Warning: pretending to be medical post ahead.
A friend of mine said she couldn’t imagine going under the knife to deliver a baby. I also had this fear, prior to having last week’s C-section even though I’ve had it before. I guess it’s just something you’ll have to face head-on. A Cesarean is a major abdominal surgery, all right, but it is also one which gives the biggest bonus since you get to bring home a breathing bundle of joy 😉
Truth is, I’ve had a normal delivery with my son (where unfortunately labor was induced) and two consecutive C-Sections, ten years apart. Still I can say I preferred my Cesarean than the normal, if only because I recovered easier with the former than the latter. With normal delivery, I found it the hardest dealing with a zipped-up perineum where usual routines like sitting down and answering the call of nature take much effort and require a higher pain threshold. The only downside with a Caesarean is that it’s more expensive and you get to sport a scar in your tummy (although I heard that can even be made invisible now with laser surgery.)
Lest this be misinterpreted, I will always doff my hat to women who give birth the traditional, natural way and even those who do so at home being aided by hilots and midwives.
I am just saying that a Cesarean section will always be an option for women who prefer to give birth with the least fuss and pain. Aside from elective surgery, the other factors that can lead to this kind of procedure is the condition of the fetus, multiple births, the health of the mother (such as being obese or having gestational diabetes) and in some cases, the need for a C-section is determined on the day itself, when there is fetal distress or the labor fails to progress.
It should not be feared, considering that with today’s modern technology, it has become extremely safe. In a modern hospital, the operation can be done in less than an hour, with the delivery of the baby in ten minutes or less. Some hospitals (like Makati Med) have also liberalized their policies, like during my delivery when my husband was beside me while I was being opened then stitched up. I was also awake all throughout, from the time my operation started up to when I was wheeled into the recovery room to bond further with my baby. I certainly heard her cry when she first saw light in this world.
The key is in discussing these things with your doctor (OB-gyne) and having a good anesthesiologist or anesthesia administrator. I’ve heard enough horror stories about the anesthesia not working, even from medical people themselves. This certainly made me afraid at first but I guess the fear was just in my mind 😀
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