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Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

I’m getting closer to my due date and am scared of having a c-section. Is there anything I can do to avoid it?

Re: I’m getting closer to my due date and am scared of having a c-section. Is there anything I can do to avoid it?

The Bump Expert

Not always. In most cases, cesarean sections happen because your baby can’t be delivered vaginally, no matter what you or your doctor does to help her along. You might need a c-section if your baby is breech (bottom first) or transverse (sideways). Your doctor can try to move the baby into the proper (head-down) position, but this doesn’t always work. You may also need a c-section if your baby is especially large or you have placenta previa (when the placenta covers the cervix and blocks baby’s exit).

Sometimes complications during labor force doctors to deliver a baby by c-section. If labor stalls (meaning the cervix stops dilating); your baby’s heart rate slows or becomes irregular; the umbilical cord slips through the cervix (a “prolapsed cord”); or the placenta separates from the uterine wall (placental abruption), your doctor will perform a c-section.

Try not to worry. Good prenatal care will boost your chances of delivering vaginally and handling any complications that might arise. No matter how baby travels from your uterus to your arms, you’ll be thrilled to pieces when she arrives!

| May 06 , 2009 3:34 PM

Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

It's been proven time and time again that C-sections are generally done as a matter of convenience for the doctor. The majority of them are performed around 4pm and 10 pm. Some of the things they mentioned are cause for a c-section, like placenta previa, cord prolapse and placental abruption. Labor stalling is never a good reason - most doctors call it failure to progress, but in a lot of labors there is a natural plateau where dilation may stop, but that doesn't mean you'll be pregnant forever and with large babies, there's no way to know whether or not the baby will fit without a good trial of labor and pushing. C-sections have a time and place so just make sure you know what reasons you're willing to accept for getting one done. And don't forget that having one c-section drastically increases your chances for having another.

RobynHeud@gmail.com | October 21 , 2009 10:15 AM

Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

The mor medical intervention you have the more you are at risk for a c-section. A dr. might give you pitocin to "encourage" contractions. Pitocin can cause really hard contractions that might make you want an epidural which can slow your progress. Then, the medical staff will want you to have a c-section. This is why having a birth plan in place and working with the staff so they know your desires is important. But remember you do have to be flexible.

frostnoel | October 27 , 2009 8:24 AM

Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

I highly recommend watching the video The Business of Being Born. It was an eye opener. After watching the movie, I decided not to have an epidural and I created a birth plan. Our bodies are meant to have babies, so do let a doctor or anyone tell you otherwise. And if you have had a c-section, you can find a doctor that will deliver vaginally for future children. My mom had a c-section in 1982 and learned afterward that the doctor was leaving town on vacation. She had an awful experience, but found a different doctor for my siblings.

littlebirdy22 | November 28 , 2009 5:03 PM

Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

It really aggrevates me when people think C-sections are bad and have no place in the childbirth process. Some of us have small pelvic openings, fibroids, low placenta, and other complications that make them kind of at a higher risk for a c-section. Knowing that I am at a higher risk for complications I don't want to go through 20 hours of labor (my mother), have my baby's head get stuck because it was breech (my grandmother), and then end up needing an emergency c-section anyway. I have let my doctor know that if everything looks to be leaning towards a problems I want a c-section. I have also had close friends who have had their baby's collar bone be broken, the nerves in the baby's face get damaged all because they felt that a vaginal birth was the best thing. I don't judge people who choose to deliver vaginally withour use of drugs, so people should not judge those who choose to have a calm, safe, c-section not wanting to be in labor for hours on end. Let each mother have theit own birth plan, whether it is with drugs or without, c-section or vaginal...it is all still a PLAN!

jscogin | December 14 , 2009 10:07 AM

Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

It may still be a plan but I firmy beleive God made our bodies to carry and deliver babies naturally.. so avoiding a c-section at all cost is very very sensible.

linziplease | January 15 , 2010 7:12 PM

Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

I would also point out that, while I agree the mother should have a choice in the matter, a c-section is considerably less "safe," generally speaking, than a normal delivery. The idea that abdominal surgery is safer because it seems "calm" or controlled compared to the intense and sometimes unpredictable experience of labor is a misperception not based in fact. I think it is best for every woman to get make a fully informed decision and not be pressured, manipulated, or misled no matter what the intended outcome.

titania9 | January 16 , 2010 2:26 PM

Q&A: Ways to Avoid a C-Section?

While a c-section is not what we envision for ourselves sometimes it is necessary. Just be open to it IF it becomes a need. You are no less of a woman for having a c-section vs. a vaginal delivery which is something I felt when I ended up needing a c-section after many hours of labor and the baby being a little too big and my pelvic bone being a little too small. Regardless of how baby gets here just trust yourself and your doctor. A c-section is no fun to recover from, it is very hard in fact. But, I can say now, looking back...it doesn't matter in the end how your baby arrives as long as you and baby are healthy that is really all that matters.

mandy67 | January 29 , 2010 7:02 PM

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