C-Section vs Vaginal

My Ob is also a maternal fetal specialist and she is very pro c-section. She will only attempt vaginal twin deliveries for women with no history of c-section and if both babies are vertex. I'm 35 weeks and both babies are head down so I currently fit into her category of "willing to attempt vaginal." But after speaking with her I'm scared to attempt vaginal because she makes it sound too risky for the babies. I certainly wouldn't want to deliver one vaginally and one by section, so I am leaning toward a section no matter what.

I have a 4 year old that I delivered vaginally and overall it was an easy birth, but I felt my recovery was difficult. I fear that a section recovery would be worse and I do not have the amount of help needed to prevent an unduly stressful situation in my house during a difficult recovery. I guess my question is "Should I attempt a vaginal delivery at the risk of having a c-section anyway (especially with such a cautious doctor)?" Has anyone had both section and vaginal who could tell me if there a chance that my recovery with the section won't be as difficult as it was with the vaginal delivery?

Thanks

 

I cant comment on the c-section part but I can tell you I think it all depends on the doctor. I desperately wanted to avoid a c-section. My doctor was willing to do a vaginal delivery even if baby B was breech so long as baby A was vertex. Lucky for me from 34 weeks onto delivery day at 37 weeks both babies stayed head down. I had a fantastic delivery.

If youve already birthed one baby vaginally, dont doubt your ability to do it twice more! Especially over a doctors preference! worse thing that could happen is you could end up with the c-section after all right?

Although I cant speak from experience Ive never read anything about C-section deliveries being an easier recovery then a vaginal birth. You have to keep in mind C-sections are MAJOR abdominal surgery. Natural childbirth is what your body was DESIGNED to do. While Im grateful C-section is an option as it saves lots of mothers/babies each year I dont think it should be first choice!

Good luck in whatever you decide! Either way, I hope you and babies have a nice delivery

 

QUOTE(E&Msmom @ Apr 26 2009, 10:46 PM) [snapback]1289553[/snapback]
If youve already birthed one baby vaginally, dont doubt your ability to do it twice more! Especially over a doctors preference! worse thing that could happen is you could end up with the c-section after all right?


i agree!

my OB pushed me very hard for a c-section (her preference) even though both my girls were head down & i had no existing medical issues that would warrant a c-section (high blood pressure, etc), and i fought her on it. i saw no benefit to a pre-emptive c-section & in the end i got my way. both my girls were born vaginally & without issue (other than that they were early - 34w1d). the interesting thing to me though, is that when i was actually in labour, it wasn't my doc on call, it was another doc, and when my DH & i chatted with him about what we wanted he said, without hesitation, that he saw no reason not to attempt a vaginal delivery - even though my original OB had had us in a tizzy about the possible risks of vaginal delivery. she used fear a lot as a means to manipulate me & i really hated that.

at the end of the day, childbirth is a big unknown - that's why it's so great that we have the option of going for a c-section! that way, if during a vaginal delivery something isn't right, you & your babies will still be okay. but for me, a c-section was a last resort, and only if my life or the lives of my babies were at risk.

trust your gut - don't let your doc scare you into making a decision you aren't comfortable with. maybe even go so far as to get a second or even third opinion from other doctors just to see what's what. in the end though, you know what you're comfortable with & that will be the right decision for you. GL!

ETA: if you haven't already, i would really recommend reading "Birthing from Within" by Pam England - it's a great book for helping you face your hopes, dreams & fears about childbirth. i found it really helped me prepare mentally & emotionally for childbirth.

 

There are doctors that push for a vaginal delivery and those at push for a c-section. You seem to have the "ideal" situation for a vaginal delivery so I'd go with it. I had a c-section with the twins and then I've had two vaginal deliveries with 9 1/2 lb babies and the c-section recovery was far more difficult for me. I fear another c-section and it would definitely have to be warranted to get me to agree to one.

 

My OB is very concervative and he said that I will have only c-section because I had c-section before and this time I am carring twins. So he even didn't give me the option of VBAC.

 

I'm sorry you're feeling pushed into a corner by your Dr. Personally, it's silly to think that you have to opt for the c-section, especially with both babies being vertex and given that you've already had a successful vaginal delivery. I haven't had a c-section, so I don't know what the recovery is like. My girls were A: vertex and B: breech for most of the last 2 months. After Sydney was born, Sabrina did turn transverse so I almost ended up with both. But at the last minute, her water broke, she dropped breech and with one push (and the dr. grabbing her feet) she was out. The reason that breech babies are generally required to be delivered by c-section is that feet and butts don't dilate you as much or as well as a head, which could cause problems with a baby's head getting stuck. But with twins, if baby A is vertex, they dilate you fully so it shouldn't be any kind of issue for baby B to be delivered breech unless possibly their head was vastly larger or something. Good luck, I hope that whatever you decide, it's a decision you're comfortable with and that everything goes smoothly for you and your LOs.

 

I opted for the c-section because I surely didn't want to go through both types of birth and with the section I was guaranteed to only have one type of delivery. IMO, my c-section wasn't horrid, I was truly on my feet within a week and a half and walking around the block by 2 weeks. But it's your pregnancy and if you think you can do it, then do it.

 

If I would have had two vertex babies I would have definitely had a vaginal birth, but instead A was breech and B was transverse. It is interesting how Drs. differ in opinions, because my OB is letting me do a trial labor with this pregnancy and it'll only be 13.5 months after my c-section with the twins. I had 4 successful vaginal births before the c-section. Anyways, the c-section was definitely a harder recovery for me. I ended up with two infections in my incision and was on antibiotics. I felt fully better after 7 weeks. I was moving around during that time, but it 7 weeks when I felt like myself.

 

my dr would have only let me do vaginally if they were both vertex, Baby A was always vertex but baby B was breach for most of my pregnancy and we scheduled a c/section, and then at 34wks she flipped so i was going to attempt vaginally, but ened up needing a c/section, due to not a band around my cervix. My recovery was slow and it wasn't til probably 8 weeks that wearing jeans on my incision felt ok to do. I would have liked to have a vaginal delivery just simply for the recovery time. But then again i have heard that some people have had alot easier recoveries than what i did..

 

my doctors gave me the facts and left it up to me. Baby A was head down, baby B was transverse. i went for the vaginal birth and it went very smoothly. They turned Baby B after A was born so she was head down and out she came.

I would not let your doctor bully you!! You had one vaginal delivery so please dont' doubt that you could do it again!!

 

My OB was similar to yours, only would do vaginal birth if both babies were head down, luckily they were. I would totally do a vaginal birth if you can. I'm so happy I didn't have a c-section! Good luck!

 

I had baby A vaginally and baby B c-section almost seven hrs. later (different b-days!). Even though I had some stitches in the vagina due to tearing when I tried to flip over to push out baby B I didn't notice any vaginal pain after the birth. People kept asking me how I was doing down there and I can honestly say that the c-section pain completely distracted from any vaginal pain. I could feel swelling from the outside and had to be gentle when wiping, but could sit, etc. with no pain (except at the incision site), and the Dr. was down there stretching and trying to get baby B out for hrs. These are my first children and the Dr. did comment that my tail bone was making my birth canal a little small. My baby B had hydrops which is swelling all over his body, so I don't know if this is why he wouldn't come out. Also, it was baby A who's water broke on it's own and the Dr. broke the water on baby B. I also had a lot of pitocin and still no luck pushing him out. Baby B was just not ready to be born. That being said, I am glad I tried to deliver both babies vaginally. There are benefits of going through the birth canal for the baby. The c-section was much more painful than the vagina post birth. I still have numbness around my c-section scar and know lots of other women that do too long after their kids are born. A c-section is major abdominal surgery. But.... I was up and around just days after their birth. They were in the NICU and I waddled down there several times a day (pushing a wheel chair for support), and I never took anything other than ibuprofren for the pain because I was pumping and wanted clean milk. My babies are both doing great now.

It is a very personal decision, for YOU not your Dr. (unless there are some major risk factors). My Dr. from the get go said we could attempt vaginal and he has delivered several sets of twins and a set of triplets this way. I also had my kids at UCSF and they were more than willing to let me deliver vaginally. I did have an epidural from the start and delivered in the operating room due to twins. Having done both, I would recommend attempting a vaginal birth. There are benefits to baby, less risk to you, and much less recovery time. I would talk to your Dr. about having an epidural in place and having the babes monitored so that if it becomes necessary you can have the c-section quickly. If you end up with both like I did I don't think it's any worse than just having a c-section because the c-section pain greatly over shadows the vaginal pain (in my case). Sorry to ramble and I hope you and your Dr. can come up with a birth plan you are both comfortable with. Ultimately you should do whatever empowers you and makes you feel you are doing the best thing for both you and those babes. Whatever ends up happening, I'm sure you will all do fine and recover beautifully. Good luck and best wishes.

 

Both my girls were head down and I would have gone for a vaginal birth if everything else was ok. Unfortunately for me, I was not going into labor on my own and my blood pressure was sky-high, so the dr said we needed to get them out. He said we could go for an induction but warned that b/c my body was not doing anything on its own it might be a rough labor and end up with a c/s anyway. Because of that I thought the risks to the babies were higher, I didn't want to risk a rough labor, so I opted for the section. The dr left the ultimate decision up to me. He asked questions about how much help I would have at home, how many more children I wanted to have, etc, to help in the decision, but the final decision was mine. I had a good experience and everyone turned out ok, so I have no regrets. It would have been nice to have a faster recovery, but it wasn't that bad at all. Like I said, if there weren't any complications, I would have gone for vag birth but it wasn't in the cards for me. And in the end you don't know for sure what will happen. I had a friend give birth the same day and had so many problems afterwards that she now wishes she had a c/s. Still, for me personally, if I had the chance I'd give vag a try but be open to a c/s if it's not going well.

 

I feel so tired and in so much pain that I am welcoming a c-section. I had my first daughter vaginally and both babies are beech so just knowing I don't have to push gets me excited to not have to have a vaginal birth. Maybe I'm just super tired today...

 

QUOTE(angelsamb @ Apr 27 2009, 01:00 PM) [snapback]1290352[/snapback]
I feel so tired and in so much pain that I am welcoming a c-section. I had my first daughter vaginally and both babies are beech so just knowing I don't have to push gets me excited to not have to have a vaginal birth. Maybe I'm just super tired today...


I sooo identify with that right at the moment.... although I have not had a vaginal birth.

My baby A is breech still, so it looks like I am c-section bound. I kind of hope Baby A flips so I can attempt vaginal delivery... I agree that doctors are very different in their attitudes about it. My doctor is hoping that we can get Baby A to flip!

 

I go the same type of scare tactics at my first OB appointment and both my husband and I walked out freaked that we were having twins. I switched doctors to a doc more experienced with multiples. He is totally fine with vaginal as long as baby A is head down and is fine delivering baby B breech. He did say if I didn't want to try vaginal, he would schedule a c-section instead, but am definitely going to try vaginal as long as the babies cooperate.

 

Thanks for the response. It's really comforting to have everyone's opinons. I am still not sure what I will do. I have a section scheduled May 15, so I think if I make it that far (38 weeks) I will go ahead with it and if I go into labor on my own I will attempt vaginally.