Caesarean section choice for women
Filed under: Child Birth — Alan @ 9:23 am
New guidelines have been issued by maternity services in the UK and women are now entitled to choose a caesarean section. They are able to choose this method of birth even if they have no medical need for it and they are also to be offered counselling about the risks associated with the procedure.
The Royal College of Midwives have recently stated that this is something that already happens and the new guidelines are merely a formalisation of a process that already was happening.
The guidelines have been produced by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence and it is said that the guidelines will probably mean that the number of women having a caesarean will actually decrease because of increased awareness about the procedure. The guidelines that have come from Nice have highlighted the risks that both caesarean and vaginal birth.
Currently about one in four women in the United Kingdom have a caesarean section and in most cases these are planned ahead so that the health so the mother is assured. The risks that are highlighted in the guidelines are for women who are choosing to have a caesarean section ahead of time, if you have one during pregnancy because of complications the risks are very different and sometimes a mother may need to be transferred to an intensive care unit.
Mothers who have a caesarean section are also more prone to postnatal depression and are more likely to have trouble breastfeeding their baby. The guidelines also highlight the risks of giving birth through the vagina which include, injury to the vagina, shock from loss of blood, heavy bleeding and pain. The risks associated with a caesarean section include admission to the ICU, a longer hospital stay, bleeding, the potential need for a hysterectomy, and heart attack.
The guidelines also confirmed that having a Caesarean section is significantly less painful than giving birth through the vagina. However, they also state that three days after giving birth the pain is equal to that of someone who had a vaginal birth. It also found that the vagina might be damaged during a traditional birth but highlights that there are significant benefits of it over a caesarean section.
The more major risks of a caesarean section, such as heart attack and the need for a hysterectomy are incredibly low with the figures being 0.2% and 0.03% respectively. The guidelines also give information about the chance of death during birth although they state that information is conflicting.
One study showed that a caesarean section was less likely to cause death but then another study showed there was a higher risk for those having a caesarean. The data on which is safer is quite conflicting but all studies agree that the chances of something happening are incredibly low.
The chance of complications occurring were found to be less than 1% no matter what method of delivery you chose. However, considering the health of the baby is important and babies who are born vaginally at significantly less likely to need admission to an intensive care unit.
