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Likelihood of c section

Can somebody tell me the reason people have c sections ? Like what could cause them not to give natural labor ?
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Breech baby...transverse baby...complications...not dilating or progressing...low heart rate...previous c sections...etc.
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13884915 tn?1431916498
In some cases diabetes because of the baby's size.
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I had a c section because I had diabetes, they induced me and I wouldn't go more then 4 cm.
This time around I am opting for the c section.  It's safer for the both of us.
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How big was ur baby PatricksMommy?
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There are lots of reasons including those above. Some are needed but many are unnecessary.

Big babies is often not a good reason generally because the scans are not accurate that far towards the end. Neither is 'suspected small pelvis' as there are no real guidelines about what's too big or small - some very tiny women have birthed very large babies with no problems. But a huge baby showing up in scans inside a mother with diabetes might warrant a c section as chances of complications are higher.

Sometimes there are medical conditions in the mother - pre eclampsia, heart problems, placenta praevia (placenta blocking cervix), disabilities etc. The ob decides waiting for a natural birth is much riskier in this case and books a c section.

Then there are the emergency c sections that happen during labour. These are usually due to foetal distress. There are a number of things that increase your chances of emergency c section, such as induction (particularly with pitocin), epidurals, continuous electronic foetal monitoring.

They may also do a c section for 'failure to progress'. In other words, failure of doctors to wait. (Not all the time, there are legitimate cases where labour has gone for days and mother is fatigued etc). There are a number of things that can make 'failure to progress' more likely: stress, fear, your doctor wants to go home to dinner instead of waiting for you (the 5pm c section line up is a real phenomenon in many hospitals!), lack of movement or not changing labour positions (laying on your back in bed for hours generally isn't the best to promote progress). These c secs are often necessary at the time, but could have been avoided if labour was treated differently from the start (such as respecting the woman, treating her as important and not as a nuisance taking up everyone's time, giving her options to move around etc). Some could have been avoided altogether by letting the woman labour for longer and reassuring her that this is normal.

By and large, most people around me who got an emergency section got it due to failure to progress and foetal distress. It was always tied to induction, epidural and therefore also monitoring which had them stuck in bed on their back. They didn't progress, baby got more and more distressed, and they were taken to have a c section.

Obviously there are heaps of cases that don't end like this, or other situations that need a c section too, but yeah in my experience it seems that the interventions suggested by doctors themselves often lead to the emergencies.

I could have been told to have c secs for both my births.

My first baby was 10lb 4oz. Had I had a scan late with an ob who used scare tactics (I am very small myself), I may have been pressured to get a c sec or be induced early. Instead I had a nice natural birth that my body could handle fine.

My second labour sped up and intensified to the point of almost pushing, but then slowed almost down to nothing for 9 hours. In hospital I could have been made to worry and told I wasn't dilating further and been pressured to have a csec or be induced. Instead my midwife told me to take a nap and then labour started on its own naturally again.

Some extra stats if you're interested:

Only 1% of caesareans are made up by healthy mothers electing to have a csec for no medical reason. The 'too posh to push' theory is not the reason there are so many c secs these days.

6% or less of planned UK homebirths (in low risk mothers) end in caesarean.
25% of planned vaginal UK hospital births (in low risk mothers) end in caesarean and this number is higher in US and Australia.
There's obviously something going on in hospitals that's causing 3-4x the number of healthy women with healthy pregnancies to end up with a c sec.

Sorry for the rant. I hate the medical industry.Also thankful for it. But they do a lot of extra damage along with the good. Got heartburn and can't sleep so thought I'd write an essay instead ;)
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Avatar universal
I had an emergency c-section because I went in to the hospital to see if my water had broken. It hadn't so they decided to monitor me for 30 min to make sure baby was OK before they sent me home. Within like 3 min his heart rate dropped to 60 during a 2 min contraction. It happened several more times. Doctor decided we needed to get him out due to fetal distress. When he came out cord was wrapped all around and he was blue. The whole process from the time my husband and I walked into the hospital until he was born only took 4 hours. I'm thankful my doctor reacted as fast as she did and didn't question her for a second on the severity of getting him out.
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I will most likely be having one because my baby girl is still breech at 36 weeks and her fluid is to low for her to be able to turn:(
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They were concerned 4 my 1st baby at 34weeks with a fast heart rate so did emergency c section.  He was sick and didn't make it more than 17 hours due to his heart.
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I have a very high stitch in place and also carrying twins.the only way i can give birth if my water breaks is throuhh c section as they cant cant snip off the stitch i need to be under medical sedation for it to be removed. In my case iv also elected to have a c section  at 37weeks if i make it in the terms of what is safer for my babies and considering the stitch is there. Iv had 2 previous naturals and were fine. However epidural doesn't work on me. So if dr decides to take stitch out earlier and i go into labor instantly i dont know how it will play out since ill be under spinal and it takes couple hours to wear off. So iv chosen to have a c section hopefully all goes well.
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My c-section was due to high blood pressure. I tried natural for 12 hours but my blood pressure went too high and I ended up having to have an emergency c-section. My doctor never bullied me into thinking I could not give birth naturally in fact she encouraged it. If I did not have the compilations that I did it would not have even been brought up. My daughter was born 3 weeks early and was a healthy 8 pounds and 9 ounces. And my doctor stay with me over night for those 12 hours and never once made me feel badly about my choice to try natural.
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Avatar universal
Lots of reasons, I am having twins and the safest way to go with out complications is a c section so that is what we are doing.
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I had an emergency c-section because my daughter's heart rate wouldn't stabilize because of her heart arrhythmia. I was supposed to be induced and all they could give me was cervidil which did nothing. They refused to give me any pitocin because of her heart problem already. I was transferred to a hospital with a nicu because they didn't know what would happen once she came out and had a c section 3 hours after i got there. She wouldn't stay on the monitor and i couldn't get passed 5cm even after they broke my water.
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