Why I chose to have an elective caesarean

Why I chose to have an Elective Caesarean is by Lauren Smith at Peanut Butter Push Ups.

Twenty weeks into my pregnancy at my regular appointment with my OB, I chose to have an elective caesarean. No, it wasn’t medically required. Yes, it was completely my choice.

From that day forward I felt the fears and anxiety I had experienced about giving birth disappear. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could finally relax and enjoy being pregnant without the fears of labour being in the forefront of my mind every single day. This, for me, wasn’t a fear I could work through and the thought of having a vaginal birth was not empowering to me.

I never hid the fact that I had booked a c-section and when bub was born I never hesitated to tell people about my birth story.  Yes, it is a “birth” story and no I don’t feel like I have “missed out” by not having a vaginal birth, nor do I feel “disappointed”. I did my research, I was informed of the pros and cons, the risks and the recovery period. I feel no guilt whatsoever.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not writing about my birth story to create a divide between caesarean vs. vaginal births. I think that having a baby ‘naturally’ is absolutely amazing and I’m completely in awe of the women who have done so, however, this is NOT the definition of motherhood or birth. All that matters is bringing our little creation into this world and holding them in our arms, it really should not and does not matter how this is achieved. I absolutely LOVED my c-section experience and here are some reasons why.

(Please keep in mind that this was a scheduled c-section so an emergency c-section will more than likely be a completely different experience).

Why I chose to have an Elective Caesarian:

I still had almost immediate skin to skin

This was important to me and was discussed with my OB beforehand. As soon as baby was earthside and had a few quick necessary checks, she was on my chest for skin to skin whilst my OB and the rest of her team finished up.

I felt entirely present

I remember the entire birth! There is absolutely zero fuzziness. My partner was next to my head the whole time and the surgical team were chatting about their weekends. Within what felt like only five minutes I saw bub being held up over the screen by my amazing OB.

It appealed to my extremely inflexible personality type

I HATE surprises, I plan everything down to the second and I am a serial list maker. The fact that I knew when my baby would be born (approximately) meant that I could let go of the worry about what would happen when I went into labour at home. It also meant that we could clear our work schedules, which can be slightly more difficult when having your own business.

I felt no pain – only pressure

The whole experience was fast and painless. Even having the spinal block was pain free due to my anaesthetists use of local anaesthetic. During the caesarean I only felt pressure/pulling and absolutely no pain. My recovery was great, I was up and walking the next day and with the use of Panadol and Voltaren regularly for a week, the recovery was nowhere near as bad as I had anticipated.

I am sharing my story because I am glad that we live in a time where we have a choice. I am proud of my choice and no matter how you birth, you should be too!

Will I be trying for a VBAC if I get pregnant again? No, I won’t be. I don’t feel robbed because I didn’t have a vaginal birth, my birthing experience was beautiful, both for myself and for my partner. We wouldn’t change a thing!

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