I’ve been thinking lately about C-sections. Don’t ask me way, I just have. I know April was C-Section Awareness month, and it’s now May – but that’s okay. We can still talk about them, right. Anyway, I’ve had 3 of them. While my first one was not planned, the other 2 have been. Would I have liked to at least tried to do it naturally, yes, but you know how doctors are.
Anyway, everyone also says that a C-section is the “easy way out”. It very much is not. Our bodies are cut open to get the baby (or babies) out. Sometimes it is the only safe option, but they still come with risks. And do you know how many LAYERS the doctor cuts of YOUR body tissue? SEVEN! How crazy is that? And people say that it’s the “easy way out”? While I’m not trying to bash anyone on that, I’m just trying to show it from the point of view of someone who has had one, besides that of someone who probably hasn’t and that’s why they say what they do.
The 7 layers of tissue that are cut:
Skin: The outermost layer.
Subcutaneous fat: Fatty tissue below the skin.
Fascia: A tough, thin connective tissue covering the muscles.
Muscle: The rectus abdominis muscles, which are usually separated vertically rather than cut.
Peritoneum: A membrane that lines the abdominal cavity.
Uterus: The muscular organ containing the baby.
Amniotic sac: The fluid-filled membrane surrounding the baby.
And unless it’s an emergency c-section, which takes a little bit longer, take about maybe 20 minutes. Which is probably why people say that it’s the easy way out, because they don’t have to “go through labor” like they did, pushing for hours and all the contractions and everything, whether unmedicated or not. Which some people could say that if you get the epidural and still do it naturally, that that is also an “easy way out” because you don’t feel all the pain. And sometimes even those can fail, and the effects can either wear off faster or not take effect at all. And the epidural has an effect on the woman’s body – have you seen how big the epidural needle is, that they stick into your spine? It’s pretty big. And that your husband isn’t even allowed in the room while they are sticking that huge needle in your spine…does that make sense? While it is for “safety and sterile” reasons – he is one of the reasons that they are there in the first place. He helped make the child that is about to be born.
C-sections are also hard to recover from. My first one was rough to recover from. I had also been pushing for 2.5 hours before we went to emergency c-section. My daughter got stuck and wouldn’t progress any further. And yes, I had the epidural. Which I wish I hadn’t, but that’s for another time. I didn’t like the epidural, because I couldn’t feel anything, I was told when to push, when I would’ve rather been able to feel everything and let my body do what it knew to do. Those contractions were painful, and I opted in for the epidural. I was trying not to, but I gave in. Nevermind, I guess I told the reason why just now! Sorry! The spinal tap is just as bad/hard, for the scheduled c-sections.
While I can understand that after you have a c-section, it could possibly be safer to keep that going if you have more children, but it is just as safe and “risky” to have the baby naturally. Which my third c-section, while it was scheduled, but the baby decided to come early, at 36 weeks. I was already huge and people thought I was further along than 36 weeks. Anyway, guess what? Even though he broke my water and everything, we still had the c-section. Do I think that I could’ve done it naturally? Yes. Yes, I do. He was apparently ready to come out, I honestly don’t think I needed to have the c-section. And just so you know the baby was born at 8lbs 2oz – at 36 weeks! So baby was not preemie (at least not in size)!
While doctors are smart and good and everything, I feel like a mother knows her body and knows what it can do, especially while giving birth. We, as mothers, need to advocate for ourselves more in that aspect. I have a friend who is working on that also, and bringing awareness to that, and being a support to women in that area and during that time, if that is what they want. Sometimes, well many times, it is hard for us to lift up our voices for ourselves in that way. Now bring our child into it, that’s something else, but when it comes to us, we are silent. It’s hard to speak up for ourselves. But our children, our family – 100% we will be speaking up. But when it comes to just us – 100% silence.
Anyway, not my point of this post! C-sections are not the easy way out. If a mom had to choose, they would not choose a c-section, unless it literally meant life or death. And that was the reasoning for it. Not “If you have one c-section, the rest of your births have to be a c-section.” I have known and read so many stories of women who have had c-sections (even more than one) and were still able to give birth vaginally after that. It is possible. Please – advocate for yourself, unless it is medically necessary, life or death. If it is something you want, fight for it. If you need someone to be there for you, I can and I know someone else who, I’m sure would love to be there with you also to support and advocate for you!
Feel free to send me a message and I will reach back out with that info!
Also, Happy Belated Mothers Day!
If you have read this far, I really appreciate you! Thank you so much!
Adventures Of Motherhood 