Birth choices

[Postitnote]

What are people's experience of the options they were given for labour and birth? I would like to have as natural an experience as possible but a colleague at work (T1, older lady so would have had her kids in the 80s and 90s) seems to think that a caesarean is inevitable.

Of course, I understand that the health of the baby and the mother override any birth choices we have made but, to what extent do diabetic have the same freedom as non diabetic mothers?

 

[azure]

@Postitnote You have exactly the same freedom in that you're in control and no one can make you do anything you don't want to. However, of course, like every woman you have to take into account your circumstances and what's best for you and baby. Even women without diabetes may have other medical issues. Each woman is an individual.

No, a C section isn't inevitable at all. Some ladies with diabetes do have them, but that's because they need them due to their own particular circumstances, not simply 'because they're diabetic'.

I wanted as natural a birth as possible, and the birth plan I drew up reflected that. For me, the only 'wild card' was induction. Induction slightly increases your risk of a section because occasionally it doesn't work and baby needs to be delivered by other means - ie a section. However, I gave birth to all my three children naturally.

I suggest you read up on natural birth, get your wishes clear and think about what's important to you, and then draw up your birth plan, consulting your team if you have any questions.

I wasn't 'given options' - I asked questions and then said what I wanted. My team followed my birth plan very respectfully : )

 

[Overit]

thank you for your comment azutre, my 9 year old and 6 year old were born via c-section, I was under Carmarthen hospital. I was not given the choice, I was told on my 1 st appointment WE do not let type 1 diabetics give birth naturally you have to have a c-section. I felt robbed I've just fallen pregnant again and switched hospitals, I now cannot have a natural birth and have to have another c-section!

 

[azure]

thank you for your comment azutre, my 9 year old and 6 year old were born via c-section, I was under Carmarthen hospital. I was not given the choice, I was told on my 1 st appointment WE do not let type 1 diabetics give birth naturally you have to have a c-section. I felt robbed I've just fallen pregnant again and switched hospitals, I now cannot have a natural birth and have to have another c-section!

I'm sorry to hear about that @Overit People don't realise how important feeling in control is to women. We should all be able to feel in charge of what's happening to our body and the little life we've cared for all those months.

All I can advise is that you take ownership of your upcoming birth. Even if you need a section because of your previous ones, you can still make choices. You might also want to look into extras like vaginal seeding (swabbing). The more you read, the more you think about things, the more the decisions become yours.

Wishing you a healthy and happy pregnancy XX