I was induced which makes me wonder if things could have changed but overall I'm very happy with how hard they tried to let me deliver vaginally. My DS was sunny side up and had the cord around his neck 2 times. Every time I pushed his heart rate plummeted so they were only allowing me to push every other contraction. They also had me change position after every push and get into other birthing positions. My c-section happened when after one contraction his heart rate went way down and they were unable to bring it back up like it had been doing previously. They gave me medicine to stop my labor and I had my c-section.
Also, I am comforted by the fact that the hospital I delivered at and will again has the lowest c-section rate in all of Northern California.
I voted probably not b/c I was a FTP and never got to push and at the point the c/s was called there were no issues with myself or the baby. He did have the cord wrapped around his neck twice, but from everything I've read after the fact, it shouldn't matter and is quite common. The other reason I believe it wasn't necessary is b/c my VBAC labor was eerily similar to my first labor except I was encouraged to switch positions and had more support from my midwife and doula to get through the "stall" and I didn't have my water broken and let it break on its own, which it did a little bit at 8 cm and the fully right before pushing.
DS born via c/s 11/08 and med-free GD VBAC DD 3/11!
Probably not, but even if it was, it was made that way by the induction I actually didn't need in the first place. I was incorrectly diagnosed with low fluid and induced because of it.
That article sucks so hard.
Wife, mom, Ob/Gyn resident Sarah - 12/23/2008 Alex - 9/30/2011
"I say embrace the total geek in yourself and just enjoy it. Life is too short to be cool." - Shirley Manson, Garbage
I don't know. If it was, I think it might have been iatrogenic--like Geekers said, the need was caused by medical interventions.
What I do know is that the reason my OB gave me for needing the c/s--my pelvis being too small--is definitely not true, since I had no trouble pushing out a slightly larger baby with my VBAC.
Big sister {September 2008} Sweet boy {April 2011} Fuzzy Bundle {ETA July 2014}
Yes I think my c-section was necessary. I was induced at 41 weeks because of low amniotic fluid and fetal distress which in my opinion are valid reasons for induction. They gave me pitocin and his heart stabilized. Then my water broke from the contractions. His heart rate was bad again (I can't remember if it was high or low) and so they started pumping fluids back into me. Then I stopped progressing so she gave me the lowest dose of pitocin but my son's heart went into distress. So basically it was impossible for me to dilate w/ out putting my son's heart in distress. Maybe she was slightly impatient but I don't think waiting to give the pitocin would have helped considering my son's reaction & that we couldn't wait too long since my water broke. In a way I don't really understand inducing when the heart rate is unstable from the minor contractions I was having when your goal is to cause stronger contractions. It almost seems like I should have gone straight to c-section. But that could be a really stupid thought. I dunno. My hospital and doctors are pretty progressive with the entire laboring process and recognized by UNICEF as being "baby friendly" so I think they are cautious about these sort of things.
I really go back and forth on this. Was my c-section necessary at the time it was done? Definitely not. Would it have been eventually? Perhaps. I should have never let them break my water at barely 4 cm because that just put me on a clock. In the end, I don't think it was the wrong thing to do, I just wish things went down much, much differently.
I put probably yes because my water was broken and it was clear my uterus wasn't in the game. However, the induction that led to my c-section was not medically necessary.But there was nothing about my pregnancy that called for a c-section.
I believe I would have had a vaginal delivery if I had gone into labor on my own.
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I'm new on here because I want to start researching early to decide if I want a VBAC someday. Anyway, I 100% believe my c-section was necessary. I was hospitalized at 32 weeks because my baby had very low fluid, was growth restricted and breech. They were trying to get me to 37 weeks and then do the section, but at 36 weeks her heart rate was dipping during braxton hicks that I could barely feel. Even if she wasn't breech, I don't think she would have tolerated labor at. all.
I voted probably yes, but I still can't help wondering if there wasn't more that could've been done to prevent it from happening.
I went into labor on my own and progressed really quickly. I pushed for 3+ hours before the doctor called for the c/s. DS was sunny side up (discovered that during labor), but to my knowledge, both of us were tolerating labor well.
I wish I was encouraged to try other positions (I wasn't thinking clearly enough to ask after hours of med-free labor) or other alternatives, but I was so exhausted that when the talk of the c/s came up, I gave up and in.
CPD was the reason for my c/s, but I question that, and because of that my OB (who didn't deliver DS) is giving me the run around about attempting a VBAC this time, which is frustrating, but that's another story.
I feel that mine became medically needed because of all the bad decisions that let up to it. Had I not been induced I wonder, and I am quite positive that I probably wouldn't have needed the section. Hind sight is always 20/20 though....
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I voted yes. I know in my heart there is no way I could/would have been able to give birth vaginally. My daughter was 9lbs.8oz, sunny side up, and I had made no progress at all by 40 weeks. I was so closed up my doc couldn't even check me. I know that some would have waited, but I just knew.
That said, while I am thankful that we are all healthy and happy now, I was in no way completely satisfied with my c/s experience. I had SO many complications afterward that it was somewhat traumatizing. Despite my high tolerance for pain and being on morphine, I almost passed out every time they made me walk or get up in recovery. At 1 wk. PP I woke up in the am with giant hematomas all up and down my thighs and around my pelvis. I looked like I'd been beaten with a baseball bat. We went in, and my white blood cell levels were off the charts. They still don't know why. At 2 wks. PP, my incision opened and I had to go in every day for a week for wound care.
It was not pleasant and I don't think that having a healthy baby and being unhappy with your c/s experience have to be mutually exclusive.
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I voted probably yes, but I still can't help wondering if there wasn't more that could've been done to prevent it from happening.
I went into labor on my own and progressed really quickly. I pushed for 3+ hours before the doctor called for the c/s. DS was sunny side up (discovered that during labor), but to my knowledge, both of us were tolerating labor well.
I wish I was encouraged to try other positions (I wasn't thinking clearly enough to a-*sk after hours of med-free labor) or other alternatives, but I was so exhausted that when the talk of the c/s came up, I gave up and in.
CPD was the reason for my c/s, but I question that, and because of that my OB (who didn't deliver DS) is giving me the run around about attempting a VBAC this time, which is frustrating, but that's another story.
That is pretty much exactly what happened with my c/s. So frustrating! I think it's hard to accurately diagnose CPD with a malpositioned baby (sunny side up, or OP position, is a malposition). If you have an OP baby, the odds of having a c/s increase significantly, so it may have nothing to do with your pelvis size. So I think you are right to question the CPD--over 60% of women who attempt a VBAC after CPD will be successful.
I was diagnosed with CPD after my c/s and the OB told me I would never be able to deliver vaginally unless I had a preemie. I had no issues having a VBAC with my full-term son.
GL!
Big sister {September 2008} Sweet boy {April 2011} Fuzzy Bundle {ETA July 2014}
My first c/s was absolutely necessary. DS was breech. He was frank breech and his head wasn't in a good position to attempt a vaginal delivery (the chin should be tucked to allow for the best outcome when delivering a frank breech baby).
My second section was needed at the time. Perhaps if I wasn't induced it might have ended differently, but cord issues were causing decels and also preventing him from descending. Would the cord issues have been present if I hadn't been induced? Hard to say. I do know that between the decels and my VBAC status, and being stalled at 7cm for 8 hours, I wasn't comfortable continuing to labor so my doctor and I made the decision for a c/s.
It might have been necessary at the time it was done, but I think it could have been prevented. My c-section was technically for "fetal distress", and he had the cord wrapped around his neck, but he was also malpositioned. He was "asynclitistic", which means his head was in a diagonal position. He was also either coming out brow or face-first...I don't remember which.
My water broke but I didn't go into active labor, so they started me on Pitocin, which lead to an epidural. I think if I had been allowed to wait a bit to see if labor would start on its own, maybe he would have been able to be repositioned. As it was, with the pit-induced contractions and then the epi, he didn't really have a chance to move around.
I said yes. Before reading my records I would have said probably not. I looked them up since I am having a meeting with my OB today to discuss a VBAC with this baby. I wanted to have all the info. I originally thought it was due to being induced, position on LO and protocols that followed. But I realized that my pitocin was very low, and LO would have been in that position even if I had waited. I also found out the cord was wrapped around my LO's neck, not his head like my husband had originally told me. I think he knew I was a bit of a mess at the time and didn't want to make it worse. Anyway I strongly recommend everyone looks back at their records. It had really helped prepare for this one.
My thoughts change on this by the month. When he was first born I didn't care. After I came home from the hospital I began to wonder if my midwife had been more proactive in addressing his position (posterior), that might have changed things. Later I began to wonder if I had asked for an epidural earlier during labor things might have gone differently. There is no way for me to know if things might have ended differently.
Not at all. They gave me cytotec which in turn caused bleeding, and they told me that was why I had to have a c-section since they didn't know why I was bleeding. I was induced with my vbac and had a wonderful and quick labor so I really think I could have done it with my older daughter if I had been given the chance to even labor. They did the c-section before they even started the pitocin.
I really feel like if I wasn't induced with my older dd, I wouldn't have had the section.
It was necessary. His head was enormous (15.25" circ) and he was sunny side up. I tried and tried and tried (all diff positions, water broke on its own, etc) and he wouldn't descend after 40 hours. He was born w/ a huge cone head and never got past 0 station.
After I came home from the hospital I began to wonder if my midwife had been more proactive in addressing his position (posterior), that might have changed things. Later I began to wonder if I had asked for an epidural earlier during labor things might have gone differently. There is no way for me to know if things might have ended differently.
This is me. Mine was necessary by the time I had it (which makes no sense, I know), but I think my labor could have been handled differently with better results.
I was admitted when I was in early labor bc I was told DS was having late decels, but my records don't have anything about how they were worried about him (though that's what they told me at the time). Anyhoo, I dilated on my own and pushed for 4+ hours until it was determined that he was posterior. My choices at that point were get an epidural, rest, and try to push more, or have a c-section. It was 5 am, I had been in the hospital for 12+ hours, and had eaten very little food. I can't help but think if I had been able to eat and rest at my own house, or if the MWs had actually paid attention to his position, maybe I would have been able to avoid the c-section. It is what it is, and I had a successful VBAC with my second son, but it still p!sses me off to some degree...
I voted probably yes, but I still can't help wondering if there wasn't more that could've been done to prevent it from happening.
I went into labor on my own and progressed really quickly. I pushed for 3+ hours before the doctor called for the c/s. DS was sunny side up (discovered that during labor), but to my knowledge, both of us were tolerating labor well.
I wish I was encouraged to try other positions (I wasn't thinking clearly enough to a-*sk after hours of med-free labor) or other alternatives, but I was so exhausted that when the talk of the c/s came up, I gave up and in.
CPD was the reason for my c/s, but I question that, and because of that my OB (who didn't deliver DS) is giving me the run around about attempting a VBAC this time, which is frustrating, but that's another story.
That is pretty much exactly what happened with my c/s. So frustrating! I think it's hard to accurately diagnose CPD with a malpositioned baby (sunny side up, or OP position, is a malposition). If you have an OP baby, the odds of having a c/s increase significantly, so it may have nothing to do with your pelvis size. So I think you are right to question the CPD--over 60% of women who attempt a VBAC after CPD will be successful.
I was diagnosed with CPD after my c/s and the OB told me I would never be able to deliver vaginally unless I had a preemie. I had no issues having a VBAC with my full-term son.
GL!
Thanks for the reply Iris. And I am so encouraged and motivated by your story!
I voted yes. I had severe pre-E/HELLP so at that time it was necessary. At the same time i always wonder if i could have eaten better/taken better care of myself to have avoided getting it in the first place which ultimately would have prevented the c-section.
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I voted that my section was probably necessary, but in all honesty, I really don't know. DS never dropped, and my cervix stayed high and closed until I was induced 9 days after his due date. It took 2 rounds of cervadil, and some strong pitocin for my cervix to actually soften and me to dilate. He tolerated labor really well until his heart rate started dropping and my obgyn came in and told me he wanted to do the c-section. I agreed, knowing that I may have to have one anyway. Sure enough his cord was wrapped around his neck, which I thought might be the case. My DH and his brother were both born vaginally with their cords wrapped around their necks. Maybe it matters where on the cord it's wrapped? My doc also stated "He NEVER would have fit," after he pulled my son out. He was 9 lbs. 4 oz. Obviously I know this is a crock because #1- I never got to try and push, so how do you know if he would have fit or not? #2- I know the position of the baby matters more than the actual size does.
I voted probably not. DD was breech, and I didn't find out til 39w (and went into labor the next day). I think birthing breech babies is a lost art with todays OB's. Could she have been born healthy in the breech position? Probably. But, I think we would have needed to know more about her specific situation and since there are no OBs that would have attempted anyway, we ended up with a C-Section.
I pushed, unmedicated, for three hours and he didn't even begin to budge. Would he have come out eventually if I had kept pushing? Maybe. But honestly, I don't care. I was done.
I was induced with Kate, but after 55 hours of labor, I was at a 10 and pushed for 4 hours. Turns out she had craniosynostosis so a vaginal birth probably wasn't going to happen.
Tried to VBAC with Caroline but her heartrate was dropping every time I pushed.
"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies. God damn it, you've got to be kind."
- Kurt Vonnegut
DD was breech and my OB wouldn't even talk about anything we coud do to turn her. He also told me that her fluid was too low to turn herself, which I don't really believe after the fact. He scheduled my c-section for 38 weeks and I truly believe it was mainly for his convenience rather than what was best for me and baby.
I think mine was, because i had no fluid left. I didnt realize it had all leaked out. My daughter pushed on my bladder all the time so i never realized the fluid wasnt just urine.
But i had to FIGHT and get a new DR jsut for my right to try Vbac
Re: S/O to I'm shaking my head at this
I voted yes, but sometimes I do wonder.
I was induced which makes me wonder if things could have changed but overall I'm very happy with how hard they tried to let me deliver vaginally. My DS was sunny side up and had the cord around his neck 2 times. Every time I pushed his heart rate plummeted so they were only allowing me to push every other contraction. They also had me change position after every push and get into other birthing positions. My c-section happened when after one contraction his heart rate went way down and they were unable to bring it back up like it had been doing previously. They gave me medicine to stop my labor and I had my c-section.
Also, I am comforted by the fact that the hospital I delivered at and will again has the lowest c-section rate in all of Northern California.
Probably not, but even if it was, it was made that way by the induction I actually didn't need in the first place. I was incorrectly diagnosed with low fluid and induced because of it.
That article sucks so hard.
Sarah - 12/23/2008
Alex - 9/30/2011
"I say embrace the total geek in yourself and just enjoy it. Life is too short to be cool." - Shirley Manson, Garbage
I don't know. If it was, I think it might have been iatrogenic--like Geekers said, the need was caused by medical interventions.
What I do know is that the reason my OB gave me for needing the c/s--my pelvis being too small--is definitely not true, since I had no trouble pushing out a slightly larger baby with my VBAC.
I put probably yes because my water was broken and it was clear my uterus wasn't in the game. However, the induction that led to my c-section was not medically necessary.But there was nothing about my pregnancy that called for a c-section.
I believe I would have had a vaginal delivery if I had gone into labor on my own.
I voted probably yes, but I still can't help wondering if there wasn't more that could've been done to prevent it from happening.
I went into labor on my own and progressed really quickly. I pushed for 3+ hours before the doctor called for the c/s. DS was sunny side up (discovered that during labor), but to my knowledge, both of us were tolerating labor well.
I wish I was encouraged to try other positions (I wasn't thinking clearly enough to ask after hours of med-free labor) or other alternatives, but I was so exhausted that when the talk of the c/s came up, I gave up and in.
CPD was the reason for my c/s, but I question that, and because of that my OB (who didn't deliver DS) is giving me the run around about attempting a VBAC this time, which is frustrating, but that's another story.
I voted yes. I know in my heart there is no way I could/would have been able to give birth vaginally. My daughter was 9lbs.8oz, sunny side up, and I had made no progress at all by 40 weeks. I was so closed up my doc couldn't even check me. I know that some would have waited, but I just knew.
That said, while I am thankful that we are all healthy and happy now, I was in no way completely satisfied with my c/s experience. I had SO many complications afterward that it was somewhat traumatizing. Despite my high tolerance for pain and being on morphine, I almost passed out every time they made me walk or get up in recovery. At 1 wk. PP I woke up in the am with giant hematomas all up and down my thighs and around my pelvis. I looked like I'd been beaten with a baseball bat. We went in, and my white blood cell levels were off the charts. They still don't know why. At 2 wks. PP, my incision opened and I had to go in every day for a week for wound care.
It was not pleasant and I don't think that having a healthy baby and being unhappy with your c/s experience have to be mutually exclusive.
That is pretty much exactly what happened with my c/s. So frustrating! I think it's hard to accurately diagnose CPD with a malpositioned baby (sunny side up, or OP position, is a malposition). If you have an OP baby, the odds of having a c/s increase significantly, so it may have nothing to do with your pelvis size. So I think you are right to question the CPD--over 60% of women who attempt a VBAC after CPD will be successful.
I was diagnosed with CPD after my c/s and the OB told me I would never be able to deliver vaginally unless I had a preemie. I had no issues having a VBAC with my full-term son.
GL!
My first c/s was absolutely necessary. DS was breech. He was frank breech and his head wasn't in a good position to attempt a vaginal delivery (the chin should be tucked to allow for the best outcome when delivering a frank breech baby).
My second section was needed at the time. Perhaps if I wasn't induced it might have ended differently, but cord issues were causing decels and also preventing him from descending. Would the cord issues have been present if I hadn't been induced? Hard to say. I do know that between the decels and my VBAC status, and being stalled at 7cm for 8 hours, I wasn't comfortable continuing to labor so my doctor and I made the decision for a c/s.
It might have been necessary at the time it was done, but I think it could have been prevented. My c-section was technically for "fetal distress", and he had the cord wrapped around his neck, but he was also malpositioned. He was "asynclitistic", which means his head was in a diagonal position. He was also either coming out brow or face-first...I don't remember which.
My water broke but I didn't go into active labor, so they started me on Pitocin, which lead to an epidural. I think if I had been allowed to wait a bit to see if labor would start on its own, maybe he would have been able to be repositioned. As it was, with the pit-induced contractions and then the epi, he didn't really have a chance to move around.
My thoughts change on this by the month. When he was first born I didn't care. After I came home from the hospital I began to wonder if my midwife had been more proactive in addressing his position (posterior), that might have changed things. Later I began to wonder if I had asked for an epidural earlier during labor things might have gone differently. There is no way for me to know if things might have ended differently.
Not at all. They gave me cytotec which in turn caused bleeding, and they told me that was why I had to have a c-section since they didn't know why I was bleeding. I was induced with my vbac and had a wonderful and quick labor so I really think I could have done it with my older daughter if I had been given the chance to even labor. They did the c-section before they even started the pitocin.
I really feel like if I wasn't induced with my older dd, I wouldn't have had the section.
This is me. Mine was necessary by the time I had it (which makes no sense, I know), but I think my labor could have been handled differently with better results.
I was admitted when I was in early labor bc I was told DS was having late decels, but my records don't have anything about how they were worried about him (though that's what they told me at the time). Anyhoo, I dilated on my own and pushed for 4+ hours until it was determined that he was posterior. My choices at that point were get an epidural, rest, and try to push more, or have a c-section. It was 5 am, I had been in the hospital for 12+ hours, and had eaten very little food. I can't help but think if I had been able to eat and rest at my own house, or if the MWs had actually paid attention to his position, maybe I would have been able to avoid the c-section. It is what it is, and I had a successful VBAC with my second son, but it still p!sses me off to some degree...
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
Thanks for the reply Iris. And I am so encouraged and motivated by your story!
I voted yes. I had severe pre-E/HELLP so at that time it was necessary. At the same time i always wonder if i could have eaten better/taken better care of myself to have avoided getting it in the first place which ultimately would have prevented the c-section.
I voted yes because it was an emergency, she was in fetal distress so definatly.
Do I think a VBAC is nessisary this time? NOPE.
I voted probably yes.
But only because at the time it was decided that I would have a c-section, DS was in distress and it was necessary.
But I shouldn't have been induced in the first place. That wasn't medically necessary and I believe my induction led to my c/s.
At the time I had mine it was not, it was a choice...
I had been induced for 48 hours with no progress at 34 weeks due to pre-e.
I was exhausted. They told me I could wait it out but I mentally could no longer be strapped to the bed!
I'm pretty sure they both were.
I was induced with Kate, but after 55 hours of labor, I was at a 10 and pushed for 4 hours. Turns out she had craniosynostosis so a vaginal birth probably wasn't going to happen.
Tried to VBAC with Caroline but her heartrate was dropping every time I pushed.
DD was breech and my OB wouldn't even talk about anything we coud do to turn her. He also told me that her fluid was too low to turn herself, which I don't really believe after the fact. He scheduled my c-section for 38 weeks and I truly believe it was mainly for his convenience rather than what was best for me and baby.
I think mine was, because i had no fluid left. I didnt realize it had all leaked out. My daughter pushed on my bladder all the time so i never realized the fluid wasnt just urine.
But i had to FIGHT and get a new DR jsut for my right to try Vbac