elective c section vs vaginal

I had a c section with both birth my first was because I had preeclampsia gave birth prematurely due to not being able to dilate my second I was already high risk I had the choice but my dr did inform me that I might not be able to dilate so I let it be I started premature labor around 34 weeks it kept on going I was hoping for a nature birth after a long time of just contractions for 5 weeks won’t open more than 2cm started bleeding then I ended up just signing off with the c section at 38 weeks and I kinda experienced both sides except didn’t push em out vaginally with the c sections it isn’t like they say “ easy way out” it’s actually so much harder to heal especially if you have kids ( like I did I have a 2 years old ) from all the ppl I know who had vaginal birth they seems yo be walking around n going about their day the following day after giving birth unlike a c section the pain gets worse and having to make sure the wound doesn’t get infected I’m 3weeks postpartum

My first baby was born vaginally but she was a stillborn. My second he was induced and had him by emergency c section, my last 3 were to be elective c sections but with my third jaxon I had an elective c section booked in on the 9th December but went in to spontaneous labour and had him vaginally on the 9th December but my 4th and 5th were both elective c sections. They told me due to my history (stillbirth) it was best to be a c section. I choose the elective but said if I went in to labour before then so be it. So tbh I would have been fine either way it went. All my kids were fine after c section and jaxon vaginally. My eldest son is being tested for autism and adhd, but don't think this is anything to do with c section or being born vaginally. He couldnt be born naturally because I had a thick rim on my cervix,so he couldn't go over and through. So was safest to have c section. .

There are pros and cons to both way, it is personal thing and varies for each person, just because mine were fines doesnt mean others didn't struggle. I just wouldn't try to worry yourself over it as if you worry and stress it can stress the baby out. It is all down to how you feel and what you feel is OK for your baby too.

Talk to your Dr at hospital that what did it for me. It’s your body and what it’s capable of, you can have c section on standby if plan a doesn’t hot to plan. I felt I had no choice with first as was neglected by Gp, so by time they found her she was 37wks +2 and breech - it’s was plan A or no way. But ppl thought I wanted a c- section a way, n shocked I said no I don’t unless I have again this time So This time I have more control, more Choices and there’s more information. I’m getting them to treat me like it’s my first pregnancy as was no antenatal etc… with first

I did 🙋🏻‍♀️ I flipped between the two, with hypnobirthing giving me confidence in a vaginal birth, as I had all the same fears including interventions. Ultimately, my baby wasn’t engaged and the safest option for us was an elective. My anxiety went away immediately as I thought it would give me more control, but I ultimately ended up with an injury to my bladder (a risk, but a very rare one). I’ve had a lot of debriefs with the medical teams since, and ultimately, in the circumstances I still believe we made the right choice. The fact my baby wasn’t engaged meant it was likely I’d end up with an emergency section, and nobody can tell me what would gave happened to my bladder in that instance, but the professional opinion was not favourable.

I have a needle phobia and was afraid of the labour process. My mental health was wavering as I got closer to my due date. I had GD so baby was on the bigger side which also scared me in terms of having a vaginal birth. I went back and forth between elective and vaginal. But the end deciding point was when I went in for a membrane sweep and it was unsuccessful. 3 days later went in for induction and still had not dilated. Then they told me that the induction process could take days (3-5 days)… and even then, there was so much uncertainty about if my birth plan would go accordingly. We ended up electing for the c section during the induction and it was the best choice I could have made for myself. Recovery is a witch but each day gets a bit better. Luckily I have a village to help as my mobility is shot while healing.

Honestly I have anxiety & ADHD and severe tokophobia (fear of childbirth) I was swaying between elective c section and natural labour my whole pregnancy so much that it took over my thinking everyday because either option I didn’t want to do they both sounded horrendous to me,if I could of chose neither I would of but he had to come out some way or another I went with vaginal birth in the end because of the healing process after a c-section I told myself women are built to do this our bodies are built to birth a child so I chose to just trust the process and honestly it was nowhere near as bad as I imagined it to be I really hope that helps and I truly believe I’m one of the ones that had a tremendous fear but whichever way you choose it’s your body and your baby as long as you and baby are healthy and safe it does not matter how your child enters the world good luck mama xxx

thank you so much everyone for sharing your personal stories and for your support. i'm going to try to digest all of them properly 🙏🏽

I am the same… one thing that made me feel more comfortable about c-section and the baby not going through the birthing canal to get the micro biome etc is that you can apparently request them to take some from you and put it on (or in moth not sure! ) on the baby…

C section and autism? What? Aside from that, I didn’t have a choice but I wanted a c section anyway bc I didn’t want to do shit lol numb me up and take him out. Recovery was hard but that’s bc I didn’t get to rest. Once I got feeling back in my legs, I was up and taking care of him. C sections are easier for birth, harder for recovery and vice versa. As far as obesity goes, idk if you’re talking about you or the baby but I know a lot of vaginally and cesarean babies and mothers and they all differ in the weight departments. That’s all genetic and how you take care of yourself and your baby🥴 HOWEVER, if you are bigger or have any kind of “belly”, you will probably have the c section flap if you choose to do that. It’s hard to get rid of and hard to tone. That would be my only downside to having a c section honestly. My baby is smart, alert, talking, walking, eating with utensils, dancing, long and lean and absolutely perfect🩵

@Kristy thank you so much! yes i was referring to some stats which show just correlative increased risk of asthma/obesity/allergies/autism in the child. but they are just correlative so no causal link has been proven. there are also a lot of confounding factors and there are studies which cut against the association between autism and c sections. i'm so glad your baby is doing well ❤️ im definitely leaning towards the c section at this point!