Baby Arrived When He Wanted - Positive Birth Story
From fear to joy and excitement, choosing a C-Section birth was definitely the right route for Laura. She shares her experience of how her baby boy chose his birth date despite an elective C-Section!
I decided on an elective C-Section at around six months pregnant. Despite being an otherwise confident person, I had always been terrified of something going wrong with a vaginal birth. This was compounded by almost everyone I knew who had given birth in the months before having traumatic experiences, many resulting in emergency sections.
I used c-sectionuk’s birth stories to reassure myself but started to question why I would put myself through something as stressful as labour when there might be a more positive route for me. Hypnobirthing was not for me, so I discussed my choice with my midwife who was very supportive from the start and who suggested scheduling a C-Section for the week of my due date. I met with a consultant and a date was booked for 39+2. As soon as this was done, I felt immediately calmer about everything and started to realise I could get excited about having a baby!
The day before my due date we went to hospital for all the pre-section checks. As it happens, I went into labour the next morning (at exactly 39 weeks)! I only came across one doctor who seemed to disagree with my choice as it was no longer classified as elective but, thanks to c-sectionuk, I felt much more confident asserting myself. Everything felt really calm as I was prepped for surgery and our baby boy was born later that evening - we didn’t even get through the playlist I had made for it!
I knew recovery would be harder and my partner and I really did our research to prepare as much as we could for it, like moving things around in our flat to make them more accessible and having a trolley ready with all my essentials by the sofa. My only regret was that I didn’t have a grabby stick until a week after we got home - it is ESSENTIAL!
I’m really proud that I took control and could have a positive birth story - our baby arrived the day he wanted, but in a way that meant I wasn’t filled with fear and could actually enjoy the process.
I’ve recommended c-sectionuk to friends since - I’m so glad this platform exists, so thank you.