I had an emcs with my DD in April. I was induced but after 30 hours had only progressed to 8cm and they couldn't feel her head. There was also a lot of meconium. It was vile - by the time she was born I'd not slept for two nights and been on the bed strapped to a monitor unable to move for 10 hours because of the epidural. My big fear with a VBAC is that I go through all of that again just to end up with an emcs again (although, I have to say my csec experience was very positive - maybe that's why I want another one!!!).

I am now pregnant with my second and DH and I are quite keen to have an elective rather than try for a VBAC. This is our preference and another reason (rightly or wrongly) is the fact that we moved from Essex to Scotland in the summer and have nobody who could look after our(will then be) 17 month old. And that really is the case - no friends or family we could call on if I were to go into spontaneous labour (other than those who'd have a 9 hour car journey ahead of them!). I have, of course, taken into account the recovery. I recovered brilliantly with DD (I know that might not be the case after this one necessarily!) but support after the birth is something I can have in abundance (if I know when the csec is happening!).

So, my question is: did you have an elcs even though you were advised to try for a VBAC and did you have to fight hard for it? I am assuming they will be of the view that there is nothing to suggest that what happened with her will happen again so therefore I won't be 'advised' that I shouldhave a section.

Hope that makes sense and thanks for any responses!

K xxx

I had an elcs after emcsec. To be honest, I would have rather tried for vbac, but wasn't given the choice by my consultant.

Because of the first c-sec, you will probably be under consultant care, and you can discuss all your concerns with your consultant. I haven't met one yet (and I've had a few over the last 2 pregnancies) that doesn't push for another c-sec. I'm 38+3 now, and booked in for a c-sec on Tuesday 15th Feb, and I'm hoping that I go into labour naturally so that I can at least try for Vbac.

My recovery after the 2nd c-sec wasn't as good as the first. I had problems with the scar, and I felt that the hospital pushed me to leave before i was ready to go home - so for these reasons I'm a little apprehensive about the section on Tues. (sorry, not trying to scare you).


I completely understand your reasons for wanting another section though. I too had the long labour, going nowhere, with my ds1, and the thought of that happening again scares me too. I also moved miles away from my family and will struggle if I do go into labour naturally as we really only have one person we can call on to look after the boys - and she works shifts, so may not be an option depending on what she's working.

My advice is just to chat with your mw and consultant and let them know your concerns.

hth xxx Tracy xxx

Thanks for the reply and for being so understanding Poppy. That's interesting about the recovery. My mum had 4 sections and she said that her recovery was worse with each one. Mind you, my hopsital had me out the next day! Maybe being up and about so quickly paid off for me that time but it's such an individual thing, isn't it?

I guess I am trying to be prepared. I'm a confident person in most aspects of my life but I think when faced with authority I tend to just go along with what they say (ironically, I think it's the teacher in me!). I can see me going in intent on a section and coming out having agreed to a VBAC! I will take DH with me though as he tends to be a bit better in those kind of situations.

I really hope you get the birth you want - I'll be looking out for your BA!

K x

i think it depends in the trust,

my trust will not allow planned sections post emsec without medical reason, luckily i want a vbac, however the trust my friend works at all ladies are offered sections post emsec, similar to you we have noone to look afer DS however i dont want to be looking after a toddler and newborn after major surgery esp after my recovery last time, if i dont go into labour before 41+3 i will be sectioned though so hoping to avoid that (they wont induce post section ladies) not sure what we will do woth DS i hope to cross that bridge nearer the time x

Thanks PP. Guess it's just luck of the draw. The thing is, f I have a date my parents can book time off work and come up for 2 or 3 weeks (at least). What they can't do is either just drop everything or book the time off and then sit here looking at me for 3 weeks waiting for me to go into labour and then I bet what would happen is the secn their flight took off I'd get my first contraction! x

yes, i had an emcs with ds, followed by an elcs with dd...i didn't ahve to fight 'too hard' but i did have to be fairly firm...i think my error there though was that had been considering vbac, so once i mentioned that they were pushing me for vbac, when i got to 36+5 it hit me that i was petrified of a vbac and me and my consulaltnt had a couple of meetings and at 38+5 we compromised that i could be booked in for cs at 40weeks and if i went into sponatneous labour beforehand that i would try vbac ...i had my cs at 40+4, he did agree that if i hadn't shown an interest in vbac at all that it would've been 39weeks, very few questions asked etc...having had a previous cs is in itself a medical reason for an elcs, so not sure what that's about...if they do get funny u can simply bring up scar rupture, a small, but very real risk, which if they forced u into a vbac after u had stated u wanted an elcs and then this were to happen the hospital could be held accountable, so u do have a medical reason, it's ur birth, and ur body, and they can't force u into a vbac...i know next time if i say from the start elcs then they won't be arguing, it's only cos i ummed and ahhed until right near the end as i still wasn't 100% which way i wanted to go, and at booking i had been very pro vbac, so my own 'fault' really...hth x

Thank you wowbabies. I took your advice and started how I meant to go on with my booking in appt today. The midwife asked what kind of birth I was thinking of and I did reply that it was definitely a section. Having given her the details of my first birth she didn't react like it was completely outlandish that my pref was for a section - she was very understanding. I'll see what happens at the consultant but will def follow your advice. Thanks again x

It's been good reading this thread, as I had an EMCS with DS in July. Reason for my EMCS was for a few reasons - failure to progress (I didn't get past 6cms - was 2cms at 7.30am, and only 6cms at 5pm), malposition (DS was back to back), and fetal distress (DS had the cord around his neck and his heart rate kept dropping - as well as mine).
I'm not yet pregnant again, but this has been on my mind. I would love to have a natural birth, but think I would opt for an ELCS. I am already petrified of scar rupture and am also so scared that the same would happen again, as it did with DS. Not sure what the 'policy' is in my area on this, but this has made interesting reading. Thank you xx

This is also something Ive pondered after an EMCS in July, due to baby position & a failed assisted delivery. An ELCS is something we will probably push for when the time comes. The thought of another 2 day labour, forceps etc has made it very clear in my mind I was told by my MW that if the first baby was B2B its highly likely that the next one will be...one thing that swung it for me straight away. Recovery can be tough going but like you say Kaycee, its something you can plan for & have everything in place.

Good luck with it all, I hope you get the delivery you want xxx

Answering your question - I didn't have but would like to have ELCS with my third child (trying to conceive now). I had my first daughter naturally and my second an EMCS
That was because I've failed to progress in a second stage - couldn't push the baby out, even though I was 10cm dilated, struggling for two hours (8 in overall) and ending up having a EMCS. My baby was 4,8kg... :roll:

I can't stand a thought of having another baby naturally, besides I've had big babies and can't see the reason why the 3rd one should be any different...

I'm also scared of natural delivery as my first one was a 28 hours struggle...

If I can't convince them to have an ELCS I'll save up and have this baby in a private clinic.

Anybody knows how much it would cost?

Thanks for the replies, guys. No idea on cost of a private section but I am pretty damn sure with 2 emcs under your belt that they would honour your pref for an elective without much (if any!) discussion x

hya luv, i had an EMCS with 1st dd then have gone on to have 2 planned sections and have my 4th and final section planned for 9th June, i have to admit i think tht a planned section is alot calmer and much nicer experience than a EMCS and i luckily went on to recover better with each section, im being steralized during this section as i dont want to risk a 5th section and i am very happy with my brood now, lol. which every decision i hope you get what you want and have a good experience luv. xxx

This is great to read through, I had an emcs due to failure to progress (though read that as failure to progress quickly enough for the mw's, grrrrr loooong story!!) plus baby was malpositioned, (coming face first which was missed completely by the mw's, doctors and consultants) and finally baby's heart rate was dropping dangerously low, no wonder as she was slowly having her neck broke by my contractions, when they did finally agree a section was the way to go they had left things to late and she was wedged in my pelvis and they broke her arm getting her out...sorry for the rant, can you tell how angry I still am!?
Anyway, the consultant did tell me after that due to baby's size (she was 9lb 6) and the 'rare shape' of my pelvis that all future babies will be csectioned, but I have all my notes and nothing is written about it so I was wondering what would happen next time if asked for a section from day 1, great to know that if I stand my ground they can't make me try for a vbac, definitely don't want to go through that again!!

Blimey Huniibump! No wonder you want a section - your poor little baby! Sounds like you had a horrid time. My midwife told me that the consultant probably won't even have access to my notes (I've since moved) and she said they will go on my version of events (seems a bit dangerous because I was completely off my nut on pethidine and lack of sleep!)! You'd think the least they could do is keep accurate notes! Good luck next time around x

kaycee, i ahd moved house in between births (3 times!) but was same hospital, but he consultant should have ur notes, mine did...they know they're seeing u in advance so the can ask ur prev hospital to send/fax them...my consultant never asked me what happened with ds, he told me, iyswim? but generally they won't need to know a great deal of detail (like mw notes etc) just what happened and why roughly like for me it was - emcs at 40+6 (due to high bp and borderline PET) failed induction/failure to progress and suspicious fetal trace (amazing how a whole labour/birth can be whittled down to a sentence!)xx

I was amazed when the midwife said it was likely he wouldn't have them. We did move from Essex to Scotland but surely in this day and age...? x

I had emergency c-sec with DS1 & wanted elective for DS2. I found that the consultants all accepted my decision with very little effort & some even said that I was highly unlikely to have a successful VBAC anyway.

However, I went into natural labour 1 week prior to my date & they tried to persuade me then to try for a VBAC!!

I recovered just as well from 2nd c-sec & was out of hospital quickly. DS1 was 20 months at the time & I was able to do most things for him, just didn't lift him until after 6 week check.

Thanks mummy_123. That's great that you were given a csec and good to know recovery was well. I do sometimes wonder if I just hit lucky with my quick recovery from my first. Hopefully, the next one will be just as smooth x

This is very helpful.

I had a cat 1 c section with my daughter 11 months ago.

Things seemed to be going wrong right from the start. My waters broke at 9:20am on the Saturday but the pains didn't start until 7:00 that night. They got worse about 4:30am on the Sunday & I went into the hospital about 6:00am.

Typically by the time I got to the hospital it'd all stopped! I couldn't believe it & felt like a right fraud. Anyway, because nearly 24 hours had elapsed since my waters broke they put me on a drip to get things going again. Incidentally when they did the first internal check I was fully effaced & 4 cm dilated, so I was feeling really smug & thought we'd have a baby in no time at all...

Roll on to that night. I was 10cm dilated but my baby hadn't descended. It was discovered that she was laying back to back & was basically lodged. Someone tried to turn her so she was facing the right way (which hurt like ****) and they managed to do it, but she righted herself back to the original position! By this point I had no energy to push even if I could & given the circumstances it was decided that a c section was the best option.

But while they were getting everything ready my baby's heart rate dropped by half in seconds & we were rushed into theatre. I will always remember laying there thinking that I'm not going to be leaving here with my baby. Fortunately she was fine & at 11:20pm she came out with 2 massive cries.

The recovery was OK I guess, I did get an infection of the lining of the uterus & food poisoning from somewhere, but I would go through it all again if it meant a healthy baby.

I've rambled on a bit with the background, so I'll get to the point.

I was advised after the c section that there would be no reason why I couldn't go for a VBAC next time, & I agreed. However I am now pregnant again (10 + 3) & obsessed with the idea that the same thing could happen again but this time they won't get the baby out in time. I've had my booking in app but the midwife didn't ask me about what sort of birth I'd like. I really wanted a natural birth with my daughter but after what happened it showed me just what can go wrong & I'd rather not take the risk next time.

Sry i know this is an old post and everyones csections will have been done by now.lol
Just wanted to tell mine
i had an emcs with my son as he was back to back and i didnt progress more than 3cm after 36 hours in labour.
With my daughter i was happily going along with a vbac until i had a sweep at 39 weeks. It was sooooooooooo painful (not always the case, im just a wimp) that i panicked and begged for a cs. they said yes straight away no trying to deter me at all.
When i got pregnant with my third i was admant that there was no wimp in me anymore and i would do this naturally. Nope, i had absolutely no choice, they said no. Totally no, there was no discussing it at all, just no.
Ive now been told that after 3 sections my uterus is too thin and its too dangerous to have anymore pregnancies, which is a shame as my third child is with my new partner, who of course would like another child of his own.
I got through all three sections absolutely fine, was out of hospital after 2 days even with the third and driving/out and about within two weeks. So they dont always get worse with more. (i know that isnt always the case)
Hope everyones vbacs/sections have gone fine.

claire xxx
p.s i never, ever expected to have anymore than the two children that i had with my husband, so having two sections wasnt a big deal to me at all. Obviously it didnt work out that way and i do wish i had gone for the vbac with my second, so that i might have the chance to have more