Did you have a scheduled CS?

I've read that one of the greatest risks with a CS is that the baby will have breathing difficulties and require resussitation at birth. I actually remember being told when I pregnant with DS that if I ended up having a CS don' be alarmed if they come out blue...

With DS, he was crying before he was even out of my belly and had apgar scores of 9 and 9. But I wonder if that is because he had been through a long labour prior to the CS and so was physiologically ready to be delivered iykwim?

I'm wondering if the breathing issues are more likely with a scheduled CS... So it would be great to know, if you had a scheduled CS, at full term or close to term, did you LO experience breathing difficulties.

I found this article a while ago and thought it was very interesting in terms of how uterine contractions stimulate babies' lungs, and how scheduled/elective c-secs could be a risk if mum hasn't gone into labour (whether induced or spontaneously) prior to bub being born.
Cesarean Birth and SIDS | January 2006 | RT: For Decision Makers in Respiratory Care

I had a scheduled CS with DS - he was breech, and I had no labour at all with him. He was born at 38 weeks 2 days. He did have breathing difficulties when born - he was given air and only had a apgar score of 4. He took ages to cry as well. I was crying and saying "What's going on? What's going on?" because I knew they were meant to cry! BUT he did have the cord wrapped around his neck 3 times :o so I'm not sure how much difference it made.
The twins (VBAC) came out screaming!

DD was a special case with her need immediate surgery. But she had APGARs of 9 and 9, which was awesome considering she was delivered at 34+1 weeks.
I was told 10 days before "turn up next Friday for your c/s".
She was on a ventilator for 4 days afterwards (mainly as a precaution, they wanted her to recover from the surgery and not waste too much engery on breathing on her own), but she was still doing most of her own breathing.
She has never had any issues with her breathing.

:

---

I found this article a while ago and thought it was very interesting in terms of how uterine contractions stimulate babies' lungs, and how scheduled/elective c-secs could be a risk if mum hasn't gone into labour (whether induced or spontaneously) prior to bub being born.
Cesarean Birth and SIDS | January 2006 | RT: For Decision Makers in Respiratory Care

---

Thanks hun, that is a great article! Have to say it confirmed what I suspected. But I did google a bit more and found out that the study comparing elective and emergency CS babies was only based on 13 in each group... Unfortunately I can't find any further research.

I had a scheduled Csection because DD was breech. She had no breathing issues and I think had Agpar of 8. That was at 39+3 weeks.

I have had both emergency and elective

emergency after failed induction that resulted in significant fetal distress Jack had apgars of 2 and 4 was sec's off requiring ventalation 37 weeks
elective Luke came out quiet but had apgars of 9 and 9 beautiful and pink he just didn't cry :lol: 38 weeks

I had an emergency CS after labouring for 30 hours (severe PE, dilation was not progressing at all and DD was in distress). DD did not breath when she first came out Apgar score was 4 and then after 5 mins it was 9. They had to mask her and compress to get her breathing. I don't know if her breathing problems may have had something to do with the fact that there was meconium in my waters when they broke). The Paed just described her as being a bit stunned.

Janie xxx

I had elective c-section for placenta previa at 38+4. I had no signs of labour being close (comparing to what I experienced before I went into labour with ds) Her apgar was 9 and 9, no breathing difficulties, crying and fed really well in recovery. Guess you can just never tell how 'ready' bub is until they're out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DS was scheduled for the wednesday, (due to previous csection) but i went into labour on the saturday night. I laboured all night mildly and went in for the csection at about 6am. His apgars were 9 & 10. He didnt cry though, he just kind of murmered and made a weird noise lol

Again with DD I started getting contractions a few days before the schelduled date. This time though labour didnt progress at all. After a night and day of contractions though we went ahead with the csectionand she had apgars of 9 and 9. Teirae can probably tell you exactly how she was breathing wise lol she was the midwife who was there :) She did give a good scream when she came out though (DD not Teirae ;) )

:

---

Thanks hun, that is a great article! Have to say it confirmed what I suspected. But I did google a bit more and found out that the study comparing elective and emergency CS babies was only based on 13 in each group... Unfortunately I can't find any further research.

---

No worries, hun :) Definitely food for thought for anybody considering an elective c-sec imo :) Thanks for checking it out a bit more, I hadn't had a chance to look into the cited sources and get a more in-depth picture, but the article really struck a chord with me. :)

I'll come back in Jan and tell you :p
I'm having an elective c-sec this time because I just can't physically give birth naturally (my hips don't expand and move to make way for baby to come through due to me dislocating it when I was 15). I had an emergency c-section with DS after being in labour for 4 and a half to 5 days and we'd only discovered when I was basically screaming through contractions at the hospital that I wasn't dilating past 4cm - we then discovered DS was in distress and that he was swallowing his own poo. We could have lost him, but got him out just in time. But, when he did come out, he came out and cried after a minute. His Apgar score was 8 + 9

I had elective c/s at 40+5 after 3 days of pre-labour, agpar scores of 8 and 9 and he cried pretty much straight away. He did have fluid on his lungs for the first night though.

I had elective (god I hate that word) due to bad placenta previa with my third at 38+4 and he was born crying and pink :D Apgars were good as well. I guess you just don't know. I think if left he would have stayed in a bit longer, but that was not really an option. The only thing is if you know before hand you are able to plan a bit how you would like the experience to go. Good luck.

I had a C/Section at 39+6 due to bubs being big and my having a 17cm fibroid growing away inside me as well....She came out letting EVERYONE know she had arrived, and had apgar scores of 9 and 10 :)

Come to think about it, she STILL let's everyone know when she arrives!

Both of my CS were "elective" first at 38+1 weeks and second at 38+5. both came out screaming. Both had apgars of 9 and 9. Neither were suctioned. Ds didn't even go to the paed/resus table. He was given straight to me. Statistically an elective cs can increase respiratory distress but it's definitely not always the case :)

I did. At 38+5 and DD2 was fine, came out screaming and had apgars of 9 and 10. No issues here.

Mama Spice - I am sitting here *googling* lol

I'm sure this bub would be like yrs and have no problems when she comes out, but ...

I just hate being made to schedule my, *bub to be*, to come earlier than bub wants too!

Hubby called the hospital today, but they are no darn help :| so guess on the 19th when we go see the Resident I will try, yet again, to get them to wait until closer to 40 weeks :)

I would even be happy if it was booked in a week later! not asking much I wouldn't have thought!

Starting to stress me out a bit actually, the not having control of the whole situation!

But again, thanks to everyone who is replying :)

Mamma Mia - I would be FINE with 38 + 5 to have her! lol tis a lot closer to 39 ;)

arghhh

:pray::wall:

oops and I just realised I hijacked Miss E's post!

sorry Miss E! Thought twas the one I posted about a c section at 38 weeks! :doh:

I've had two scheduled c-sections. Ds2 had apgars of 9 and 10 and no breathing issues whatsoever. Dd also had apgar scores of 9 and 10. She had a little issue with her oxygen stats when I was in recovery but it stabilized really quickly and she didn't require anything for it.

:

---

oops and I just realised I hijacked Miss E's post!

sorry Miss E! Thought twas the one I posted about a c section at 38 weeks! :doh:

---

That's ok hun, I'd hardly call it a hijack!

Don't stress too much about it now. You can always refuse and just stand your ground. You won't be very popular, but hey you'll be having your baby delivered when you want them delivered which is far more important. GL for your appt.

I have had two c/s - one emergency - 45 mins of labour, 9cm dilated, baby was footling breech, her APGARS were 4 and 8. She didn't cry immediately but her birth was very traumatic for us both. My c/s scar was also incredibly numb and I had so much pain after her birth (including bruising all along my c/s scar).

The other c/s I had was 'elective' (I didn't want it but that's a story for another thread) - everything was calmer and done so much better. Baby was born with APGARS 9 and 9 and I think because they had the time to do everything properly, I had no where near as much pain, no bruising and I had more feeling on the skin below my tummy button than I had in the 18 months since my first c/s. DH reckons now that my scar is also much much neater and not as jagged looking as the first time they sewed me up.

I hated having a second c/s but it has left my body better healed and more neatly sewed back together so all is not entirely lost and having a scheduled one is far less traumatic for me and the baby than an emergency one was.

Just Me - how far along were you when you had your second c/s?

and (if you don't mind me asking) was it a risk assessment? ie: you or the Drs decided that the risks associated with c/s were less than the risk to you and/or bub of labour and/or vaginal delivery? or was it something completely different?

not meaning to pry about the exact reason - just whether it was a risk assessment or other...

I had an elective cs at 38+5 for my DD last year. I was warned that bub could be more likely to have breathing issues due to GD + insulin as well as the C/S. She was fine, APGARs of 9 & 9. Equally my son born 2 years before (forceps & suction) was also fine with identical APGARs. The only difference was that she actually breastcrawled & fed much better after the CS than he did after the (admittedly induced) VB.

:

---

Just Me - how far along were you when you had your second c/s?

and (if you don't mind me asking) was it a risk assessment? ie: you or the Drs decided that the risks associated with c/s were less than the risk to you and/or bub of labour and/or vaginal delivery? or was it something completely different?

not meaning to pry about the exact reason - just whether it was a risk assessment or other...

---

I don't mind you asking at all :)

Both my c/s were performed at 38w3d

I really wanted a VBAC for DS2 but because of the baby looking overly large on the ultrasound (which I never believed) and having GD, they said I needed a c/s. I had the appointment at 36w with a registrar where everything was decided, went away and decided that I was going to talk to the ob about it and ask for an extra week to deliver on my own since I felt like labour was around the corner. The next appointment I had was the day before Yasi hit and my Ob was off trying to clear beds in the hospital so he wasn't there and I saw a registrar who wrote me up for the bloods but couldn't answer any of my questions. Yasi hit the next day, 3 days before my scheduled c/s. There was no opportunity to discuss it again and due to the stress on hospital resources as it was, I didn't feel that it was right to just not front up for my c/s so I went.

I got all ready for theatre and they put the canualla in and the ob came and actually felt my tummy (rather than just relying on an ultrasound). He said to me "You're not expecting a big baby are you" ... I could have killed him right then and there. The only reason I was there was because I was expecting a big baby apparently. And if it wasn't for the pressure of having a c/s that day and the stress from the cyclone, I really thought my body had been trying to go into labour for about 3 days by then. If I had just been allowed to do it in my time, he would have come. The whole thing is incredibly frustrating.

He was 3.7kg - my smallest baby. My other babies have all been 3.8kg but they have all been 53cm long. Why they never account for length when they say that my babies are 'large' I will never know. Their weights have been 200-300g over the average but their lengths have all been 3-4cm above the average. I really don't get why this is never taken into account. DD2 had a HC of 37cm and DS2 had a HC of 36cm ... both things that are also never considered when taking weight into account even though, they too are above average sizes. Small vent there ....

But looking on the bright side, my body is better off for the second c/s because of the reasons stated in my first post :)

Nope, my dd2 was born very close to 37 weeks but she yelled feistily and got perfect apgars, unlike my dd1 who was born vaginally and who scored low on the first one.