When I was preparing to give birth to my first child, my midwife said to me that birth is
a doorway, it is not the destination and I think going into my second birth, I was
really thinking through that again, knowing that this is part of your story and an important
part of your story, but it's not the whole story.
So my daughter was born here in 2013 after a very long induction, very long labour and
two hours of pushing, it was clear that she just was not going to come out and she was
born via C-section.
I found the C-section experience quite difficult, the recovery was really long, it was hard
physically and emotionally, and when I was pregnant again, I knew immediately that there
was something that I wanted to avoid if at all possible.
So I went to see an OB even though my primary care was my midwife and spoke to her about
the risks and benefits of having a vaginal birth post C-section and decided that it was something
I wanted to try for if the baby was going to cooperate and if he was going to come around
his due date and not have to be an instant.
I think the benefits had to do very much with an easier recovery, faster healing, not having
major abdominal surgery again if I could avoid it.
The risks are things like uterine rupture I understand, but I knew that my labour and delivery would
be very carefully monitored here so I felt comfortable going in knowing the risks to
attempt a vaginal birth.
I was so happy with the decision to have a vaginal birth post C-section.
The recovery was a completely different experience.
Physically, it meant that I could still lift my daughter, it meant that I could resume
those normal activities of parenting and life that are pretty important, much faster than
I would have been able to do post C-section or than I had been able to.
I also found the emotional recovery a lot easier.
I was able to breastfeed with less difficulty, which I think was related.
I was able to approach my birth with a positive mental attitude from the beginning and didn't
have so much, not trauma, but difficulty accepting how the birth had gone.
You know, I really think I was lucky because I had such a breadth of healthcare providers
so I had my great, various experienced midwives who were able to talk through options with
me in a very real way that wasn't all about statistics and evidence but it was also about
emotion and experience and also a great referral to an OB.
Think about what is going to be right for you as a patient, what is going to be right
for your family, whether you feel safe and comfortable because that is the most important.
If you don't feel safe and comfortable in your birth experience, whatever that birth
experience is, then it's not going to go well.
So think about what is right for you, your body, your family and go with that.
I think also be prepared for all possible outcomes because I'm happy that I was able
to have a vaginal birth but it wasn't guaranteed.
Again, both of my babies like to flip around in utero.
There were chances with both of them that there would have been C-sections at various
points and I think in preparing for my second birth, I not only had to anticipate for a
vaginal birth, I also had to anticipate the possibility of a C-section and prepare for
that in advance, prepare to be happy with that birth and prepare for that to be a positive
birth experience as well.
C-section births can also be positive.
My C-section felt like a difficult experience partially because it is a difficult experience
to have surgery, it is a difficult way to bring a baby into the world when you're not
anticipating or expecting that.
But I also know people who've had really positive Caesarean-Sections and planned for that and
had as part of their birth plan things like having immediate contact with the baby
or who is going to cut the cord and all of those things were aspects that we hadn't planned
for with the first birth because I think I had just assumed that I was going to have
a vaginal birth.
So I think that would be a really great experience and I think part of it is having information,
part of it is also just talking through experiences of birth with over parents and being able
to provide support, provide understanding in a different way maybe than people who haven't
had that experience.