A little side note here to remind everyone that C-sections are not only legitimate but often life-or-death-vital.
Dipsticks like to scoff at caesareans being ‘the easy way out’ for people ‘too posh to push’. Ah, what a good time those cheeky little caesars are!
Because if you bip that remote control, a little door in your belly pops open and the doctor reaches in and retrieves your baby from the top shelf in the baby aisle. Doc will snap that lid shut, and you’ll be on your merry way.
No.
First, if you’ve had to go through the whole labour experience before being rushed to surgery, you didn’t escape a thing. That’s the bloody hard part, and if you add the fear and panic on top of it, you’ve had a really rough trot, Mumma. The magical moment of childbirth has been replaced by sterile urgency. Instead of oohs and ahhs, you’ve got monitors and instruments working overtime to make sure you and your baby survive. It’s not a celebration of the miracle of creation—it’s now a job to keep you both alive, and that can be a traumatic experience. It’s not what any woman wants or plans for.
Sometimes women are given a general anaesthetic, and they miss the birth of their own child entirely. That’s the opposite of easy.
But even when the C-section is scheduled because the baby is breech or it’s too big or there’s something physical or emotional stopping a woman from being able to give birth vaginally, it’s STILL not the easy way out.
Being sliced open on a cold table while you’re awake isn’t the fun little procedure you might think it is. It’s not a simple slice, dice and out-comes-the-baby. It’s rough and physical, and the pushing and pulling will make you feel like you’re about to fall right off the table as they rummage around in your insides to pull that fat little bundle out of a too-small incision. It can be scary and confronting and they’ll need to take your baby away from you for a few minutes to check she’s okay before wrapping her up and letting you have a ‘hold’—which is more like trying to look down your nose at the little face squashed under your chin.
But it’s important to know that this can be just as special and overwhelming as a vaginal birth. You don’t miss out on the magic just because you’re not pushing the baby out. This is still the miracle of life happening before your eyes. Giving birth is giving birth, no matter which exit the baby takes.
There is no ‘easy way out’. However it happens, you’re a goddamn warrior and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
PS: Some hospitals won’t let your baby stay with you while you’re in recovery after a C-section. It can be a couple of hours until you’re transferred to your room, which means the baby will be left with your partner or whoever has been in the theatre with you. If you think this might upset you, ask your doctor, midwife and/or hospital what their policy is and if they’ll allow you to have your baby with you. Those first couple of hours can never be repeated, and the sadness over an unexpected separation can linger for years.