@withwonderingawe I mean ymmv I didn’t find my planned c super easy to recover from and it went beautifully. But I’ve heard this same thing from others and it might very well turn out that way for OP. And to be fair I only found it terrible for 3 days, got better very fast after that.
Breech baby, planned C Section, any benefits of going into labor before C Section?
- Thread starter tracyqueen
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withwonderingawe
New member
@tmtj I think that goes without saying. Everyone's medical experiences are going to be different. It's still major surgery. I'm not saying I bounced out of bed the next day feeling 100%. But it really was quite smooth and I have no complaints, and I had no idea what to expect having never had surgery. Anecdotally, from everything I've read, scheduled c-sections are way better in terms of recovery than emergency ones, for lots of reasons. That doesn't mean they're a breeze. It's abdominal surgery. I'd still recommend it to anyone, and would do again if I were having another. That's all I'm saying. My experience.
@withwonderingawe Of course, that came out more aggressive than I meant it to! I guess I just felt like I should chime in here because when I was researching I saw a lot of reassuring stories like yours and as a result I feel like I was blindsided by how bad recovery was for me, a healthy and fit individual with an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy (while also overestimating how unpleasant the procedure itself would be - my ECV attempt was worse tbh).
@tracyqueen I can’t speak on the c-section issue but I looked into the research on waiting until 42 weeks to induce labor and the data is very clear that is not better than getting baby out at 41 weeks. Risks of complications, including still birth, go way up.
@tracyqueen The major abdominal surgery is enough to go through, OP. Even if there were some benefits to being in labor before having surgery I wouldn’t recommend it. And the last weeks of pregnancy are miserable and uncomfortable. I was induced by foley bulb at 41+3. At that point I was starting each day by sobbing in frustration that I was still pregnant. Then I labored unmedicated for 50+ hours before having a c section. I would give anything to be able to go back in time and have a c section at 38/39 weeks and skip the labor part. Labor followed by surgery was the worst experience of my life. My son is an only child because it was that bad. Don’t do it to yourself.
@tracyqueen I can't answer for waiting to go into labor, but had my breech son via elective C-section on 9/28 at 39+0 and it was an incredibly smooth experience. He was big and healthy (and is up ~4 pounds over his birth weight at 7 weeks, 80th+ percentile in all metrics), I stopped bleeding between 2-3 weeks post-delivery and was back to light exercise by four weeks (with doctor's blessing). My pain was very manageable--they sent me home with oxycodone and 600mg ibuprofins. I dipped into the ibuprofin several times when I had some twinges at the edges of my incision, but never needed to touch the oxycodone.
Altogether, I was shocked at what an easy recovery it was and how quickly I felt like myself again.
Altogether, I was shocked at what an easy recovery it was and how quickly I felt like myself again.
@tracyqueen I don’t have any scientific info to add, but as someone who had a super relaxed c section for a breech baby, I will say the benefit of NOT having gone into labor is that my body wasn’t at all exhausted and there was no sense of urgency, which I think made for an easier recovery and a more relaxed environment overall.
pulickalbrothers
New member
@tracyqueen Given the risks of stillbirth once you get post-dates, I wouldn’t push it past your due date. I was in the same boat and, given the Arrive trial, booked me in for my section at 39+0. They also wanted me to come in asap with any labor signs…the goal was to avoid labor, since my kiddo was high up and we didn’t want a cord prolapse if my water broke.
turtle1020
New member
@tracyqueen I think a planned C-section is better than an emergency one, which is what you might end up with if you go into labor on your own and wait a long time to go to the hospital. I had an emergency c-section for my first due to fetal distress after going into labor naturally and developed a post-op infection due to the fact that they had to rush - I pray I don’t go into labor before 39 weeks (which is when my next c-section is scheduled for) for multiple reasons, including that labor can go faster the second time around.
If you’re going to get a c-section regardless I’m pretty sure there’s no benefit to naturally going into labor first. 39 weeks is full term so it should be fine. Risks to the baby go up in after-term infants since the placenta function starts decreasing after 39 weeks so there’s absolutely no way I’d want to go to 42 weeks for any reason.
If you’re going to get a c-section regardless I’m pretty sure there’s no benefit to naturally going into labor first. 39 weeks is full term so it should be fine. Risks to the baby go up in after-term infants since the placenta function starts decreasing after 39 weeks so there’s absolutely no way I’d want to go to 42 weeks for any reason.
@tracyqueen There’s no way I would do that. Anecdotally, I went into labor on my own at 40+6, water broke before first contraction. There was meconium in my waters. That added stress was not worth it for me. Ended up in a c section (my choice) after 24 hours of labor that was not progressing and many interventions.
This pregnancy I will be having a planned c section sometime in the 39th week. That is 100% the safest way for me and baby to give birth given my previous history.
This pregnancy I will be having a planned c section sometime in the 39th week. That is 100% the safest way for me and baby to give birth given my previous history.
brothernature
New member
@tracyqueen I had both my girls via cesarean after 12+ hrs of back labor. The recovery was BRUTAL. Meanwhile women who have scheduled cesareans seem to skip to the car when they leave and have a much easier time mending. I would advise that you do not do it, especially given the position of the baby. I’m sorry! As someone who deeply cared about having a natural birth, I understand the conflict you are experiencing. Good luck 
spiritofdiscernment
New member
@brothernature Had a scheduled C-section and recovery was pretty brutal but I scheduled it because what I really didn't want to do was inflict a ton of damage on my pelvic floor and go through the pain of back labor before ultimately having a C-section anyhow and then also having two levels of recovery to go through. Sorry you had that experience
brothernature
New member
@spiritofdiscernment Haha, that was my exact experience. But I didn’t know I was going to have back labor until I felt the pressure on my tailbone. You made the right decision!
spiritofdiscernment
New member
@brothernature Rough. My guy was sunny side up and huge so back labor was likely. Thanks for the confirmation!
revelational
New member
@tracyqueen A scheduled C-section recovery will be much easier than an emergent one. And yes, it would be considered emergent.
@tracyqueen The pros are that your baby is ready for birth, and supposedly the hormones would be better.
On the cons, c-section becomes harder for practitioners when you are contracting.
After much discussion with my obgyn I decided to hence keep my date at 39+4.
On the cons, c-section becomes harder for practitioners when you are contracting.
After much discussion with my obgyn I decided to hence keep my date at 39+4.
ibelievegod
New member
@tracyqueen Went into labor at 40+6 with my breech. Labored for 7 hours, then had a c section. My team of midwives and OBGYN would have let me push 41 weeks. Talk with your doctors! I wanted to labor naturally but boy was that c section fabulous! My recovery was awesome too. Loved my doctors!
belovedchild1
New member
@tracyqueen Oh please do not do this. You have no idea how long you might be in labor. I had my contractions starting at 3 am on a Saturday and ended up giving birth through an emergency C-section on Monday evening. Progress was slow and the doctors wanted me to give birth naturally. Which obviously did not happen. It was AWFUL. I hadn’t slept for almost 3 days because the contractions did not let me rest in any kind of way. I had zero energy when I went under the knife. I was crying and had thoughts about abandoning my child and husband after the procedure. I was later told by a psychologist that I was in true survival mode and therefore could not feel anything for anyone. Luckily those feelings wore off pretty quickly (about 12 hours after) but they ruined that moment forever. Recovering from the C-section (once I could feel my legs again) was not as bad as it could have been. By Saturday I was strolling in town with my baby.