The aims of csections.org
In the UK at present, 1 in 4 women will give birth by Caesarean Section. We believe it is essential that women are able to participate in discussions about their births prior to and during their labour. In order to do this effectively we believe women need more information about caesareans. We hope that this in turn may help to reduce the trauma and negativity experienced by those women who have a caesarean when they would rather have had a vaginal birth.
There are still women having caesareans when they do not want them and in some cases when they do not really need them. And for those who do want a caesarean they are often unfairly judged as simply being "too posh to push" when the reality is often far more complex. We hope this website will provide women with some of the information they need about caesareans in order to feel more in control of their births.
To quote Jeannie Douche, from the New Zealand College Of Midwives Journal, "Caesarean birth has evolved in just over a decade from a major abdominal operation with profound negative consequences for women, to become an increasingly acceptable choice of birth method" 89.
csections.org aims to provide:
- Information about women's rights when requesting and refusing a caesarean
- Information about the procedure and recovery
- Some real birth experiences
- Ultimately a more balanced perspective on caesarean delivery
Q
If my baby's head is too large to be delivered vaginally will I have to have a caesarean?
A
It is very difficult to reliably determine whether a baby's head is too large to deliver. This is because it is very difficult to reliably assess the size of your pelvic girdle or the position of your baby's head. It is certainly not the case that if your previous pregnancy ended in a caesarean as a result of a large head that your next pregnancy will too. According to the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS) there have been many documented cases where women have gone on to deliver vaginally a larger infant than the one that was delivered surgically 34.