Hi ladies

I am currently 24 + 2 & have asked my GP to refer me to my consultant to talk about my birth plan options & what would be best for me & my baby. I have scoliosis (curviture of the spine) operated on resulting in 4 bolts permantly inserted into my lower spine & i also have Rhematoid Arthritis in my left hip. The pressure is already unbearable & very painfull with the extra weight i am carrying, i have gained 20lbs already as i am less mobile than before & i'm only 5ft. I also have one leg shorter than the other only by half an inch.

I would love to have a natural birth, but i do have major concerns with this, the stress & pressure could have an affect on me & my baby on delivery. I have already been told that i wont be able to have an epidural, because of bolts in my spine, so if i was to have a c section then it would have to be under general aneasetic (soz spelling).

Can i ask for your advice, do you think it would be best to go for the c section? I know every womans recovery is different, but how long approx. on recovery & was bonding with your baby an issue, did you find that difficult & how long after do you get to see your baby?...that is what i really worry about.

I am waiting for my appointment now, hope i dont have to wait too long...i need to put my mind at ease & know what to expect.

I would be very grateful if anyone could share thier experiences with me or offer any advice...all gratefully recieved.

little missie x
24 + 2

Hi little missie i had an emergency section with my eldest son and as my epidural failed i had a general anaesthetic. It took me an hour or two to come around properly from the general but my baby was in scbu due to distress in labour. As long as your baby is born without any problems you should be able to hold him/her as soon as you feel up to it (your partner should be able to hold him/her whilst you are stitched up until you are awake and happy to hold him yourself)and the staff should help/support you if you want to bf/skin to skin contact etc, so you shouldnt really have a lower chance of good bonding than if you had a natural birth, except you will obviously be asleep for the part he was born. I found having a section had no negative effect on how i bonded with my son. As for recovery, it is painful to move around for the first few days (however many do say it is far less painful after a planned section than an emergency and good painkillers are very helpful) but i would say after about a week and a half i was able to walk with baby up to my parents house which is about 3/4's of a mile,so recovery is generally quite quick providing there are no complications. Obviously you are advised to lift nothing heavier than your baby for a few weeks and are also advised to not drive until you have fully recovered (check with your insurance).But all in all there is no reason why you shouldnt have a positive, controlled experience, good luck xxx

Hi little missie. I'm afraid I haven't had my c-section yet, but am due to have one on 30th Jan. I had to make a similar decision to you as I have had major pelvic surgery and still have metal work in place. I had been told my my consultant that I could try for a natural birth, but that I was very high risk for having a c-section. After a lot of discussion with my husband, we decided we would rather have a planned c-section which would be a calmer situation and we would know what to expect than to try for a natural birth, have to recover from labour, probably a c-section and possible damage I might do to my pelvis. There were just too many unanswered questions for us to go for a natural birth, although my consultant would have supported either option. There's a lot of pressure to try for a natural birth these days, but everyone's different and you've just got to way up the pros and cons and do what you feel happy with. We know we will have to plan for the 6 week recovery period and can get friends and family in place early to help out, where as this would have been difficult if I'd decided to wait until labour naturally happens. Of course, bubs could come early and I could end up having an emergency c-section anyway!! Hope you make the decision you're happy with. Hopefully your consultant will guide you too.

Sarah xx
28+3

hi little missie!!

as for an elective c/s with your back/ mobility problems - you should be seen by your obstetric consultant and, along with an anaesthetic consultant, and your orthopaedic consultant - between the 3 of them, they should be able to tell you what would be safer for you, and best for you.

frequently women with back probs do have an elective c/s, but the risks associated with a general anaethetic are worse when pregnant than when not pregnant - this is because the baby pushes everything out of the way. however, if this is the only way your baby can be delivered, then it is best for both of you!!

as for bonding post c/s - a recent study (in Holland i think???) said that women who had a c/s took longer to bond than those having a normal delivery!! personally, i think this is the biggest load of crap ever!! i've had 3 c/s myself, and immediatly "bonded" with my babies!! although admittedly i cannot compare this feeling to if i have ever had a normal delivery,. but i had no problems at all.

most women i look after ( i am also a midwife), also bond with their lo - irrelevant of how they delivered!! i could use the arguement that some poor women who labour for hours and hours, and suffer from sleep deprivation, and only want to go to sleep after delivery, and just want the baby in the cot. by the same token, women who labour for hours, then have a c/s also just want to sleep, so who can actually say it is the type of delivery that makes you bond- it is all sorts of factors that play a huge part, so dont worry at all that it will be how you deliver that affects your bonding! everyone is different, and people bond in different ways anywya. some mums dont feel this overwhelming rush of love, yet some girls do! some describe it more of the need to protect etc.

it may sound like a rant, for which i dont intend it to be (sorry!!), i'm just trying to say dont let the way you deliver make you worry about bonding.

usually your baby is there when you wake up from the GA, unless there has been any rare complication (ie c/s babies are more likely to have breathing probs -still rare, but still possible)

as you said, everyone recovers differently- most women are mobile pretty much straight away, but wether your existing probs may hinder you? pain relief is offered, and you should take what you need when, and you'll find you can push it a little each time. also listen to your body when it tells you to take a break!

they are not the asy option by any way, but they are not as bad as many percieve them to be!!

good luck, and i hope you get it all sorted!!

Hi, I had an emergency c-section Sept 07 with my son, following a 4 day labour that started naturally with my waters breaking then induction 3 days later and still no progress. By that stage baby was in distress and I just wanted him out. I found the whole procedure fine, but then i was so exhausted i wasn't fully aware of all that was going on. As for recovery they gave me lots of drugs that took all the pain away, it was just difficult getting out of bed etc for the first couple of days but it helped to hold my hands over the scar and wear big pants that didn't rub on it! Bonding was a little bit of an issue for me, as my baby went into NICU&then SCBU for 6 days, as he didn't breathe on his own following the birth. I went into recovery for about 5 hours then got my first chance to see him and hold him which lasted about 5 mins then went to the ward and didn't see him till next morning as they wanted me to rest. I was so tired and worried about him (he's very well now and no lasting problems) that i wasn't really thinking about how to bond with him. 24 hours after the birth a midwife asked me if i wanted to breastfeed, he'd already been given formula in SCBU by this point which i had no say in. So i was expressing every 3 hours and kept trying to feed him, which he was lazy with and this continued. So although i managed to breastfeed exclusively until 3 months and finally had to give up at 4 months. This all made bonding hard but i don't blame the c-section for any of it. And a planned section would probably be easier than an emergency one as you wouldn't be so tired and could get help with breastfeeding and bonding as soon as you wake up from the GA. At the end of the day a lot of it is about your feelings and as long as you've looked into the options for the birth and make your choice that you're happy with then you can make the birth a positive experience, whether it's a section or natural. I still have a lot of bad feelings about my labour and birth as i didn't feel at all in control & it's more to do with what happened with my baby after the birth rather than the section itself
If anything a planned section might make you feel more at ease, as natural births are unpredictable for anyone and at least you'll know what to expect.

Good luck with everything.

Amy. xx

ive had 2 sections cos my babys were born 10 weeks prem and i never had a prob bonding with either of them and mine were in scbu 4 weeks i loved them instantly my hehe u will laugh but wen i went near there incubators i used leak milk i fell insainly inlove with both of them the type delivery doesnt matter aslong as u have ure baby at the end of it i will admit it was hard at first wen they were taken away frm me ameadiatly after the birth all i remember is screaming please dont take my baby away but it didnd ruin the bond between me and my boys xx

HI
I have/had scoliosis and like you have part of my spine fused (nuts and bolts etc!). However when i spoke to consultant at hosp they said would be no reason why I couldn't have epidural, it might just make it not as effective.Anyway to cut a long story short I ended up with a emerg section under GA. Baby spent 2 wks in a different hospital and yes, I did suffer bonding probs.
However, my therapist says that these problems don't necessarily stem fromthe trauma of the birth and actually because I had v high expectations of motherhood etc then that made me feel crap about self and baby. Could go onbut I won't.
So..... I think you will more than likely have absolotuley no probs with bonding whtever birth you have but you must do whateveris bet fo ryou and baby.
Good luck with it all x x x

Hi,

Just had my baby 2 weeks ago by emergency section. Didn't have a general anathetic so can't really advise you on that but due to problems with my epidural I was so spaced out on gas and air and morphine that I didn't see the baby immediatly after she was born - she was delivered and put on my legs then given to my oh. He sat beside me and showed her to me but I was too busy thinking ow! to think anything more than oh its a baby. I certainly didn't feel that rush of love people talk about. However at some point over that day I fell totally in love with her! So I can't see it being too much different with a general anathetic.

As for recovery I think I got stronger painkillers because I wasn't breastfeeding. The first time of getting out of bed is pretty bad and getting dressed after your first shower is not fun! But at no point did I feel like my stiches would burst - just a bit sore. Had her at 5:51 on the friday morning and was out of hospital at 9pm on the sunday so not too long a stay. At home my oh did loads for me the first week and I needed it but he's bored of it now so I'm back to doing housework again! Have been out and walked a mile+ (which is amazing for me since I am v overweight anyway) with no problems although I was warned not to go out on my own the first few times and you do need to take it slowly.

My advice would be not to worry too much about having a section. Its just a tiny part at the end of the pregnancy and I only have really blurry memories of it now. Everything is about lo now and it doesn't really matter to me how she got here. I don't love her any less and I don't think I'm in more pain (well none now at all but straight after) than if I had had a vaginal birth and had tears ect.