Pressured into c-section?

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I don’t really need to be told what I need to think about or not think about, thanks. I can work that out for myself. They way the word “elective” was being used in the conversation was that the c-sections were being done for a non-medical reason. Obviously, a breech birth is a medical reason to require a c-section. No one was taking a “you don’t HAVE to do anything but pay taxes and die” attitude about it. And there’s a fair good chance that I may want to become pregnant again some day, in which case, a doctor’s attitude on c-sections would be part of determining whether or not such a doctor is a “great doctor” or not.
 
I understood the term “elective” to mean the procedure was being done for non-medical reasons. Otherwise, you could define almost any c-section as “elective”. Yeah, you’ve been in labor two days and you’re pleading profusely, but you COULD wait a couple more hours and see what happens.
 
I was told that inductions were typically longer labors, but since you are already at the hospital, you can get the epidural as soon as you need it, as opposed to having days worth of contractions prior to actually going in. I was never concerned about the length of the labor as much as the pain. I mean, once you check into the hospital, you’ve pretty much cleared your calendar for the evening.
 
A lot of doctors won’t even do them. Who was pressuring you, if it can be told?
 
That’s true. With my first, she was delivered practically perfectly with no complications and very little pain, due to the induction. Then, while we were all celebrating in the delivery room, we realized that she had a birth defect that we hadn’t seen and hadn’t been noticed in the sonogram and all heck broke loose! That’s why I don’t understand the people who say they want to be “surprised” by the baby’s gender when they baby is born. In my experience, delivery room surprises are overrated.
 
I hear ya. I wanted to know everything I possibly could as and when I could. I always think it best to be prepared wherever possible, so you can mentally arm yourself.
 
I agree, particularly since there are so many things that you just can’t predict. You might as well know what you CAN know.
 
Allegra said:
! That’s why I don’t understand the people who say they want to be “surprised” by the baby’s gender when they baby is born. In my experience, delivery room surprises are overrated.
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I have had both surprises at the same time, so in my experience I don’t understand why you compare the surprise of a birth defect and of the gender! 🤔

Never mind!
 
Allegra said:
I don’t really need to be told what I need to think about or not think about, thanks. I can work that out for myself. They way the word “elective” was being used in the conversation was that the c-sections were being done for a non-medical reason. Obviously, a breech birth is a medical reason to require a c-section.
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Except in the medical community, a breech birth is considered an elective c-section. That’s literally the language used.
Allegra said:
No one was taking a “you don’t HAVE to do anything but pay taxes and die” attitude about it. And there’s a fair good chance that I may want to become pregnant again some day, in which case, a doctor’s attitude on c-sections would be part of determining whether or not such a doctor is a “great doctor” or not.
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I think that was fairly obviously implied in my comment.
 
We weren’t talking about the medical community though. We were talking about women being pressured to have c-sections from outside of the medical community, most specifically, from their employers. Although some participants did bring up a creepy idea of their husbands/boyfriends wanting them to get a c-section because they thought a vaginal delivery would ruin their sex life as well, which kind of floored me.
 
My wife has had 3 C-Sections and has not had ANY of the restrictions you mention. It was pretty much status quo (as far as having a newborn) after 3 or 4 days…
 
TC3033 said:
My wife has had 3 C-Sections and has not had ANY of the restrictions you mention. It was pretty much status quo (as far as having a newborn) after 3 or 4 days…
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I’m glad that your wife was able to recover so easily. Every patient is different, but it is well established that C-section delivery comes with a more difficult recovery than vaginal delivery because a person who has both delivered a baby and had major abdominal surgery; both of these require physical recovery for the vast majority of people.

My 5 C-sections each came with a different recovery period, but the medical restrictions issued were the same: no driving for two weeks and no lifting anything heavier than the baby. This is standard medical advice for abdominal surgery, whether you’ve had a baby taken out or a gallbladder.
 
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babochka said:
Every patient is different,
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Well, ya… My point was the post made it sound like c-sections was going to come with weeks of painful recovery and basically bedridden.
babochka said:
but it is well established that C-section delivery comes with a more difficult recovery than vaginal delivery because a person who has both delivered a baby and had major abdominal surgery; both of these require physical recovery for the vast majority of people.
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Agreed, that’s also why we stay in the hospital 2-3 days longer.
 
I’ve never had a c section but I know of quite a few women who scheduled them because it’s more convenient, less up to fate and I’ve heard some say they would never want to have a baby the natural way because “it wouldn’t be the same down there as before” or they think because it’s all planned it will be safer.
I think a lot of Dr.s are willing to. I mean it’s full blown surgery. That means more money for them and they also know they won’t be awaken in the middle of the night by that patient being in labor.
I think women are just misinformed (could you imagine that?!) They see this procedure mainstreemed it leaves just a little scar compared to what it used to be and they know the exact date and time baby will be here. What more could you want, for the self absorbed all about me culture? I also noticed that people seem to be more affraid of natural processes. Look at how women perceive aging! If they get a weinkle, God forbid, they run to get injections or plastic surgery. Everyone is quick to run to the Dr. and take antibiotics for anything nowadays. It seems like we are scared to let things happen naturally like they should and most of the time do. Everything is medicated and fast paced!
 
Are you trying to suggest that hospitals might recommend c-sections in order to pad the bill?
 
I’ll ignore all the anti-women garbage at the end of this post, but I think it’s perfectly reasonable to say that it is safer to schedule a c-section when it is legitimately believed that a c-section is inevitable, for example when the baby is breech. There’s no point in waiting to go into labor and risk having an emergency situation when the surgery is already indicated for medical reasons. There does come a point in the third trimester when it is almost impossible for a baby to flip.
 
Not really. I just think it’s irresponsible for people to not acknowledge the big cost difference if they are truly elective (not medically necessary).
In fact I’m amazed that American insurance companies would fork over the extra $20k for a C-section that isn’t medically necessary. So I bet there’s a lot of fudging going on about what is medically necessary. Plus, I know there’s all kinds of concerns about malpractice. It’s extremely complicated.
 
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