C-section ladies.. has your doc ever talked to you about this?

jwf0910 · January 2014

Went to an appt today and was talking about a hypothetical c-section with my doctor. Sounds CRAZY and I hope it won't be the case but my mom and both of my sisters have had to have them, so it's crossed my mind. Anyway, the doctor asked me if I planned on having more than 2 children? He told me that I needed to be aware that I can be putting myself at serious risk if I have more than 2. I kind of stopped listening because I was surprised because my mom and my sister have had 3, but he said because of the scar tissue and the chance of the uterus rupturing. He told me he was required to tell patients this now. Some of you might see this as common sense, but I haven't done any research, so it was news to me. Perhaps them just being 'overly cautious'?

lilmama412 · January 2014

I have not had a C-Section, but from what I understand, yes there is a risk. There is a risk in everything that you do. I wouldn't let that stop me from having more than 2 kids, the risk of something like that happening is pretty small. My SIL has had 3 and will be having her 4th in April. I obviously wouldn't chose to have a c-section if I didn't need one, but if you have to have one, I wouldn't let that stop me from having as many kids as I want.

ETA- What I am trying to say is that yes, that is a possibility. It is also possible that you might die in a car crash on your way to the hospital. The chances of it actually happening are low. It is something to consider, when thinking of how many kids you want, but not something to stress about.

AcaAwkward · January 2014

With every c-section you have, the risk of uterine rupture and other complications due to scar tissue will increase, although I'm not sure by how much. And, usually, if you've had 2 CSs, the recommendation is that you have PCSs with subsequent pregnancies.

ANECDOTE (re: I have no clue if this is standard):

I have an acquaintance who has had 4 CSs. Her doctor told her during her 4th pregnancy that this should really be her last, and I know she had a whole other team of doctors and nursers present during that last CS just in case there was an emergency with a rupture, etc.

RedDawnsRevenge · January 2014

It is this reason I want a HBAC this time. I am the only person in my family to ever have a c/s. A c/s is a MAJOR surgery that is treated way to casually in America (and elsewhere). If we have to have a RCS this will be our last child as it is just too risky I feel to have a third child. When I was in nursing school I attended a c/s of a pt who had arrived in labor who had had 2 or 3 prior c/s. When she would have contractions you could see through the uterine wall and see her baby inside. The surgeon called us two students over to get a closer look before he cut into her uterus. The OB told her if she was to have anymore babies it would likely kill her. I don't know if she really understood however as she spoke Mexteca and the Spanish/Mexteca translation was poor at best.

fourthnlast · January 2014

My OB won't do more than 5 c-sections. I'll be having my 4th. This is it. My husband has two jobs in that OR, make sure baby is fine and make sure the tubes are tied,burned,removed...whatever it takes

beautifulstr13 · January 2014

Ive not experienced this but I have read that a lot of doctors dont recommend more than 3 section. I kind of think its an outdated thing. My sister in law had three c-sections in 4 years with no complications.

Alycia Hause · January 2014

It's nice to hear he at least discussed this with you. When my nephew was born five years ago he and my sister in law almost lost their lives due to uterus complications caused from her first c section. I know her case is very rare and I'm in no way saying you should be nervous, I'm just glad that more research is being done about the risks of c sections. Doctors have been so quick to push women into having them and I'm hoping this means they are beginning to consider the repercussions. Again I'm in no way thinking you should be worried at all, just a little rant

.

Tantan2779 · January 2014

I am on my 4th & last. My doctor said she would recommend stopping at 3, but also didn't say no when I told her I wanted 4.

KHendy27 · January 2014

I had a section w dd1 then tried for a vbac with dd2 18 months later. She ended up staying put till 42w2d so I had a repeat. dd2 will be 26 months when this baby is born and I'm trying for a vba2c again. Let's hope things happen this time bc i really don't want another section. With that said, I've never been told not to have more kids, but we're done after this one anyway.

momofmanyinthemitten · January 2014

My OB checks after each c/s to let you know how it all looks, but he advises no more than 4. That's the reason I chose the vacuum over c/s after 2.5hrs of pushing a stuck baby (VBAC). I didn't want to be limited in the number of babies I had.

MalyJ · January 2014

I have a new OB with this LO and at our first appointment, we discussed my previous pregnancy and birth. He asked if I was hoping for a VBAC or a RCS. When I said RCS, he asked how many children we planned to have. I told him 3 at most, and he said no problem. He said it doesn't start to be a serious problem until you get to baby 4 or 5. There's lots of opinions out there, but I'm going with my doctor's.

tcwink · January 2014

ColleenSwerb said:
I had an emergent section, so it wasn't really discussed because I didn't have a choice.
However, at my first appt this pregnancy when they asked about whether I wanted to try VBAC or not, they did mention that the risk increases with each section. They didn't specify a certain number like that though.

This..

BiggerinRealLife · January 2014

RedDawnsRevenge said:
It is this reason I want a HBAC this time. I am the only person in my family to ever have a c/s. A c/s is a MAJOR surgery that is treated way to casually in America (and elsewhere). If we have to have a RCS this will be our last child as it is just too risky I feel to have a third child. When I was in nursing school I attended a c/s of a pt who had arrived in labor who had had 2 or 3 prior c/s. When she would have contractions you could see through the uterine wall and see her baby inside. The surgeon called us two students over to get a closer look before he cut into her uterus. The OB told her if she was to have anymore babies it would likely kill her. I don't know if she really understood however as she spoke Mexteca and the Spanish/Mexteca translation was poor at best.

That lady could have been my aunt. (Not really, my aunt speaks English and had her last kid 19 years ago.) but that's the exact story my aunt tells about what her doctors saw and said at her last birth.

RedDawnsRevenge · January 2014

mummyofsix said:

RedDawnsRevenge said:

It is this reason I want a HBAC this time. I am the only person in my family to ever have a c/s. A c/s is a MAJOR surgery that is treated way to casually in America (and elsewhere). If we have to have a RCS this will be our last child as it is just too risky I feel to have a third child. When I was in nursing school I attended a c/s of a pt who had arrived in labor who had had 2 or 3 prior c/s. When she would have contractions you could see through the uterine wall and see her baby inside. The surgeon called us two students over to get a closer look before he cut into her uterus. The OB told her if she was to have anymore babies it would likely kill her. I don't know if she really understood however as she spoke Mexteca and the Spanish/Mexteca translation was poor at best.

Have you ever seen a "normal" uterus contracting with an open incision? How do they look different?

Her uterus was so thin at the scar you would have thought it was the baby in its sac. I did see several other c/s while in school, but this was the only time the surgeon pulled me aside to see/explaine something so unusual. The uterus does stretch during contractions but the other surgeries hadn't looked anything like that one.

Mustardseed2007 · January 2014

We didn't discuss it prior to my first csection BC it was an emergency. But the risk associated with vbac is also uterine rupture. C Sections also put you at risk for other future complications like placenta previa and placenta accretta.

Medic99 · January 2014

^^^This. Repeat c-sections also increase your risk of developing a uterine window.

kwolslager · January 2014

C-section mama here! This will be my third one, no problems as of yet and I'm not concerned. I've known many women to have good size families all born via C-section. In fact, my grandmother had 5 children all born c-section, and that was over 45 years ago.

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C-section ladies.. has your doc ever talked to you about this?

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