I received a wonderfully, positive, planned C-section birth story written by a past Talking Babies Mummy, Emily. She has kindly let me share it through Talking Babies to help others facing a similar birth.
It is incredibly empowering to read if you are having a planned c-section. I know it will help many mums and dads-to-be prepare.
Thanks Emily,
Enjoy!
(Just to confuse things my name is Emily too!)
‘Hi Emily,
I’ve been meaning to write about my birth experience for a while just in case you wanted to share it on your blog. I feel quite strongly about the fact that c sections can be seen as a negative thing – I read a lot of things online before I had mine and there were a lot of comments from women about how they were upset/ashamed that they couldn’t have a ‘proper’ birth experience. Hopefully my story shows that they can be a good thing and if a woman needs to opt for a planned c-section for whatever reason, they shouldn’t feel that it’s a negative experience, just a different one!
So here goes…
I knew I would be having a c section from very early in my pregnancy. I have an genetic metabolic condition; one of the symptoms of which is low energy and poor stamina, so a prolonged natural labour could have been difficult and possibly dangerous for me.
I tried to learn as much about planned c-sections as I could, but also made sure I educated myself about labour, just in case the baby decided to come earlier than my planned c section date – it never hurts to be prepared! Emily’s Talking Babies classes were great for this as they gave information about many different birth experiences.
One of the things that puzzled me was that some people asked me if I was upset that I couldn’t have a ‘natural’ delivery. I strongly believe that the most natural option for any family should be the one that feels right. As a planned c-section was the safest option for me and my baby, that was all that mattered to me, and so the most ‘natural’ course of delivery in my case.
One of the nice things about having a planned birth was that I knew the date and time of my baby’s birth in advance. This meant I could mentally prepare myself as much as possible as I was naturally nervous about having major surgery whilst awake! When the day arrived, it felt slightly surreal – I’m glad we were told in our Talking Babies class how many people there would be in the room during a planned c-section as it did seem very crowded in theatre. Despite this, the atmosphere was peaceful and relaxed and I still felt like the moment of birth itself was an intimate moment between myself and my husband – I forgot about everyone else in the room. Beforehand, I was most worried about the spinal block procedure but the anaesthetist was amazing and I didn’t feel a thing. I didn’t know when they had started operating (as I couldn’t feel anything) but my husband told me. After about 5 minutes, they said ‘he’s about to be born’ and asked my husband if he wanted to take a photo – he wasn’t so sure but I definitely did and so he took one, just as Adam was birthed. Adam cried as soon as he came into the world which was an amazing thing to hear, even if I couldn’t see him to start with.
My emotional memories of the moments around Adam’s birth:
- His cry
- My husband saying ‘he’s got lots of hair’ and ‘he looks like us’!
- Knowing that my husband was cutting the umbilical cord and seeing our son for the first time
- Adam being placed on my chest for skin to skin whilst the surgery was completed.
The whole experience was absolutely incredible and I now wouldn’t have had it any other way. The recovery was tough but, worth it for my beautiful baby boy.
Emily’
If you too would like to prepare properly for your birth like Emily join a Talking Babies Midwife Led course today! Click here for course information.
To read more positive birth stories written by mums from my classes please go to the blog where you can browse through. I have only every protected identity, nothing else has been changed!