5th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Tyla Lee says:
I had a c section with my first born and had no pain or problems afterwords and healed very quickly. Three days after having my c section I was doing heavy house hold chores and laundry. No problem.
April 27th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Kate says:
I happened upon this while googling C-section recoveries. Though I wish I would have happened upon this before mine, it wouldn’t have made a difference. I ended up with a semi-emergency c-section…I had pushed for four hours (2nd child), had a failed vacuum extraction, my epidural had worn off and my baby’s heart rate dropped every time I pushed/contracted.
…So I ended up on the operating table, husband holding my hand, my mom watching the “action” and totally freaked out. Not only could I feel everything that was happening, but the doctor did not believe me and insisted I was feeling pressure, not pain (because she would know better than the person going through it). They finally knocked me out when I started throwing up…that is the last thing I remember.
I woke up in Post-op about an hour later feeling like I had survived a plane crash.
FOUR long hours later I finally got to meet my daughter. Granted I was still groggy and had been up for 44 hours but it was a perfect moment when I finally got to hold her.
Then came the good news…My doctor had scheduled a C/T scan to “make sure everything was ok with my bladder” (apparently when stitching up a c-section, rupturing the bladder is a very common mishap)…so they took my baby and off I went. A few hours later the doctor came in with even more good news. My bladder was fine, but she had threaded a stitch around my Ureter (tube from your kidney to your bladder) thus cutting off the flow…so I had to go into another surgery, 7 hours after my c-section…A Urologist had to re-open everything, take the stitch out, re-suture everything then place a stent into my kinked ureter…had to remain in for 2 weeks.
I find out tomorrow if I have permanent kidney damage.
All from having a C-section, a doctor that was either having a bad day (or is just totally incompetent in the end..though she seemed find the 9 months leading up to this fiasco), and not knowing if there were any other options available.
C-Sections should definitely be a last resort.
Thanks for your blog, I think it is great to get the info out there so people know what they could possibly have in store for them.
Kudos to the lady above me (Tyla Lee) who was up and at ‘em 3 days later, I would say with everything I’ve read during the past 7 weeks you are very lucky and that is not your typical recovery result.
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:30 am
Nunya says:
Everyones experience is different some bad some good.
May 6th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Jade says:
My mother had a c section years and years ago with my older sister and gave birth to me vaginally. So ladies once a c section always a c secton NOOOOOPE it depends on the situation
May 6th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Melanie says:
Love the post. I don’t think its meant to frighten at all, and if it does GOOD. Today in the US pregnant women are so blissfully unaware of just how often c-sections do happen. I mean seriously the section rate is up to 53%, ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. OB’s are woefully undertrained, hospital’s have super strict policy and we forget that pregnancy and birth are natural things. We were built to deliver babies.
I’m a momma who had 3 sections, 1st for the reason that the baby weighed too much the other 2 repeats. Now that I’m 3 years wiser, I would have told my OB to shove the c-section, I’ll have my son at home when he’s ready thank you very much.
You go Momma, you beautifully stick to your guns about this! I pray this post will reach more women, so they are better informed. Knowledge is power!!!
May 15th, 2010 at 7:57 pm
mamaP says:
To me the “scar” from the writers c-section looks great. I see alot of women that have it alot worse just from vaginal births. There are things that can go right and wrong with any delivery method, i think its interesting to hear other peoples accounts of thier experiences, but being pregnant right now the last thing i want is negative imput about decisions I am making for my body.
June 9th, 2010 at 8:22 am
Leta says:
After reading all that I feel very sorry for new moms ending up with c-sections! I have three sons and a daughter, all born by c-section, my experience has not been bad at all! My cut, although opened 4 times, healed beautifully each time. I never had my hands tied down and never had staples. My cut healed within 10 days every time. I never had any pain that ordinary painkillers didn’t take care of. All my children took to breastfeading easily and I breastfed all of them for over a year. My youngest son aged 12 months is still breastfeading and it doesn’t look like he’ll be weaned soon. I drove my car after 2/3 weeks and never had any problems with stairs. Good luck to all of you having planned c-sections, its not half as bad as this lady recons. Regards Leta x
June 12th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Chelsea says:
I just wanted to say that i had a c-section because my daughter was way to big to even try and have vaginally. she was born 11/5/2009. my OB did not use staples when he “stitched” me up. he used a strong version of butterfly tape. the tape came off about a week and a half after the procedure and it was completely healed without any complications. my daughter is now about 7 and a half months old and you cant even tell i had surgery. i also listened to what the doctors orders were and took it easy for about a week so that it could heal and i made sure to carefully clean the area so i wouldnt get infection. she also was very alert and had no problems with breastfeeding. she is a perfectly happy little girl.
i guess what im saying is that half of issues most women have are due to the fact they ignore doctors orders in my opinion. and your experience is only as good as you make it.
i dont mean to offend anyone or anything but i just wanted to let some readers know that you can have good experiences!
June 16th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Amber says:
I think that your post was very truthful and just (as you said) your own experience with your c-section. If you received negative feedback, that is just too sad. I guess c-sections can be tough and everyone has their own point of view. I read through your post (at least your most recent one) and think you have every right to want to inform people on your experience. I have had 4 repeat c-sections and will be having my 5th in about four weeks. The first one was definitely a lot to handle and I was clueless on what to expect. It was an emergency due to me having pre-eclampsia and being in labor for 20 hours without dilating past 5 cm. The others were not my choice (my doctor did not want to let me VBAC because he did not want to wait in the hospital the whole time as this was the recent change in the medical profession at that time). I was “forced” somewhat into that one. However, with my third, I really still wanted to VBAC. I found a doctor that was willing to let me and was very supportive, although I know she was worried. Towards the end, she made me feel so much better about everything, you know, less of a failure and more of a mother who worked very hard and did very well to deliver my last two babies. She was so amazing. I decided on my own that I would rather deal with the risks of a c-section rather than that of a VBAC after two c-sections. Each mother should have that choice. The doctor should lay out the risks of each and let the mother chose. After all, it is what the mother is able to live with, not the doctor. This one went so well, it was like my body was just used to it!
Since then, I get scared every time of course…a bit anxious, but the fourth also went very well. Recovery was so much easier the other times and I hope it will be again. Without doubt, I am more nervous than ever, but do pray for a healthy baby and recovery.
I would like to suggest something to all mothers that either are choosing to or need to have a c-section. If you do not like the narcotics as I don’t, …ask for a drug called Toradol. I am not sure how to spell it, but that is the only non-narcotic drug I know of that works amazingly! It seems to work similar to Tylenol. You don’t feel anything except pain relief. The pain of the c-section is decreased incredibly. I noticed that with a narcotic drug, you feel a lot of pain still but just feel groggy! It’s weird that anyone thinks it works!? Similar to having a beer and cutting your leg, sure you feel the cut, but you just don’t care!
right?
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know a little about my experience too. I think anyone faced with a c-section decision should read as much as they can, including a blog like yours. It is important to have a very wide view of the risks, the emotions, and the pain, etc. There is always a feeling of disappointment I think with the first and maybe even the second. But when it comes down to it, with me anyway, I just realized that the most important thing is having my baby at my side no matter what the cost to me (i.e. pain or scarring). I realize that everyone is different though. I just hope that everyone sees the wonderful picture…that beautiful new life we worked so hard to create for nine painful months!
And do not be disappointed in yourself! EVER! the nine months is enough to earn the credit of that little one (let alone labor and deliver, no matter how the baby ends up coming).
Nice reading your blog.
Take care, Amber
June 28th, 2010 at 9:52 am
Terra says:
hi heather,
just looking through some of my old pics remember how bad my c-section was and i thought of u and how u helped me… it has been 21 months as of the 17th since my c-section it took me almost 6 months to close completely… and after 21 months i still get pains if i move the wrong way and the scar still hurts to touch it i dont think my body will ever be the same.. but i have a beautiful baby boy that is walking and talk actually mouthing me now…lol he tells me no every chance he gets..lol still wish i had him natural like my first 2.. but i see my pictures are still on here and i hope they have helped people cause if i would have found this blog before my c-section i would have fought harder to make them do something else first.. and i still say the same thing i said 21 months ago if u are going to have a c-section for a quick easy delivery please look at my pictures up top and rethink cause it wasnt fun or pretty and my son had a hard think bonding with me his own mother because i couldnt get out of bed in the middle of the night to comfort him until he was 6 months old he knew his daddy more then he did me i slept on the couch 4 months after i got home cause i wasnt aloud to walk up stairs.. my doctors words was and i quote ” do not get off that couch unless u have to use the restroom or if your house is on fire” but heather i just wanted to read some more stories and say hello it has been awhile…
Thank you for every thing
Terra
June 29th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Arwen says:
I guess I’m blessed that my c-section went very smoothly. I was in no pain a week pp… and I healed very well. I was slightly disapointed by having to have a c-section instead of the vaginal birth I have visioned, but once I heard my daughters cries nothing else mattered. yes.. it was a good hour before she was brought into my room and that was sad and yes the pain was unbelievable for a week. I literally slept sitting up because laying down would stretch out my stomach and cause me terrible pain. so, While a c-section wasn’t my first choice, I had to do it to save my unborn childs life and in the end it worked out ok.. I Just want everyone to know, that if you have a great obgyn, like I did, your c-section story doesn’t have to be so bad.
July 5th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
sammy says:
i had a c section with my lil girl in 2008, its 2010 and mine is infected because they left two metal staples in me im thinking of suing the hospi, can i ?
July 24th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
bonnie says:
wow i though this was only happening to me i have i hole the size of a nickel and about 1cm deep mind u i had my daughter a year ago and things just keep happening
July 29th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
carrie says:
I’m from the uk and I want to thank you for your information, I had a c-section in feb this year and I feared that all these pain twinges and the numbness was not exactly normal for a c-section, the only person I had to inform me about what a c-section was like was my mum and she had hers 36 years ago so its a lot different now.
My lil one is now 6 months and although I can look after him I sometimes suffer pain when lifting him, I also still suffer after walking to far.
My health visitor has told me that it will be at least a year before my body starts feeling normal-ish again, and am able to walk like I used to do she even told me that I’m not even supposed to carry the baby bath when it has water in it, but yet I have to lift my child, its kinda a catch 22 if you get what I mean.
I think the thing is nowadays, some people think because your out quicker that you heal quicker, not so as I often try to point that out to my partners mother, but to no avail, she tends to think I’m just being lazy.
For women out there looking for advice about this, please if you have other options other than c-section please take them, its 6 months since I had my lil one and I’m still trying to recover from it and the complications I suffered afterwards, I ended up having to stay in hospital for 9 days because my blood temperature dropped dramatically and ended up being on a penacillin drip for two days because of this, I then suffered high blood pressure, meaning they wouldnt release me until it was back in the normal range.
Although I had some nice midwifes and nurses while in there, when it came to helping with my baby they werent much help, I was still expected to lift my baby, even though my midwife had advised me I shouldnt I wasnt even shown how to bath my baby properly until the day before I was discharged, and I had a very rude and nasty midwife while in there and trying to see a doctor in there was a joke, I saw 2 in those 9 days, I think another problem nowadays is that some doctors get paid for basically doing nothing.
I wasnt really informed about any alternatives to c-section, because I saw my midwife and she told me my baby was still in breech position and was sent to hospital to check, which it turned out he was, I then had to go back the following day so they could try to turn him, they tried for over half an hour but he barely moved, I was then told that he wasnt going to budge and I would have to have a c-section and was booked in for about 4 days later, I was also told that I should be out that day or within 24 hrs, I had to be there for 7am, but I was then waiting til nearly midday before I was taken down, I was kept in but was told I should be out the following day but was not, at this point they had still not discovered my blood temperature problem, it wasnt discovered until the friday when I had enough and really wanted to leave, so I discharged myself, but not one of the nurses, doctors or midwifes explained how bad this was or could be, it wasnt until the following morning when my partner rang our local doctors that I found out how bad it was, at which point I admitted myself back in hospital and had another 5 days there.
My overall experience of a c-section was and is bad, I would never go through that again, so I’m not having anymore children because of this as was told one you’ve had a c-section they basically wont allow you to have a normal birth (or its not recommended) due to the fact of the strain it puts on the body as your muscles never go back to normal and it makes it harder to push and your at risk of rupturing something.
To anyone who reads this please seriously think about it before you opt for a c-section and make sure you get all the information out there on it before you do, if you truly have no other choice make sure you know the possible risks that could happen and make sure your doctor or midwife tells you every thing and if your not happy with there opinion then seek other medical advice, it doesnt harm you to make doubly sure of your options.
Sorry its long winded, but I havent really got anyone who I can talk with about all this as my own family live over 2 hundred miles away, and I hope it makes people think twice about choosing this option lightly.
I wish good luck to all expectant mothers out there who read this and hope all goes well and that your babys are born happy and health because at the end of the day thats whats really important and what makes it all worth while x
July 30th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
sadmommy says:
I had a c-section about 1 year and a half ago..it was not a great experience..When I first arrived at the hospital I was being treated so well..the nurses were very kind checking up on me every five minutes or so..than one nurse walks in and starts looking at the monitors..she goes somethings not right..walks out another walks in next thing you know my babies heart rate drops very low on the heart monitor and I am being told I have to get a emergency csection..heart rates too low.. I felt like I had no time to think no time to ask questions no time at all…Once I was being prepped for csect..the nurses attitudes seemed to change…they took my bag of diapers,etc, they gave me when I first arrived.. I was stuffed in another smaller (much smaller) room..It made me feel bad..completely terrible like I did something wrong:( So 1 year and a half later, my scar healed pretty good..I had staples and boy were they uncomfortable. I have joined this conversation finally after about 1 year of discovering it and reading Your stories.. I never had the courage before..but I have a serious question for all the csection moms..Do you have a large amount of saggy skin on ur lower belly? If so did working out help at all? I was told by my GYN that I could only get surgery to take care of this saggy skin..but I was told by others including a friend who had a relative(that had twins), she had a saggy belly and worked it out ..she has reduced the skin to a small pouch..if this is certainly true,a small pouch I could live with..so any answers?? thankyou
August 2nd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Chris says:
I had an emergency c-section last year with my 1st child. While I do understand that everyone is different and that everyone’s ideal birth is different I can honestly say it was not that bad. The pain can’t be any worse than someone who tears and needs stiches! In fact I’d guess that tearing probably hurts more. The pain meds helped me feel very little pain and I was able to sincerely enjoy my first days as a mom. Sure, I wasn’t able to hold and bond with my daughter until after I came out of the OR (like an hour) but my husband and family were there with her the whole time. It’s not like she was just dumped off in the nursery somewhere. Sometimes I feel like people are way too uptight about c-sections. Sometimes they really are the best option for a safe delivery and that’s really all that matters – having a healthy, SAFE baby. I could care less about the scar. Whenever I see it, it reminds me of the moment I first saw her in the OR. I’m very happy with how she was delivered and wouldn’t be upset if I had to have another c-section in the future.
August 8th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
judylyly says:
thank you for your detailed, well-researched post. i can tell you put a great deal of time and energy into it. you brought up a lot of things i know i never would’ve thought about either – like breastfeeding possibly being harder because you can’t let the baby anywhere near your incision. that thought never even crossed my mind.
also, it was very interesting to see the photos. i’d never seen a baby born via c-section before. wow!
i’m glad that your c-section has made you such a strong advocate and i hope that by sharing your experiences, others may make a truly informed decision
August 9th, 2010 at 2:19 am
MIchelle says:
For your collection. I had a c-section and this was painful to watch. So many layers they went through.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBiU08xWarE
August 17th, 2010 at 1:11 pm
victoria says:
I had a c-section 5 yrs ago and I am so happy with the outcome. The scar is like a crinkle from jeans and is BARELY noticeble. As for the stomach flap hanging over it, try working out. My stomach is fine. I just recently had surgery on the same scar to remove a cyst on my ovary and I have never had infection or any problems other than soreness. I continued my everyday routine, besides going to work. Therefore I believe to blame infections and FLAB on the surgery is completely ridiculous. It would be the care and excercise (well lack of, in this case) maintained by the patient, not the surgeon or surgery!
August 17th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Gloria says:
Thank you for blogging about your experience! I was in labor for 14 hours before I was wheeled in for a C-section. Of course this was not how I wanted to give birth and was very upset over having to have surgery.
It’s been 17 months since I had my baby girl and I still deal with the emotions of having had a c-section. Everything you wrote is exactly how I feel! I always feel alone when talking about my experience and I feel like nobody even gets it! So many women think having a c-section is the easy way out. No way!!! You did a great job detailing why it’s not the easy way out.
Important details that so many women don’t get is that you CAN’T hold your baby right away, you DO have problems breastfeeding and it’s NOT easy to take care of a newborn when you are recovering from major surgery. These 3 details really take a toll on your emotional well being, on top of trying to get through the normal baby blues. And then, once you have gotten past the pain of surgery and the emotions are a little more in check you have to deal with emotions over the “flap” that hangs over your scar, that almost never goes away.
I am just so happy that I stumbled across your blog. It feels so good to not feel like I’m the only one out there that sees it this way. Thank you.
September 1st, 2010 at 12:58 pm