I had a consultation with an OBS registrar about having an ELCS.
Previously I had an induction with forceps delivery, which left me with injuries taking 2 years to resolve. I started motherhood EXHAUSTED, faecally incontinent (admittedly only once but was touch and go for many months after), with added exhaustion due to the extreme pelvic bone pain (day and night) caused by forceps.
I already have severe fatigue issues as I have Multiple Sclerosis, and it was suggested to me by my GP that it might be a better recovery to have a 6 week CS surgical recovery, with no 13 hour labour, rather than a VB.
The registrar was pretty patronising and said I could "try" to "convince" the consultant to book me for an ELCS, but that she very much doubted I'd get anywhere.
Her argument was that second birth "might" be easier and that a lot of people with multiple sclerosis don't have much fatigue and so can cope perfectly fine like everyone else. Basically, poo-pooing my concerns.
So I wondered if anyone has ever had to "fight" for an ELCS and if so, how did you present your case to the consultant?
P.s....This isn't intended to be a debate about whether ELCS is hard to recover from - I've had abdominal surgery myself before and recovers fine from it so I know a bit about what I'm risking. I also know that not every birth is the same and that some people will want to argue that forceps might not be necessary again, but I don't want to risk it, as studies show forceps are much more likely in someone with MS than someone without it (due to muscle weakness and messages not always firing to the brain adequately).
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Childbirth
The case for ELCS.... Other than breech, previous CS, etc...
9 replies
atrcts · 07/02/2013 13:29
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