Why are so many woman having c-sections insted of having a natural birth?

Question

I had to have a c-section with baby #1(he was transveres breech) and it was painful and took 4 weeks to recover, I now have a marble sized piece of scar tissue that burns at times(Doctor's(I went to 3) say's it's normal). I then went on to having 2 natural births and recovered in 2 days! I know people think it's convenient to have a planned c-section to have a baby, but what ever happend to letting nature take it's corse? I do understand that a c-section is some times the only way for a baby to be born, I'm talking about the people who have a normal pregnancy and correct laying baby, and would have no problems delivering naturally.

Answer 1

they want to keep it tight
they want control
they want to skip the labor pain, even though recovery is painful and much longer

Answer 2

What works for you may not work for the next person. I was in labor for 10 hours,pushed for 2 hrs, only to end up having an emergency c-section(my daughter got stuck becuase she was face up instead of face down) Neway I wanted a c-section to begin with because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it. Personally I think some people(like myself) are punks when it comes to natural childbirth. Yes the after affects(of a c-section) are HORRIBLE!!! but it is easier to lay down and let someone cut the baby out. I recovered in 2 weeks. I have no pain (it will be 2 yrs in Nov) my scar is still numb but other than that I have no problem. Everyone recovers differently. Some women have that courage and others don't. That is just the way it is.

Answer 3

Great question. I had a C-Section only after I was in labor for 20 hours, acute case of Preclamsia (sp?), my baby's heart rate spiked and I couldn't get past 4 cm. My placenta would not detatch from my uterus and if I had delivered vaginally, my uterus would have ended inverted when they went to remove the placenta. I would have ended up in emergency surgery anyway. Post delivery I ended up with a uterine infection that went septic and was in the hospital forever trying to recover. My recovery was very traumatic and very long.

I am currently pregnant with our 2nd child (probably our last) and have a huge fear of going through the same thing. After a long discussion with my OBGYN, I am seriously considering scheduling a C-Section vs. going through that horror again, even though there is no guarantee that I would. My OBGYN said that the quickest recovery is from normal delivery, 2nd quickest recovery is a scheduled C-Section and the hardest to recover from is what I went through last time.

My daughter will be almost 2 years old when this 2nd baby comes and I cannot be layed up in bed as long as I was last time, so I have to consider the lesser of two evils. If I try vaginal delivery and results are the same as last time (no way to predict), then that is the worse scenario possible for my family and me. If I schedule the C-Section, then at least my recovery won't be near as bad.

These are my reasons for wanting a scheduled C-Section, however, each case is different and each woman has to make the choice which best suits them. There may be other health issues or circumstances as to why they choose to schedule a C-Section, but it is their body and their choice. Hope this answers your question.

Answer 4

A lot of it is because women hear so many horror stories about being in labor for, like, three days and pushing for so many hours. It's the fear of being in that much pain. It's not as bad. Don't get me wrong. There's not much that's more painful than childbirth but it's this fear of being in pain. A lot can also due with risks to the mother. I know there are certain diseases and conditions that make natural childbirth difficult or even lifethreatening for some woman and the doctor doesn't want to take that chance. But for the most part, if it's a normal, healthy pregnancy and the baby's okay, it's just that fear of too much pain.

Answer 5

Because they're afraid of the pain. All the movies & tv shows and stories from friends & family scare women about how excruciatingly painful childbirth is. I am the biggest wimp in the world, big baby when it comes to pain & I did it without an epidural and I would do it 100 times over to have my baby!
Also, I believe there's a mother-in-law issue sometimes. I do know of women who'd rather have a C-section than to argue with, or hurt her husband or m-i-l's feelings about having the m-i-l in the delivery room. (I've even seen that in Dear Abby)
At one point during my pregnancy I was thinking that if only I could have a c-section I wouldn't have to deal with that situation, lol.

Answer 6

well my first child was an emergency c section but the second one was planned. i planned it because i had a different doctor delivering and she had no way of finding out what caused me to have an emergency c section the first time. it could have been my body or the baby. so she said that it could happen again and it is up to me what i wanted to do. i didn't like hearing emergency while trying to deliver my baby the first time so i figured to be on the safe side, let's do a c section. my second one came one month early. i really don't know if i would have delivered normally but when you are laying on the table trying to have a baby or deal with the labor pains and then they say emergency anything and it has to do with you or the baby.....that is the scariest thing to hear

Answer 7

This is why:
Fear, no trust in the woman's body.

1) Woman begins birth process
2) woman is taking a long time to dilate (normal!)
3) medical professionals become concerned
4) labour is augmented with pitocin
5) pitocin causes contractions to become unbearable
6) epidural is needed
7) epidural causes heart decels in baby /
8) mother has trouble pushing due to no feeling in lower body

= need for caesarian birth. This happens way too often.
There is a time and place for c-sections, of course they can save lives.
But they are used about 10 times more than necessary.

Answer 8

Some people have induced labor or a c-section for tax reasons or insurance purposes. They don't understand that those are poor reasons to monkey with Mother Nature.

Anyone who can have a natural childbirth, especially with no medications, is much better off and will recover faster. Even the baby seems more alert without all those drugs pumped in.

Answer 9

My mom had three c sections - one for each of us kids. At the time we were born , C sections were supposed to be safer because my mom has a history of miscarriages. The Dr's thought it would be better for her. They're finding out , though, that Dr's are over doing C sections, often when there's little reason to do one. It's kinda like hyper kids and Ritalin. They're over prescribing the drug, often over looking other reasons for the kids' problems. With C sections they're doing it for even the slightest risk of birth difficulties. They say that if you've had one C section you're more likely to have more C sections in the future.

As you've discovered, Natural birth is much faster and often better for the mother. Personally I feel that if C section can be avoided then they should be avoided.

Answer 10

am with you! totally!
My first had to be delivered by C-section (hear beat stopped) while my second came naturally. C-section remains a heavy surgical procedure, it is no picnic and it take forever to heal. The burning sensation is scary but it does go away eventually! natural birth was not fun but the healing process (even with a bad episiotomy) is faster than C-section. Some women (and doctor) should really think twice before going under the knife!

Answer 11

I had the 1st no meds and natural. Had the 2nd c-section. 4 days later I was up and going. I didn't have any problems recovering. If I ever get PG again I'm begging for a c-section. It's easy and less pain.