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I hear you Lucia. My baby is b___t first right now and even though both my gramma and my mom had breech babies v____ally without problems they won't even let me consider it if he doesn't flip. I do not want a c and this is like my second to worst nightmare with this pregnancy. First I want a healthy baby, and second I want a v____al even though I had a small a___l fissure after my first birth. I think I read that same study, and am praying for a baby flip!

I agree with you. And you are actually correct, the fetal mortality rate has remained constant for quite awhile and since the advent of a 25% c-section rate in the US there has been no decrease in birth trauma or injury rates. Like it was before, only the true emergencies are still being thwarted by c-sections and the rest are still unnecessary. Things will go full spectrum to like a 30% c-section rate and then post c problems will rear their ugly heads and the pendulum will swing back to a more realistic percentage. As a person who will be a full-fledged MD this May, I hope the powers that be figure this out sooner rather than later for all women's sake.

Hi Lucia, I just posted on my thread about my fantastic v____al birth yesterday morning to my perfect son Matthew Cade. They were "warning" me to be "prepared" for a c-section like that was what they already decided I was going to need because I am very small. I knew it was an out they were lining up and I was so dead set against it in my head that I feel it had a lot to do with my birth experience. I know there are situations where c's are the correct course, but like my research indicated, if done correctly, a v____al birth is a safe and viable option for most women. My baby is vigorous, healthy, very alert and nursing like a barracuda! Great birth and I know I had a great L/D team working for me. To Lissa, I hope your baby turns over, good luck!

To Lissa, I was born b___t first and the cord was wrapped around my neck so when my mom finally squeezed me out I was blue and scored a 1 on my first APGAR test. She wishes she had a c BUT, I came out alright anyway, went all the way through grad school. At my hospital, they will let the mother try a v____al breech birth if she so wishes. Find out if it is in the hospitals written policy.

In the middle of a long labor and the pushing stage if you ask any woman if they want a C they will probably say yes, Five minutes after the delivery ask them and almost none of them would even consider it. Even when the going gets to the tough part remember it is only for a short while and if will end. With my second c-section I thought I had gotten away with something and that was so totally not true! Everyday I thought I would feel better and yet, everyday the pain was there and significant. I did not feel any tangilbe healing until a few weeks later and then it was very gradual. That is much longer and was harder to deal with than the 2-3 days of significant pain I had during and after my v____al delivery. Try your best to deliver v____ally unless something is REALLY wrong. Good luck.

I meant to address that respose to Lucia, but to Lissa, I hope your baby turns, what does the doc say?

I know this is an old post but I had to bump it. I have thrown in the towel at one of my jobs. I work in a large, famous Medical Center on Labor & Delivery and I love it, my second job is at a Women's Medical Clinic which is the job I just quit. I don't know why, but these women OB's are starting to get really renegade about managing EVERY PART of a woman's pregnancy. This has not led to better health care and good deliveries of healthy babies, it has led to huge amounts of technology, interventions, inductions, and totally unnecessary c-sections (mainly because of all the pitocin, early inductions, messing with laboring women stuff). Last week we had 8 clients 38-40 weeks pregnant. The ONLY ONE who had a v____al delivery was the 40 week woman who demanded to be left alone to go into labor on her own. That is outrageous, there just are not that many women and babies who need expedited deliveries or early inductions. Since I care for these women I almost feel like what happened to them was criminal. None of the 8 had a medical reason for a section or an induction prior to the births. I can't stand all these c-sections anymore, I am sticking with the Men OB's at the hospital. I know my experiences do not reflect any other practices or individual physicians, but it is my understanding there is a growing trend of "cut-by-5" c-sections going on.

at first when i read this post I was offended just based on what lucia said, about the statistics and all because when i had my baby ( which was my first and only) i was not planning on having a c-section at all neither was my dr. but, it happened anyways because of my blood pressure and how i was on the verge of a seizure, they couldn't get it to go down and then they tried to induce me but i wouldn't dialate so, maybe have you thought why women are having c-sections are just based on how their body responds to other alternatives (besides a c-section ). I mean, the drs. and nurses tried everything they could to get me to do it v____ally but, the baby wouldn't drop, my blood pressure was too high, my cervix wouldn't dialate, and the baby's heart rate was all over the place. And since my water already had broken on it's own they had 24 hours to find a way to get this baby out of me before the risk of infection sets in so, yes, maybe i'm just another statistic out there who had a c-section but, to my defense it was neccessary. But, on the other side of things I did notice the growing trend of elective c-sections out there but, i'm not quite sure if it's the drs. or the patients that are choosing it. Many drs. rather do c-sections because they can one schedule them according to their convienance two, they can go in and do it in less than an hour and they are done, and three c-sections supossedly cost more so, they get paid more. But, after going through a c-section myself I probably wouldn't want to do it again but, in my case and probably many others on here it wasn't of choice.

I agree with you Muzikgirl, that you needed a c-section for many reasons. I also have to say I agree with SusanJ. There are entirely too many iatrogenic (medical treatment) induced c-sections. I think that we have gone too far in some cases, ex; perfectly healthy moms and not too large babies getting induced too early, before term (even a week or two in some cases). Those situations have led to an increase in c-sections that more than likely wouldn't have happened if labor had started on its own. I also MUST SAY, as a mother of four and very pet_te, that I totally understand the last few weeks of pregnancy and how uncomfortable a woman gets...the sound of getting induced must seem like a Godsend and I probably would have done the same thing if I didn't go into labor before each of my c-sections. I guess the medical field will continue to adapt and adjust to technology and finally come to a happy medium where we can help women have as healthy and happy a pregnancy as they can, but we do not continue to cause harm in the form of the unecessary c-sections. Again, it is a blessing to have this technology available when something goes wrong...but there are instances of too much of a good thing as well. Lucia was correct in that the instances of CP can often be traced to prematurity and/or placental problems rather than to v____al deliveries PER SE, otherwise there would not be incidences of CP with scheduled c-section deliveries and there are unfortunately. SusanJ, sorry you felt you had to leave that practice, is any reporting in order for that c-section rate? That is rather appalling that out of 8 women the only one who didn't get cut was the naturally laboring one. I don't think I would recommend the clinic either since you said those women were not showing signs of problems before their inductions. Hmmmm..not good stats at all, I wonder what Lucia ended up doing?

My baby would have died if I had not had a C-section when I did.

my baby would not come down...after 18 hours of induction when i was 42 1/2 weeks i was dilated 1 and -2 station i dont feel like i had a choice? i wish i had delivered v____ally that way i could have more kids..

Hey girls, I totally understand that there are cases where a c-section is neccessary and the best thing for mom and baby. I had to quit because this is an on-going problem with this group of OBs. These women docs all had normal, uncomplicated v____al deliveries and I saw an unhealthy pattern of them trying to micromanage healthy women's births. One OB had a 7 hour labor and easy v____al birth for her kid and I actually heard her say to one of the moms to quit being upset, that by having a c-section she was going to get off easy. WTF? I have had both types and there's nothing easy about a c-section! But my point is, in this particular practice no one seems to go to term unless they loudly insist and the c-section rate is unacceptable with this group. This is not a high-risk practice or anything. At the delivering hospital where I also work the nurses even say sarcastically that if one of doctor so-and-so's patients comes in just set up the OR. That is just wrong. I am trying to stand up for women who's c-sections are caused by bad doctoring, not trying to say that some c-sections aren't absolutely the right thing to do. Sorry for the misunderstanding if that was felt. I do come on strong about c-sections because I had a normal (long) first birth with an easy recovery and then my second one got over-managed by the doctors and I ended up with a c-section that I don't feel would have been neccessary with less interventions. Thanks djh for the back up. MM, glad your baby is ok, and Amyb good luck if you decide to go on to more kids anyway.

Hey Susan, thanks for explaining your pov. I too agree that a lot of sections are done for "convenience". I just feel that people sometimes are bashing all sections & I was just expressing that there are times when it becomes necessary. I fully planned on a natural, v____al birth & ended up with an epidural & a c-section. I think mentally I've had a bit of a problem adjusting to the fact that I couldn't, and will never be able to, deliver v____ally. I was in labour for about 17 hours before my section. DS' heartbeat was plunging with my contractions which were coming almost on top of one another & he was "sunny side up". He'd swallowed some meconium & when they took him out, the cord was wrapped around his neck a few times. They also told me because of the shape of my pelvis, there's no way I can deliver v____ally. My boy was 8, 7.

Um, of couse you are going to read about a lot of c-sections here... YOU ARE IN A C-SECTION FORUM! Not the brightest crayon in the box, are we? I have only seen *maybe* two post here ever from women who wanted elective c/s. But even if they did, the american academy of obstetrics came out with a report this year that elective c/s were an acceptable choice for women who only wanted one or two children. As for the health of the baby, c/s are much easier on the baby than a vag birth. Its mom who is going to be "taking one for the team". I really don't understand why some people get so bent out of shape for what other women choose to do. Oh BTW - In my case, pPROM at 34wks, 16 hours of labor, 6 hours of cervadil, 11 hours of pitocin I was still only 2.5 cm. I was starting to run a fever and Max's heartrate was going up. I had a wonderful c/s experience. I am not opposed to VBACing next time. If my darn cervix can get with the program I will VBAC. But I won't shed a tear if I end up back in the OR for a c/s.

Also, nobody ever talks about it, but for those of us that have not had a v____al birth ever, we get an added bonus for our trouble of a unchanged, nice tight v____a. My hubby told me after the we had s_x the first time that he was so glad that I had a c/s. He said that all his friends who wives had kids v____ally told him that s_x was never going to be the same, but never tell your wife that it has changed. I guess I got extra lucky since the c/s actually caused my uterus to sit higher in my pelvis, resulting in more depth which has made s_x better than ever for me since I was really shallow to begin with. I wouldn't blame a woman a bit if she choose an elective c-section just to keep things "snug" in the bedroom. I love being a mom and wouldn't change it for anything, but I am a woman and a wife first and I will be having s_x long after my kids are grown and gone.

Hi, I am hopefully understanding that you were referring to Lissa when you said "not the bightest crayon in the box". About the unchanged v____a thing, I had a v____al birth, easy, great recovery, no change in my v____a as evidenced by better s_x, and having to go down in tampon width sizes. I then had to have c-sections. Also, there are many women out there who get all the way to the finish line (meaning baby's head is well down into the v____a) , maybe even crowning, who then deliver by c-section so if there are to be changes, they would get them too. Anyhow, I understand what Lucia meant, she just wanted to avoid one uless there was a real reason to have one. I am much happier now that I don't work for that OB group too. In the last 3 days we had 11 c-sections, 5 scheduled, 1 true emergency, 1 by my favorite doctor after a maternal fever, and lo and behold, the cut-sisters had all the rest. Considering they had the lowest percentage of births and we deliver approximately 120 babies a month, their ratio is again way out of line. I am so frustrated and the nurses are just disgusted. There are good reasons to appreciate c-sections as Kara says, but that doesn't mean there isn't a serious, down-side to them as well. I do not feel like they should be taken lightly, as just another form of birth from my experienced position that is simply not the case. The complications when they happen, seem to be much worse for the mom and baby after c-sections, and I have worked here for 9 years. As far as birth being better for baby via section, that is debatable. Respiratory distress is pretty common in secion babies and even 1 day spent in the NICU can be risky for infants, to say nothing of the IVs in their little heads, the panic and trauma the parents feel, etc.