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I agree!!!! As an LD nurse, I see countless births that are interfered with, started too early, mismanaged and just ruined...I also see lives saved, necessary c-sections and good and bad v____al deliveries. But the most distressing part is all the unnecessary sections going on and all the horrible scar tissues being created in otherwise healthy women who could have delivered v____ally. A woman is SO vulnerable during pregnancy and labor, time and time again we have had to throw up our hands when a patient caves in to a doctor who has given up on her and justs wants to cut. Very very sad for us who actually care about the woman's future and health.

In my case, it is a safety issue for my baby, and based on my delivery history. I had to have an emergency one with the first baby that got stuck and turned around wrong. With the 2nd baby, I had a natural birth and I almost lost him doing so. He also became stuck in the ca___l due to his size, and my apparent inability to complete the labor process. It was hell and torture finally getting him litterally forced and pulled out. This time, due to my history, there is no question that a c-section is the safest way to go. That said, I agree that there are a lot of sections done for sheer convenience, though I don't know why anyone would choose the scarring and the recovery time just for a matter of convenience. Also, it seems that a lot of the younger crowd have developed some fear of pain or something. As if someone has given them a horrid idea of what natural birth is, and they are too scared to go through with it.

I am one of those women who has been given an (i feel) unnecessary section. I was induced, drugged, numbed and then cut. If I would have just waited for nature I might have been a lot better off. I know some of the operations are neccesssry, but this is getting way out of hand, seems like noone is able to have a baby anymore with out it being terrible, or difficult or whatever. Something has gone very wrong with birth practices and we need to go back a bit in most cases, technology isn't always a good thing.

Yes, Perry, Susan, and Maisy, I agree, there are absolutely times when a c-section is neccessary or will be a better option for mother or baby as far as damage goes, but everywhere I go I see healthy, sometimes wide-hipped women who clearly look like they have room (although you can't tell from the outside what's on the inside) and they say they had a c-section for failure to progress after like only 10 hours! Who ever said a baby only takes 10 hours to get here? In my case, I would RATHER the tissues take longer to SLOWLY stretch rather than to go too quickly and tear. My first baby was a 7 pound 15 ounce baby and it took 20 hours to have her...but I didn't tear or have an outrageously bad experience. That was 15 years ago....fast forward to 4 months ago, hooked up to all kinds of monitors, pitocin "to speed things up" and epidural to "obliterate any feeling", and due to all the machinery, I had to lay on my back or side, no walking to allow gravity to help the baby come down, weird contractions because they were artificial, just a mess! And this was what they call "normal labor and delivery" now a days. Well, surprise surprise, I went too fast, 7 hours, couldn't feel the pressure of my pushes, so I ripped, the pitocin induced contractions hurt worse than my first baby, and I needed forceps because my bum was too numb. NICE! I think we need to leave women alone in labor, we have created a big mess for most women. (emergencies aside...true ones that is...) The worst thing of all is, if I hadn't been able to "help" them get the baby out with two contractions and the forceps I was going to "need and emergency c-section"...yeah right, I needed to be giving birth anywhere BUT a hospital is what I needed. I now know probably more women who have "had to have a c-section" than who have not...and there is something very wrong with that.

some just want them-period. they want to know when, how, where, etc. Can't just go by nature. And some are simply scaredy cats, and some are affraid their s_x lives will be affected, etc. And, then there is that small group of chickens such as myself who have to have them and don't look forward to it because my nerves act up and I puke on the table-so embarra__sing!!

also, I don't think inductions should be done unless absolutely neccessary, either. Pitocin is a wicked bad medicine-I don't know why someone would opt for that either-it almost killed my baby.

I am so sick of hearing this argument. Look, like it or not, it's a new day, there are options. Most woman do their own research for pros and cons, and doctors do their best to inform patients on what to expect. I am an experianced woman (sounds better than old) - and I am really tired of my peers looking down on young girls, for having options. Again, it's a new day. if you personally don't like it - THEN DON'T GET ONE! Don't make them feel bad for choosing something different - neither is an easy choice.

I agree with you, "well" in that some are afraid of ...well I still don't get how you can be less afraid of surgery than birth...but that's people. I too, hated what was to come with my subsequent c-sections as I knew what was coming...I puked but it was from the anesthesia. Anyhow, to Denie, I totally agree with you that there are WAY WAY too many being done. The most ridiculous reason is that somehow a c supposedly prevents you from having problems down the road. I don't think they have done a study just on that...what happenes to women's bodies down the road after c-sections. We know about the studies on v____al birth moms, the pelvic floor issues and such, but it doesn't seem like they've studied just c-sect moms to the same extent and boy if they do, do I have some things to tell them about my health and what has transpired thanks to c-sects.

To Enough...maybe you are done having your babies and so there is no longer any anxiety on the unknown for you! Did you ever think it goes way beyond the few control freaks who want to choose who, when, how, they have their babies...that it has nothing to do with all this "choice" c___p? That maybe I am just worried, scared in fact, that surgeries are being done for very flimsy reasons, or that they are being CAUSED by the current way birth is managed? That maybe I am smart in considering surgery as something people die from (I don't care how common sections are...so are open-heart surgeries and the risks are the risks) and that I don't feel doctors tell the whole story, and that society has messed up the birth process in many ways. I wasn't trying to tell other women what to do...I was asking if others thought there were too many being done, and maybe some of those women were operated on not because they "chose to be" but because they were mis-led or mishandled and then had to be. I would like to avoid that issue thank you very much!

There are way too many c-sections being done!! I had one but I needed it b/c of failure to progress. But I think that if u don't need a c-section u should not be able to get one unless u have had one before

I agree with Enough - DON'T GET ONE. You can't decide what others do. I don't have b___st implants, because I don't think people should get them, but I don't care if other people do.

To YOU think and Enough...your posts are PRECISELY why I didn't get involved in the vicious "elective c-section" forum! It is obvious you are defensive about someone questioning c-sects and are going to rabidly go after someone who was asking a question totally UNRELATED to that debate. I asked my question after my own observations over the past several years and after noticing more and more women seem unable to give birth without interventions, complications (some very suspicious ones at that) and surgery. I do NOT want to debate you on the subject of choosing a c-section, you have your nasty forum for that. I want to know why women are being told they need them so often and why we don't question that instead of blindly going with the flow. Not everyone has great experiences with surgical delivery and I have more friends who have delivered by cesarean section (unwillingly) than I do that delivered v____ally recently and there is DEFINITELY something wrong with those numbers. My original statement had nothing to do with your "new day stuff...I was asking more of a scientific/ethics question, not a woman's right question. What I meant by "...that didn't need one..." is the case where the reasons were rather muddy for doing the surgery, etc. and why just because they are common people think of them so lightly when they shouldn't be. PLEASE save your angry defense for the other forum.

I agree, go back to your "too posh to push" forum where c-sections are a day at the Spa for you! There are people who don't think cesareans should be treated like a bikini wax. Where you get an appointment, they play nice music, you are a little sore and then you revel in the total "enjoyment" of the day...and pick your baby up at the daycare center on site. Some people are getting cut up under false pretenses and are ethically victims of medical malpractice. That is what the original poster was asking about.

well as I said before,I had a terrible experience with my 1st natural birth.No way was I ever going to experience that.The 2nd was planned,I could have had the baby naturally,everything was right for a normal birth,but for me,there is no comparra__sion,I am delighted I chose that method.There are many reasons why women have a c-section,you say you understand some are necessary,but there are those women like me who would have only had one child if I could not have had a planned c-section.Women like Mandy on here who is too scared to even attempt pregnancy because of fear.I don't think any birth is a walk in the park,but I believe in this day and age doctors should support womens choice,if they know all the facts then I think it should be up to them.I am glad I had mine,it was different to the 1st.

AGAIN, THIS IS NOT THE FORUM DEBATING A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE AN ELECTIVE C-SECTION!!!!! Please, look at my question!!!! I am not getting dragged into that forum! I want to know why there are so many c-sections going on for people who have no obvious reasons like anatomical, baby's presentation, medical probs, etc. but suddenly are deemed failing to progress or Cephalo-pelvic disproportion (a euphemism for doctor doesn't want to wait anymore..sometimes) I do not want to debate with people who choose c-sections and extole their supposed vitues. I know there are traumatic births for women, I had one, remember? Forceps, articficially hard contractions, horrible ripping down there, I am mainly asking because in spite of that, I would like one more child and since birth has become so medicalized, I want to make sure I don't end up with an "intervention caused" c-section. My first birth was fine, with very little "help" and I firmly believe that is why my normal labor with a normal baby with a normal body without all the technology was vastly superior to my birth 4 months ago. I was very young with my first birth and while I am only 31 now, I do not feel like my body has in anyway aged to such a degree that that would explain the differences in experiences. The ONLY difference besides it obviously being a different baby, was the new approach to labor and delivery...re-read my post, bet it sounds an awful like like what happened with YOUR first labor, Marcie. I am sorry you had a bad v____al experience, but that is not my question, I want to know why women can't seem to give birth without all this surgical intervention. I would believe in it if it helped in more circ_mstances and if I hadn't had a perfectly healthy child v____ally after 20 hours and millions and millions of babies are born just fine that way. If it seemed like ALL c-section babies and moms did much better I could understand the increase, but that is not the case at all. So again, my original question, why are so many women being given c-sections when they don't NEED them? And please do not put any words in my mouth, I did not say millions of moms and babies don't fare better when a c-section is necessary, I know that. Don't mean to sound mean, but I cant' stress enough that i don't want this to turn into that other forum, which was so polarized. I just want info on WHY

Hear hear! I agree with you Denie. That other forum about actually wanting a c-section is really hostile at times. I am fighting a battle against a repeat c-section dictate even though I had a perfectly GREAT v____al birth prior to my c-section (which I might actually not have needed...) I think just about every other woman is being told they "need or might need" a c-section...just a new form of control over us, I think.