Myths

During our research for this site we came up against a lot of misleading information on websites, in the media and more surprisingly from some health professionals themselves.

Myth: You cannot see your baby for "hours" after the birth

In most cases you can see and sometimes hold your baby within minutes of him / her being lifted from your womb. In rare instances you will be able to breastfeed while still in theatre. More typically you will be able to breastfeed while in the recovery room. (The exceptions being: if, for health reasons, you have had an emergency caesarean under a general anaesthetic or your baby has had to be taken to the special baby unit for extra care).

Myth: Once you have had one caesarean, all subsequent births must also be by caesarean

While emotionally you may prefer to have another caesarean and indeed may well be encouraged by your health professionals to do so, it is important to know that many women (33% 14) go on to have a normal vaginal delivery following a caesarean. It is up to you to request this however. Vaginal Birth After Caesarean (VBAC) organisations offer a lot of information and support for women wanting to have a vaginal delivery. For some women their medical history is such that a caesarean may still be the safest option following an earlier caesarean.

Myth: You are likely to experience difficulties with breastfeeding, depression, post-traumatic stress, urinary and faecal incontinence as a result of having a caesarean

Not only is this not true in respect to breastfeeding and incontinence but health professionals are beginning to suspect that depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to be linked to women's lack of emotional preparedness for the possibility of a caesarean. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) states that the difficulties listed above are now recognised as expressly not related to a caesarean alone 27.

Myth: By electing to have a caesarean I am putting my baby's respiratory system at risk

In the UK, a caesarean (where there are no additional medical indicators) cannot be scheduled more than 10 days prior to the recognised due date of your baby. This means that at the time of birth your baby is 39 weeks and therefore the lungs are considered to be "fully mature". Research connecting the likelihood of developing asthma to having been delivered by caesarean is inconclusive.

Myth: An elective caesarean is the sole choice of the mother and is requested for cosmetic reasons

Most elective caesareans are carried out for medical reasons i.e. breech presentation, multiple births etc. If the recent phenomenon of women being "too posh to push" were solely responsible for this you would expect the number of elective caesareans to have risen significantly in comparison to the number of emergency caesareans over the last 25 years. In fact figures 3 and 4 below 26 show that if anything the reverse is true: the number of emergency caesareans has grown more than the number of electives.

"Too posh to push" is a media hyped term that has sadly caught on and stigmatised those women who either have a caesarean recommended to them by their obstetrician in advance of labour or those who opt for a modern, controlled alternative to vaginal birth. Researchers conducting the Nuffield Study stated that "Despite strong rhetoric around the topic, existing research fails to support the notion that large numbers of women are demanding caesareans in the absence of any clinical indication. [The Nuffield study] has also been unable to find evidence for women asking for the operation for social/trivial reasons eg because they are 'too posh to push' or solely to time the birth." 56