Elective C-Section??

Has anyone had an elective C-section?  Are they covered by insurance??

[Jaces312]

It depends on your insurance. May i ask if you are wanting to do an elective c-section and if so, why? Just curious why anyone would want to have abdominal surgery as opposed to having the baby naturally. :-)

[wonderme]

Why are you electing it?  I had a c-section w/ my first.  I had the choice w/ my second.  Otherwise I assume there would have to be a medical reason to elect it -- often the ob can offer a reason (or so I've heard) and thus would be covered.

[rubyolivia]

I don't know if it's an option or not. I would have one in a heartbeat if I could. I know it's alot more time to recover and it really does suck but I am so petrified of the cord being around the neck that it's worth it to me! I was going to ask my doctor but he's a jerk and I just decided to forget about it.

[Jenny33]

I am only 13 weeks pregnant ladies....no need to get all excited...just asking a question.  I was watching one of those baby shows and there was an OB/GYN who herself was pregnant and she stated that she was having an elective C-section.  I did not know you could elect to have one

[lynne1276]

If there is such a thing, sign me up!   My mom lives 1500 miles away and probably won't make it for the birth.  If I could pick a date she would be able to be here.  The long recovery would be worth it.  
Plus I'm scared of tearing.  I know, silly

[rubyolivia]

Not silly! lol I feel the same way...I'd rather take the long recovery over the cord issue and the tearing anyday!

[Jenny33]

I watched my sister go through 40 hours of active labor.  Her cervix just would not open.  I was very frustrated that the dr.s would let the baby go through all that stress for so long and they did not once mention a c-section.  I think the whole "natural" birth thing is over-rated.  Your body goes through trauma with natural birth and c-section...just in different areas.

[lynne1276]

My cousin just had her baby yesterday morning and told me she was screaming at the top of her lungs with every contraction before the epidural.  Sounds like fun!

[filbert143]

My doctor would prefer to do c-sections over vaginal births.  He says that more and more research is coming out saying that c-sections are actually safer and less risky than vaginal births.  Furthermore he said that in the next few generations, vaginal births will be becoming few and far between, with the majority being c-sections.

I personally had a c-section with my first after going through the whole labor naturally.  Turns out that she turned at the last minute (a few hours before my water broke) and was breech.  Poor thing came out with such a bruised butt :(  Anyway, I had my second with a c-section too.

Talk to your doctor and insurance company, if its something you're really interested in.  Like I said, my doctor would definitely do an elective c-section - no questions asked.

[lovethebops]

It does sound like an easy route, but really, natural child birth is not that bad, coming from a woman who tore naturally and did the whole thing w/o and ounce of pain relief whatsover, and believe me, I am the biggest whimp you will ever meet! I still can't believe I did it all au natural!

I worry about the cord thing toO (hence my post below), but I was able to do it before, and I have never had any type of surgery in my life... I would rather do it all again the way I did then be cut open. For some reason, I am more scared of surgery than giving birth again, lol! The Only reason I would have a c-section is if there was a medical reason concerning me or my unborn baby. But I had a 3 1/4 hour labor w/ my first, so I am sure #2 will just fall out this time!!

[tomel]

I think it just depends on your doctor.
I had one myself, not by choice. I had a hard time with it.


Some things to keep in mind if you do have it.

It can become infected
You cant excercise for a long time-just walking (this depends on the person)
You cant drive right away (of course this depends on the person)
You may have scar tissue that is sensitive in that area for a long time. 5 yrs after mine I still had sensitivity there.
If you decide with your second you want to experience birth it will be that much harder to do so.
Harder to hold the baby in certain sitting positions. Cant really use the boppy right away for nursing (very uncomfortable)
Keep in mind this is  surgery they are cutting stomache muscle, your stomache muscle may never be the same.

But if thats what you feel comfortable with I certainly can understand. Im freaked out a little about attemting a VBAC and going thru all the pains.i

[tomel]

Something else I had been told and Im not really sure on the details of this (someone could mabye chime in on this one)
there is soemthing extra the baby get from the umbilical cord when the baby comes out from being pushed. I dont know if its extra blood flow to the brain or something like that???
Of course someone could have just been telling me that cause people (some women) like to make you feel like **** when you told them youve had a c-section.  

[markysmom]

V- delivery helps the babys lungs to clear out..the fluid gets pushed out.
A lot more c-section babys spend time in the nicu at first because of breathing. Usually they are fine relatively quickly. That is a fact that has been studied.
I had a c-section and was planning on having another one until my m/c..but if I get pg again I will have another one.
With my first my labor just wasnt happening . I was on pitocin for almost 24 hours - at the highest dose near the end and had no contractions. They started and stopped the more pit. they gave me...i dialated about 1/2 cm in about 24 hours! I was induced because of PIH. So I wont be having any vaginal deliveries. But I was in toomuch pain to even attempt nursing my son and regret that.

[Liza55]

Jenny- I had an elective c-section and LOVED IT!!!!  They are increasingly becoming more requested here in America. I had no interest in the labor thing, tearing my vagina or rectum, nor chancing any problems that way. My body, my choice. Not only was the c-section convenient and comfortable ( I felt totally in control), but the recovery was way easier than my freinds who had vag. (no tears burning, no huge hemorrhoids, etc) My daughter was placed on me at 320pm and by 630p I was strolling the hall w/ her in her bassinet. I had no trouble lifting her, breastfeeding or anything else. Pain was totally controlled and I was suprised that I wasn't in agony!  I went home happily on Ibuprofen a few days later. This is my comfort area. I loved the c--section. I won't even consider the v-bac delivery this time- just give me my c-section. Clearly my experience was great, so I'd definitely recommend it. Isurance covered it, ask your dr. more about that. (By the way it the MD is totally against it, you may seek another OB- they need to be on the same page as you).
I never feel like I missed out on anything. I bonded instantly w/ my daughter that was healthy and beautiful and never looked back!  Good luck!

[mommy2aj]

some ins will cover an elective c-sec and some wont. sometimes a dr can find a reason for an elective c-sec. i had c-sec w/ds and was scared to death of the recovery and all that could go wrong. i was only in bed for 1 day and up and about the rest of the time there was pain but i only had to take the prescribed meds a couple of times. this time around i never hesitated when the choice was given, we will be having a c-sec. it is nice to already have the date and know i will go in and be given meds and know what to expect.

[Jenny33]

Thanks.  I am going to inquire with Dr. at next appt.  Just want to explore all options.  My sister (after a long miserable vaginal delivery) so wishes that she could have had a C-section and had the whole childbirth be a more positive experience.  All she can recall is the misery and doesn't even remember seeing her baby for the first time.  SHe fell asleep immediately after.  Her baby was bruised all over and puffy for days.  And she tore in what the dr. said was the worst spot...took a long time to recover.  

BTW all.  There is risk of infection with vaginal birth as well.  After tearing and stitches in an area that is normally teaming with bacteria.

I will update what I find out at my next appt. (still 3 weeks away) for any other interested women on this board.

[Nicki1433]

With my first, my cervix wouldn't open...after 5 days (yes...5 days!!!) in active labor I had an emergency c-section.  With my 2nd, I wanted a VBAC so desperately, but the doctors wouldn't let me attempt b/c of my uterus (unicornate, 1/2).  I regret not pushing for a VBAC, b/c I wanted to have a natural labor and delivery.  But, they wouldn't let me b/c they thought I was going to rupture so I actually wound up with an emergency c-section and wouldn't even wait for my husband to get there.  

[cyndy_07]

im having a elective c-section for a number of reasons. my 1st was c-section (did not like it at all), my 2nd was normal and no problems, my 3rd was normal and weighed exactly as much as the 2nd, but he got stuck (because he was too big for me) on his way out, and while being pulled out by my midwife, she dislocated his shoulder. he is fine. i dont want the same to repeat itself, and i want to get my tubal ligation, and (most importantly) my DH is deployed so i need an exact date for him to get here. if i could have avoided a c-section i would have. i think, of course from personal experience, that there is more bonding when you go natural.

[tomel]

There are ways you can try and prevent tearing/cutting. You can do a perenatal massage in that area a week or 2 before your due date.
Although there may be people out there who have tried this and still have torn or needed to be cut??? Everyone that I have met who has done this has had good luck with it.

Alot of it probably has to do with your mind set. I guess if you plan on having a c-section you might not have a hard time with recovery because you were expecting/planning it.
I may just have had a harder time because personally for me it was a disappointment ,I wasnt planning on it.

[JennyBlueBell]

I would rather have a C-section than risk my kid getting cerebral palsy in the birth canal, as you mentioned.  Also, I have heard that C-sections are actually a lot safer these days that they used to be.  Even the cut they make has changed.  I also heard the the amount of C-sections in the US is because obesity rates are going up in this country, and that is leading to larger babies getting stuck on the way out, therefore increasing the need for C-sections.  

Not nice to scare people unnecessarily that may need one, or even people that prefer one.

[mamom15]

I agree with you.  40 years ago I was born via C - Section and so was my brother who is 3 years older than I am.  My mother had an elective C-section and she thinks that thisis the best decision she made.  Took the whole guessing game of the table and she leftthe hospital with no pain

[30something13]

Sorry but I feel that woman should be scared to have an elective c-section that is NOT medicall nessisary!!!! You are wrong about the studies and there are so many studies right now about why the US has the highest C-section rate and why the maternal and fetal death rate has not gone down since the early 80's, or was it the late 70's! No it was the early 80's as they had started to do mor eVBAC's then it went down then they stopped and woman elected to have a c-section instead of natural birth. The cut itself may have changed but did you know that they are now no longer doign two layers of stiching to close you and that further raises your chances of a repeat c-section and rupture!!!!!! You need to look on the march of dimes site and the WHO, world health organization!!!!! We are ranked number 41 that is BAD! out of countires for maternal and fetal death rates. It is estimated that more then 30% of c -sections are not nessisary and from dr's who did not want to wit out labor wihta  mother, or plain told her her pelvis was too small when it wasn't! I am sorry but surgery should be for mediacal reasons! It si sad to see mothers opting for a c-section with their first as apposed to having a natural birth!!! I do not see them as real woman!!!!!!!!!! I had an emergency c-section and was happy to have the technology available to get my 30 weeker who was not moving out so fast! But come on no one will ever say that major surgery is better and safer then a natural method unless medically needed! The rates are rising in c-sections due to dr's who will not perform VBAC's, insurance and hospital proceedures ban VBAC's, woman who just want a scheduled birth after having one prior, and it is less then 5% of woman that medically need one! Placenta previa, placenta abrupto, toxemia or other life threatening condition, fetal distress, prior c-section with a classic vertical cut and sometimes multiples depending on age and presentation, and a transverse baby are the only medical reasons to have one! or if the mother has had a pelvic trauma that makes her pelvis not open right or a birth defect with the pelvis, (but this ahs been tod to many woman and they go on to have VBAC's with may larger babies, that cannot be decided on only by x-ray of the pelvis) Obesity is not reason to give a c-section! IT has more complications then a c-section with a normal size mom!

Again let me say that I do not ever intend to scar anyone that may need one for medical reasons! I had one and was greatful they where able to save my baby!!! As for woman that perfere them oh well it is their bad desision and their practitioners not mine! Vagina's go back to normal! it takes longer to heal from surgery! Why are woman so vain? If you did not want to have the pain of childbirth then don't get pregnant!!!!! You can't change life and how our bodies are made to work! Birthing is natural not a medical illness that has to have intervention! We do not live in the 1950's anymore where dr's rule everything and have taken our rights away and straooed us to a bed!

[alikat1205]

I had two emergency c/s.  The second was necessary b/c I suffered a complete rupture, which I was at risk for due to the first c/s.  C/s is major surgery, and major recovery.

[honeil1982]

What does it matter to you if other women want to do an elective C-Section?  You really have no right to judge how women decide to give birth.  Your comment "If you did not want to have the pain of childbirth then don't get pregnant!!!!" is just plain ignorant.  You should step into the 21st century where a woman can choose how she wants to give birth.  Elective C-sections are becoming more and more common among developed countries.  

Neither you nor anyone else has a right to suggest how other women should give birth.  if you want to give birth "the natural way" and be in labor for 48 hours, squealing like a pig just to end up having an emergency C-Section anyway, that is your choice.  However, today's smarter women, know they have a choice.

[Sonka]

I totally agree with  honeil1982. It's a woman's personal choice and no one should tell them how to do it. I had a natural birth myself.My baby boy had to be vaccumed out, I had an episiotomy, tore badly, healing time was awful. The baby had a horrible scar on his head for a long time, his nose wasn't straight for a while (he was sunny side up). I don't remember him coming out at all or being able to see him normally. I was in fog for couple of hours after giving birth.
I would love a second child some day, but just thinking about it makes me nautious. I will be looking at elective c-sections if I can. Just my personal choice.

[Jblackrose]

im 40 weeks with my second child.  my first one was late and i was induced.  he was head down but facing up so he was stuck!  i was in labor for 32 hours.  i had a 3rd degree epesiotomy and i ripped internally.  he was 9lbs.  now i hear 2nd and third babies r bigger than the first so im scared to go any longer with this one and im also scared to be induced again.  i hate to say it but i would rather have a c section.  would it be out of line for me to tell my dr thats what i want?