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Caesarian section births are becoming more and more of the thing to do in United States, with a larger contingency of pregnant mothers opting for the procedure over vaginal births every year.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports recently released figures for 2008 say 32.3 percent of births that year were C-sections, marking the 12th consecutive year of the figure has increased.
As a father who has endured two traditional births, I’m envious of husbands whose wives have gone the C-section route. I imagine it’s much, much easier on us, freeing us up to read books or play DS games while the surgeons do their thing. It’s really all about us, so women should be more considerate when selecting their birth plans.
If you’ve had a child, which way did you go and why?
C-sections hit record high [Chicago Sun-Times via Fark]
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My 1st was emergency c-section (cord wrapped around her neck)
For my second, I was given the choice. I chose c-section. I just didn’t think the c-section recovery was that bad. The more people I talk to, the more I hear about permanent damage from childbirth (bladder problems, torn cervix, damaged pelvic floor, etc. etc.), so I guess I feel like I came out of the whole thing fairly unscathed. The reality is, having children can be brutal and even fatal. Crazy!
My 1st was emergency c-section (cord wrapped around her neck)
For my second, I was given the choice. I chose c-section. I just didn’t think the c-section recovery was that bad. The more people I talk to, the more I hear about permanent damage from childbirth (bladder problems, torn cervix, damaged pelvic floor, etc. etc.), so I guess I feel like I came out of the whole thing fairly unscathed. The reality is, having children can be brutal and even fatal. Crazy!
Wow. Lots and lots of bad information out there.
First of all, women don’t “opt” for c-sections, they are largely told that they will have a c-section by their doctors.
Secondly, the reason doctors do this is to protect themselves from liability risk. A c-section is completely controlled and very easy for a trained doctor to execute in a very short time period. A natural birth can be risky and things completely outside the doctor’s control can result in death of the child or the mother and thus a costly lawsuit.
And finally, to the original article writer, it is no picnic for the wife to recover from a c-section. You will not be playing DS games. My wife has had three c-secions and the full recovery for each one was at least a month or so. For the first week or so, she was completely on bed-rest, barely able to walk. Guess who gets to do every chore around the house during that time? Here’s a hint – it ain’t the tooth fairy.
it’s all about money, same reason doctors are willing to do circumcisions even though medical ethics say they should not be willing to do a surgery for someone else’s desire
C-sections are big business. It’s profitable, which is why doctors push it. Honestly unless it is medically necessary, this kind of surgery is unethical in my opinion. The recovery time is much higher after a c-section also.
My wife and I are expecting and have crappy health insurance. Our due date isn’t until the first week of Jan and in all honesty, we were seriously considering having an elective C-section at the end of the month because we can’t afford two years worth of deductibles. Instead, we will be having labor induced and (hopefully) be in-and-out of the hospital by Dec 31st.
We absolutely can not afford to have two back-to-back years of high medical expenses when we have a $5,000 deductible.
People, if you need it for a medical reason, fine, but you can get things like Celiac’s disease from a c-section.
… What? How?
Hospital’s are for people who are sick. A person goes to a hospital when something is wrong that needs to be fixed. Being pregnant is not an illness. Giving birth is not something wrong with a woman’s body.
Giving birth is also not predictable or convenient. If you have ever been pregnant, or had a partner who was you know that the range of possible side effects, pains and birth processes that is considered “normal” is incredibly large. By and large, unless something goes wrong, a woman’s body knows how to give birth.
But enter a hospital and doctors can’t leave well enough alone. They feel the need to intervene, to control the situation. To make it happen faster, or even on a time frame more convenient for them. And now we have a situation where women are “needing” surgery more than at any time in the course of civilization. A normal life process has been transformed to dangerous situation requiring surgical intervention.
I guess when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
According to my health insurance renewal paperwork, pregnancy is a “disease/injury” and a check box that is between ovarian cysts and syphilis.
I totally agree with you. But also keep in mind, deaths of women and babies during childbirth were MUCH higher in the past. A big reason that’s gone down is because of this stuff. I’m totally with you that it’s done much too often, for convenience’s sake. But I’m amazed at how many of my friends/family (half?) would have likely died during childbirth if we were living 100 years ago.
I don’t get this hospital hate. Hospitals are not just for sick people, and it seems to me that a lot of pregnant women who make this claim have chips on their shoulders. Hospitals are a safe place to have a baby, where if something DOES go wrong, there are knowledgeable people & medical supplies right there to save you or your child’s life.
If your doctor is doing something you don’t like, demand a different doctor. If there is no medical need for you to have a c-section or whatever, they can’t force you.
Today’s Fun Fact:
I read somewhere that virtually all births in Brazil are via section, because apparently men there get squicked out about sex after vaginal birth, think the vagina gets larger, blah blah blah.
With all due respect to cultural differences: Buncha damn weirdos.
I had my 11 pounder regularly. 3 hours of labor, 5 minutes of pushing, no pain meds. He was a little miracle baby haha
He came out before the on-call OBGYN could even get to the hospital, and I’m actually pretty glad for it. My Dr. had indicated the entire 3rd trimester of my pregnancy that if the baby was too big, she would want a c-section. She also was very opposed to me going past 41 weeks without an induction, which I just didn’t understand. A baby will come when it’s ready to be born.
Anyway, she came to my room a few hours after baby was born, and said, “Good thing we didn’t know for sure he was such a big boy, I would’ve ordered a C-section!”
When, quite obviously, I wouldn’t have needed one.
Which way nets more profit for the hospitals?
I knew a girl who was 17, she opted out for the C-section and gave birth naturally, the baby was too big so it took a lot of stitches afterwards to fix the tearing, she couldn’t walk for ages afterwards and was in pain constantly.
I came across a before and after picture of giving birth naturally and why it causes permanent incontenance for young women, this happened when I was flipping channels on cable and accidentally stopped on Oprah. I was traumatized.
But I never ever want children (and if I ever did, I would adopt) so I am comfortable knowing the fact that I will never have to endure any of this.
Popular? No. Forced as an only option? Yes. That’s the way our local Hospitals roll. If you want to have a baby at one of the local joints it’s C-section or go elsewhere. Which is why my friends with kids had those kids at home.
My daughter was born naturally & it was the worst experience of my life. I will NEVER do a vaginal birth again as long as I live. I now have a cyst on my episiotomy scar, sciatica that won’t go away, and I was in labor for 3 damn days.
If I have any more kids, you better damn well believe I’m going to have a c-section whether I need it or not. Eff that vaginal birth bullshit, NEVER again.
My wife’s had three sections – I can’t imagine anyone voluntarily opting for one over a normal delivery. It’s major surgery, and intensely painful afterwards.
The reality from what I’ve personally seen is that doctors coerce mothers into having a section in any case where might be the remotest possibility of something going wrong.
One other thing – to the writer: you “endured” the birth of your children? Good for you. You must have had a difficult time…
Here’s another article about it: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=123719
And another: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=114662
“Yet another reason for the soaring rate of C-sections is maternal choice. “
This is a good thing, as we now have a surplus of people eligible to killy Macbeth
This is a good thing, as we now have a surplus of people eligible to kill Macbeth
I’m a firm believer that this wouldn’t happen so much if it weren’t so popular to have hospital births. Home births are still an available option, and if more people knew about that option, then less people would be forced into having c-sections. Just my opinion.
After four days of the doctor trying to induce labor in the hospital, I opted for a c-section. I was up and about within a day or so. No lingering effects 18 years later except a scar. During childbirth classes, c-sections were presented as sort of a failure. We ended up not having any more children, but I don’t think I’d like to have a baby the traditional way. Producing a human being is experience enough for me.
After four days of the doctor trying to induce labor in the hospital, I opted for a c-section. I was up and about within a day or so. No lingering effects 18 years later except a scar. During childbirth classes, c-sections were presented as sort of a failure. We ended up not having any more children, but I don’t think I’d like to have a baby the traditional way. Producing a human being is experience enough for me.
I love, love, loved, my 2 c-sections, but the writer, Phil, is wrong: the husband is in the OR with you.
As a woman who has had 5 C-sections (not by choice, by medical need), this is not a good option as you grow older. This is NOT a convenience surgery for the person undergoing the routine. Multiple C-sections cause medical issues as you age–think twice and 3 times before enduring this medical procedure if it is not medically necessary. I will have these health issues the rest of my life (like incontinence, interstitial cystitis, kidney stones and other kidney andurinary tract issues) due to scar-tissue build-up because of the procedure. Are you ready for this for the rest of your life? It cannot be fixed by followup medical procedures. You will be going to the bathroom every hour for the rest of your life and will have to adjust your social routine to take this into account. If you decide to dehydrate yourself so you can take a long car trip, you will end up with kidney stones. Nobody tells you this when you are given the notice that you need a C-section. I was not 30 years ago.