C-section vs. Natural Birth
Okay, so I should actually put "vaginal" birth in the title but I'm trying to keep the google pervs at bay here.
Over the pass few years, elective c-sections have been on the rise. I'm sure you've heard the term, "too posh to push" although, I think the term should actually be, "elective c-section with a Hollywood side of tummy tuck so moms in the Midwest feel like crap because they still have a baby paunch two weeks after their babies were born".
That said, there are many women that opt for a c-section for a number of reasons and being "too posh" isn't usually one of them. Plenty of women have to go the c-section route for health reasons and for the safety of themselves and their baby.
On the flip side, there are women who really want to have a vaginal birth and are deeply disappointed if they have to have a caesarean.
Here are a couple of pros and cons I found for each "exit":
c-section
pros:
- You don't have to find out if labour is painful
- Your hidey hole stays intact
- You don't have to worry about the sting of peeing after having the baby
- Less chance of forceps being used or the baby getting stuck
- You post partum bleeding (lochia) may be lighter because it was kind of vacuumed out of you
- You won't poop during delivery
cons:
- Higher risk for infection
- Recovery time is typically a lot longer
- Higher risk of blood clots
- You can only cut into your uterus so many times – if you want more than 2 kids you may be pushing your luck
- You increase your risk of complications in future deliveries regardless of whether you have a c-section or vaginal birth next time
- You have to get drugs, there's no way around it unless you're like this woman in Mexico who performed a c-section of herself. Good times.
- It's major surgery
- You'll probably have a small scar but unless you're in the porn industry, it's unlikely that many people will see it.
vaginal
pros:
- If left up to nature, it's the exit of choice
- Less risk of infection
- Typically a faster recovery time
- By passing through the birth canal, fluid is squeezed from the baby's lungs so they are less likely to develop transient tachypnea of the neonate (TTN) which is a temporary lung condition.
- Your baby is exposed to beneficial bacteria in the birth canal which supposedly makes them less likely to develop food allergies and asthma.
- You don't get kicked in your incision when you're holding your baby in a carrier
- When you go into labour it seems your body releases a bunch of hormones that drain fluid out of your baby's organs and helps you recover faster
- You can have as many kids as you want this way and give the Duggars a run for their money
cons:
- Labour and delivery may hurt like a mother fucker
- Less predictable – you may luck out and get a quick, painless birth or you might have a 72 hour nightmare.
- Equipment for birth is real close to equipment for going to the bathroom. #!@$.
- Possible urinary incontinence that can last up to three months after giving birth. The jury is still out if vaginal birth can be blamed for leaky pipes down the road.
- Possible tearing and/or episiotomy
No matter what route you take, you're going to hear both horror and hallelujah stories on both sides – people that have had 147 hour labours with no drugs and fourth-degree lacerations love to corner you at a cocktail party and tell you all about it, and the woman who developed a severed infection from a surgical sponge left in her uterus after a c-section will be right behind her.
You will also have people tell you that they gave birth painlessly with no drugs and would never consider a c-section no matter what the risk, and there are other people who tell you that they would never have a vaginal birth because their husband may not be pleased with their lady tunnel afterward. Er, okay.
Hey, births are like finger prints and snowflakes – no two are alike.
After doing both myself, I would opt for a vaginal birth if I had to do it again. Even though the good china was completely messed up for a while, I found it to be the easier route. I was terrified with a capital-T about labour and had absolutely no desire to feel any pain and would have happily had an epidural in the parking lot. Thankfully, the labour pains I did experience were manageable and I got my drugs so, all in all, both experiences were pretty darn good.
And at the end of the day, healthy baby and healthy mom are what we're shooting for. So until they can figure out a way to grow babies like sea monkeys in the bathtub, we'll just have to settle for the two exits we've got and make the best of it.
Did I miss any? I'll add them to list. What are you hoping for?
34 Comments
Reader Comments (34)
Orrrrr, you could go my route... go into labor naturally, get the epidural only to have it turned down to half so you "know which muscles to push with" and 2.5 hours of pushing later STILL have a C-section. All that being said, I would do it again in a heartbeat for a baby as wonderful as mine. She is healthy, happy, and (most importantly) alive 11 months later.
I'm really hoping to avoid a c-section, unless for some reason the vaginal route would be harmful to me or the baby. I'm also thinking I'd like to avoid an episiotomy -- apparently there are pros and cons to this procedure in and of itself. Any thoughts on the value/harm of an episiotomy? I even know nurses on both sides of the issue.
The more I think about it, really, the more I want to go all-natural. I'm still undecided -- I might end up opting for that epidural after all, but that's as far as I would be willing to take it on the 'artificial' side. I'm researching water birth, the Bradley method, Lamaze, and other natural childbirth techniques as options. (Have you done a post on different childbirth methodologies like these?) If nothing else, I might be able to use some of the positions and coping methods I learn from these methods in the delivery room, epidural or not.
No post on different childbirth methods but I'll put it on my to-do list because I think it would be great topic to cover.
I'm find that women who are really set on a certain way or method are often thrown if there's a bump in the road and are disappointed with the experience. So I think you're really smart to research all your options and keep an open mind about it.
As for episiotomies, there really are pros and cons to them which would be a post in itself too.
Man, you've given me a lot of homework to do ; )
This was f'in hirlarious!!!! I love the bit a about the porn star, and your "good china". I too have had both, but not sure how what I will choose the thrid time round. Maybe laser birth if scientific advances will get there before I do. Loved It!
I am always amazed to hear that doctors let people "choose" to have a c-section. It seems like that is the way you want to go only if health/nature dictates. I would think doctors would put themselves in a position of being extremely liable if something goes amiss at any point (even long after) an elective surgery. Then again, look what doctors did to Michael Jackson's face...
That said, I had one of each. Both labors and births went very smoothly and were as "pleasant" as getting a baby out of you can be. I will say though, I actually was more comfortable after the c-section and felt better quicker. Go figure.
Actually there is no limit on C-sections. It does however build scar tissue which has to be cut out every time you do have a c-section and it is ill advised to have a v-back after several c-sections because it puts you at risk for uterine rupture. Though I am just now having my first child (t-minus 8 weeks) and I have no experience in child birth personally I am an registered nurse and my husband is a physician. So only being able to have a certain number of is a myth.
"So until they can figure out a way to grow babies like sea monkeys in the bathtub, we'll just have to settle for the two exits we've got and make the best of it."
I wish this were an option! I would have grown those little monkeys and I'd be up to my elbows in cloth diapers by now if this were the case. Hopefully, this next transfer will lead me to either experience the vag birth or the c-section. Either way, I will consider myself blessed!
I have all but "almost" experienced vaginal birth... 55 hours labor no drugs, 8 cm intentional water breakage, crazy labor pains (literally screaming on all 4's on the labor bed), got to 9.5 cm, then epidural to "relax" (giant needle while having crazy labor pains = not fun), then cervix thickening out while trying to push, then c-section. 2nd time around c-section because baby was looking "too big" and didn't want to risk it and it was actually wonderful not having to experience labor again. Both resulted with healthy beautiful baby girls! Recovery not fun and my permanent muffin top is super cool, but my lady tunnel looks fab!
I've done all three... vaginal with drugs and an epidural, scheduled c-section (that one was foot first and oddly, adores maps these days) and then a natural vbac. I didn't plan on going all natural, it just so happens that at 39 weeks 6 days and over 40 hours of early labor (3-4 cm) all of the sudden that kid decided he wanted out in a hurry. 5cm - birth in 34 minutes.
If I were going to do any again (which I most certainly am not) I'd go the all natural route. Maybe because the worst of my labor lasted less than two hours, but after I felt pretty good. Even being nearly 14 years older than my first vaginal delivery, the lacerations AND episiotomy (hey, when a homeboy gotta bounce. he gotta bounce!) I got right out of bed and went pee. Let me tell you, I would hold myself until I was going to burst after my c-section because getting in and out of bed was so darn painful! I had energy and I wasn't numb and/or groggy from pain killers. It was nice.
Despite this terrific list of pros and cons, there is NO way that a c-section delivery is better or the preferred way. A c-section is MAJOR ABDOMINAL SURGERY!!!!!! There are so many risks associated with this it is not even funny. It is a disturbing fact that the number of c-sections keeps rising. There are times when a c-section is necessary, like when the Mom's or Babe's life is at risk... but it is really sad that so many people think a c-section is the "easy" way. On your list of "pros for a c-section": 1)Labor is painful, it is a fact, but having an epidural makes it almost pain free, 2) About the "hidey hole"... NO woman should be worried about not pleasing her partner after having a baby, HE made her pregnant!!! Plus it is extremely easy to recover and gain back the pre-birth hidey hole, it's called doing Kegel exercises, there's muscles down there that react to exercise...3) The sting of peeing or having a BM actually doesn't last long, it's a small price to pay after experiencing the miracle of birth. 4) Forceps are rarely used anymore, there are strict policies and regulations in place, and they only have a bad reputation because of their misuse long ago. (and they are still healthier in the long run than a c-section) 5)lighter lochia--- not always true, and women should be realistic about the fact that you bleed for a bit after having a baby... they just had 10 months without having it. 6) Pooping on the table... well the nurses and doctors are used to this happening, and will just clean up and change the underpad... it actually means she is doing a great job pushing!! And it really only happens in about 3 out of 10 births because the hormones that help you go in to labor also usually go into affect a day or two before and help eliminate any BM that's there to make room for baby's ginormous head to fit through!! NO woman need be embarrassed about pooping. So all-in-all there are no pros to c-sections! Somebody really smart designed everything so that a vaginal birth is healthier for Mom and babe. Also- if a MD encourages a repeat c-section for the next baby's delivery it is only for their convenience and fear of unfounded law suits. Of all the women that try VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) over 65% have success. Whew! Okay I am done, sorry if this was long... can you tell I feel strongly about this subject?? I am a L&D nurse and prenatal class instructor.
@ Cynawin: the MAJOR pro to my C-section is that my baby and I are both alive and healthy. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours and then still faced an unplanned C-section. Sure there are plenty of cons, but don't say there are NO pros. There are, when C-section is medically necessary.
This post rocks. I'm a first time mom and TOTALLY COMPLETELY freaked out by any and all of "get this dang baby out of me" options. I love the sea monkey approach you mentioned. I sencond what a PP wrote - a post on "to cut or not to cut" the good china would be swell!
The first most important rule of vaginal labor is: TAKE DRUGS. The second most important rule of labor is: TAKE DRUGS. Not only should you take the drugs, but you should take them the second they are offered to you. God put someone on this planet smart enough to invent the epidural. Say a quick thank you to the big man above for being so generous and order yourself one up. There is no reason to go through any pain. I didn’t and the most painful part of my entire birthing experience was getting the IV. Thank you, Jesus.
ilikebeerandbabies.blogspot.com
Julie
Weirdly I had no problem with either, my son is 4 months old now and after 20 hours of labor I had to have a c-section because of fetal stress. I wasn't upset by the c-section. Granted my husbands family lived in my recovery room for a week (hell. It was hell) because the baby was in the nicu. When I got home though I had a lot of trouble dealing with the fact that I had a c-section. Especially when one of my friends had a homebirth right after I got home and was posting all over face book how wonderful and easy and how homebirth was the best thing you could do for your baby blah blah blah...
All things considered knowing what I know now I'd go through my pregnancy/labor a little differently and if I had made myself more informed and concerned myself more with the details I wouldn't mind having another C-section although I'm going to try for the vbac. The only problem I had post c-section was long recovery, I still get nerve pain. Omg my c-section scar is crooked and it totally makes my weird new front fat all bulgy and weird (its totally something that deserves mention because I had NO effing clue that would happen). I was a farm worker and pretty athletic so I was expecting to spring back. That was dumb. Some people do and some people don't.
Anywho, I'm so freakishly happy with my baby, but I wish people (moms only, wouldn't it be weird if guys did this?) wouldn't ask me about labor and when they find out about my c-section go on and on about how thats the selfish action or how I could have avoided a c-section. My kid would be dead if I didn't have it. Thats the long and the short of it.
C-sections are major surgery (I once heard them called "open uterine surgery", which puts it in perspective) and very occasionally medically necessary for the health of women and their babies. That's (mostly) not in dispute. So when it comes to a tangled out of reach cord or preeclampsia or somesuch, there is no place for discussions of which method is better, because only one is going to save a life.
Here's what I will dispute though: drugs and episiotomies. Both lead to worse outcomes. I know that the epidural is sacred and essential in the US, but - listen up - it significantly raises your chances of one of those "ineffective labours" leading to unplanned cesarean. It's not that you got the drugs to let you push longer before it ultimately failed, the problem is very likely that BECAUSE of the the drugs you push longer and scare yourself and your doctor and end up on an operating table instead of a birthing bed. Plus there's that risk of parapelegia, lower APGAR scores and reduced or delayed lactation.
Epesiotomies were long ago shown to CAUSE and increase tearing, not prevent it. Can you rip a sheet just by pulling on the edge? Not easily, but if you clip the selvedge it'll split down the middle with no effort at all. Now apply that to your perineum. Something else to apply there: warm oil massage, before, during and after.
I work in maternal and child health, I study birth outcomes and read the literature, and I took all that into the L&D with me. My main advice on birthing is to get the hell out of the way and let your baby and your body do what only they know how to do. It's almost impossible but you have to not try to stage-manage this - and *nor should anyone else*. I won't go into my birthing experience, but suffice it to say that I declined a c-section more than once, and more than once during labour regretted it, but never afterwards. Neither of us were in danger but we were certainly "at risk" as the hospital defines it. Mostly the risk was of me being in excruciating pain, and I just didn't think that was worth the risk of the 'solution'.
Get to know what risks they're talking about, and decide for yourself if you agree with the course of action they're suggesting. You are a client and, unless you are deemed to be risking a life, you get to choose how you interact with your care providers. Even when you're wearing a backless gown and mewling on all fours.
@ Karen- I believe I said ..."There are times when a c-section is NECESSARY especially if Mom's or Babe's life is at risk...." No one is doubting this fact. AND no one should be made to feel bad if they had to have a c-section... I am just hoping to spread some information to discredit those women who think they are "too posh to push"... and demand to have a c-section for no reason. ( and believe me there are tons... I've even had families demand one because "this is taking too long...") >>sigh<<<
I was totally scared and disappointed when my baby turned breech and I was schduled for a c-section late in the pregnancy. Then, she suddenly turned back on her own 2 days before the section, so I was psyched for a "natural" delivery. I changed my tune after 15 hours of PAINFUL contractions with no epidural (I was told it didn't seem likely that I could sit still long enough for them to get the needle in!) and all other pain relief methods failing to do anything for me. By the time I was pushing her out and feeling EVERYTHING, I was screaming and begging for a c-section! I only managed to get her out when the midwives said that if she didn't come out with the next push they would have to cut me because she was getting distressed. I screamed "NO! I'm getting her out now!" and out she came on the next push. It's now 5 days later, my little girl is healthy and beautiful, but she will definitely be grounded when she is old enough to understand what it means. I have been afraid to look at my lady parts after my 2nd degree tear, but I took a mirror and looked today to see how the stitches were doing and I almost passed out. Big mistake. I would have preferred the c-section scar and not feel like I am constatly sitting on a bed of nails and peeing battery acid. My belly muscles hurt anyway, so recovery is nnot a deciding factor. My baby is just lucky she is so cute.
I like the idea of a vaginal birth much better than a C-section, just because that is the way nature intended us to get those rascals out! In some cases intervention is necessary to help the baby or mama, so in those cases, slice that belly open. I think that the c-section rates are a bit alarming. I wonder if it is turning into a convenience thing for the docs? I don't know. I would always suggest trying the old fashioned way first.
That Mexican woman makes me put everything in perspective... maybe I should stop being a wimp about my upcoming C-section!! (maybe a few gulps of rubbing alcohol would help too, lol).
Ladies, relax, both vaginal deliveries and c-sections have pros and cons but I have yet to meet a c-section advocate that discriminates and says awful things about women that have vaginal deliveries the same way "natural deliveries advocates" so passionately hate and hurt all of those who don't think like them. I've heard things from "you're just lazy" to "you will NEVER experience the same motherly love I did because you have a C-section"... just frigging relax, will ya? In the end we all love our babies and we are all mothers, so, enough.
Love tunnel? Good china?! Loving the vagina euphemisms!
My baby had a ride through the love tunnel and while I had a rocky labour and recovery, I'd do it again.
Funny you should post this now. I was just transferred at 36 weeks from my crunchy granola midwife to a high risk OB, and found out that I am having a C-section under general anesthetic on Monday. Depressingly it will be at at teaching hospital, and while I will have excellent doctors, there will also be student audience members as I am apparently a one in ten years case.
All that to say, that while I'm not looking forward to Monday, I do realize it is the "safest" way for baby to arrive in this situation. And I am not looking forward to explaining to some of my hippie friends and family why the baby didnt come naturally.
I had a scheduled C-section due to baby being breech, and although I'm not at all disappointed that I missed out on a natural delivery (they don't give out prizes for how you deliver babies, remember?), one of the cons you should mention is being stuck in the hospital for much longer and heaven help you if you don't have a private room. After three days of living in a little curtained-off space with a revolving door of roommates (and their clandestine, off-hours visitors), my husband and I were climbing the walls.
Both of my sisters are under cesarean section when they delivered their babies. But to compare the two, natural birth are more favorable.
I think the bottom line here is that every intervention/non-intervention in labor and birth has risks and benefits, as well as a necessary place in obstetrical care. The responsible thing to do is to get educated about them. I'm a new mom, and an obstetrical nurse. A lot of women walk in the door demanding c-sections, inductions, epidurals etc, but know NOTHING about about them. I've lost track of how many epidural requests I've gotten from women that are surprised to learn after the fact that it involves needles, IVs, narcotics and their back. I've also had a lot of women who walk in with rigid natural birth plans that leave no room for the unexpected. Working in the delivery room definitely influenced the choices I made for my own birth, and I can support anyone who's making an informed choice. The issue I see in my job is that the 'informed' part is missing a lot of the time.
And thanks for adding a few new terms for lady bits to my repertoire :)
I think its sad that there are no doctors bold enough to deliver breech babies. What did people do before c-sections became the method for delivering breech babies? Certainly there were just as many cases as there are now! I'm sure there is different risk with a c-section, but we all know that its possible to deliver breech babies vaginally and that the mortality rate is higher with c-sections than vaginal deliveries. I wonder if there are any remaining doctors who even have the skill...? Sad practice to be lost. Same thing with twins--does anyone even attempt vaginal delivery with multiples anymore? If I had a breech baby at the end of my pregnancy (or twins) I'd be searching high and low for a doctor/midwife combination that would be willing to help with my delivery w/out a c-section. I'd move to another country if I could find these people there! My babies were all enormous (all btwn 8 1/2 and 10 lbs) and all came out fine naturally thanks to lots of education and preparation and coming to a realization that there was no need for me to fear labor, pain, or the state of my vagina post-partum! I honestly don't understand the concept of someone's birth canal or pelvis being "too small" for their babies. I question a woman's resolve and ability to stay calm and have patience with her body, not her body's capability. Sorry if that's offensive to anyone, but ladies, this is what our bodies were designed to do and yeah it hurts like a bitch but there is too much fear that we take into it! Its the fear, misinformation about birth and our bodies, and current accepted practices that paralyze us and usher us into the Operating Room. I'd LOVE to know how many of these "necessary" c-sections actually ARE!!! How did these well educated men convince us to listen to them instead of our bodies and nature? I'm all for the right to choose what to do with your body....but what crazy decisions we are making.
p.s. I love "the Business of Being Born" and "Pregnant in America"....watch them if you haven't! If nothing else they show another side to the story most doctors would tell you about present day birthing practices.
*sorry for the rant and lengthy comment.*