As we approached the final stages of our pregnancy, I began to get badgered by our team of midwives to define our birth plan. Throughout my pregnancy, I have had many, many scans. At many of them, the midwife has asked me if I know the plan that I would like to follow and if I would like to talk it over with them. My general response is that my plan was just to go with the flow and accept all the drugs. However, this wasn’t a good enough answer for them…
Thankfully, the midwife that I am dealing with is well aware of my mental health difficulties and OCD. We have spoken at length about how my OCD may affect the later stages of my pregnancy and birth. At the moment, with how I am currently feeling, I like to believe that I will be ok. However, as I am constantly being told, I need to think about what MAY happen.
The advice that I have been given by the midwife team at the hospital is to go with an elective c-section. The reason why this would be beneficial to me is because it would give me a definite date and I could schedule much more easily. That would hopefully stop me from reaching a bad place with my OCD. They also find that when speaking to new mothers, those that have had a vaginal birth and a planned c-section often say that a planned c-section is a beautiful and calm experience.
However, it isn’t lost on me that a c-section is a major surgery. There can be massive complications. Plus, I am aware that there are many benefits to the baby when you have a vaginal birth.
I need to make up my decision soon. At the moment I am torn. I don’t really have a preference either way. Over the past few weeks, I have spoken to many different people, all of which were happy to share their birth experiences with me. Some of which had great vaginal births, others that lasted for days and ended up with an unexpected emergency c-section. My best friend had a planned c-section (due to a large baby) and she said it was a beautiful experience. Somebody else I know said that the recovery after c-section was more painful than her vaginal birth.
One thing that I am certain of, is that I want the whole experience to be as calm as possible. I was present when my sister gave birth to her first child and the whole thing was chaotic. Not by the healthcare staff, but because of herself and her husband. They were running around like headless chickens and panicking about everything. That isn’t the environment that I want my baby to come into the world. I want calm, serenity and peace. However, I do recognize that it will be easier said than done.
If you have being posed with this choice, please do leave me some advice below. What did you go with? What was your experience? Would you make the same decision now?
