Can i have elective ceasarean without private health cover?

[*Sparklez*]

it can be overwhelming. You just never know how its going to turn out I suppose, whether you go with a vaginal birth or c-section, but we all just hope for the best.

couldnt of said it better

[TaRhLi.]

Hi and welcome

Giving birth is scary when you have people who only tell you the "horror" stories it can be very daunting as well. I think everyone likes to share the bad but never the good positive stories with you. You will get lots of support here from everyone and you may find that you change your mind about having a v/b. I can only tell you of my instances but my DD was born at a private hospital and so will the twins.

I had an elective c/s with my DD due to a medical issue and this was decided at my 10 week Ob appt, I was happy to go that way as I was concerned about the long term effects on my body if I opted for a v/b with my medical history. However my Ob still wanted me to look at the options of having a v/b with management of my condition but in the end it was discovered that my placenta had moved anyway and was placenta previa at birth so this ruled out a v/b for us.

For the twins it has already been decided that we will proceed with another elective c/s, due to the medical issue and also having had a previous c/s and as we live in a regional area my Ob doesn't want to risk my uterus rupturing with a VBAC twin birth. I was tossing up whether to go to the public or private hospital this time around (my DH works at the public hospital) but my Ob told me that he is unable to book an elective c/s date at the public hospital, you can only have an "elective" c/s there once you have gone into labour or the delivery requires an "emergency" c/s.

Please read as much information as you can on both options, I was lucky that I had no complications after my c/s but you still have pain during your recovery and everyone is different in how they will heal.

[Traveller]

Welcome to BB

You sound like you are off to a great start, not only with researching your birthing options but also with keeping fit and eating well. As you say this will help your recovery regardless of the mode of birth. You are able to elect to have a CS in the public system but you would need to demonstrate a reason for this. Medical reasons are considered but so is a psychological fear of vaginal birth. This is something you need to talk through with your midwife/OB but I'm sure they will take you through all the options.

The other choice is to go private and just pay for it upfront, but the costs associated with a CS can be quite massive, and these may be additional costs if your baby needs special care after birth or if you have complications post surgery. Have a look around the forum and chat to other mums who have also been scared of birth. There are also lots of birth stories here detailing the good, bad and ugly of vaginal birth and CS which you might find helpful.

Trav
xx