Why You Shouldn’t Worry About Having a Cesarean Section Delivery

Ogbugoh Terundu Joy

“…Madam, a Cesarean section would be the best choice in this case…”

It was the news Ginika had hoped she would never hear. Her pregnancy had progressed fine all through seven months, so what had changed? She always knew she would have a vagina birth, it was the only option that ever crossed her mind, so how dare the Doctor suggest otherwise. No one in her family had a baby via C-section and she was definitely not going to be the first.

“God forbid!” she said out loud to the Doctor, shaking her head in disapproval, “I reject it in Jesus name” she added.

Like Regina, the average Nigerian mother would vehemently rebuke the idea of having a baby via a Cesarean section even if her Doctor told her it would be the safest choice for her and her baby. All she hears is pick the word “Cesarean”, not the part where he mentioned it would be best for her baby, and definitely not the part where he said it would be best for her either. She would disapprove then put on her praying and fasting boots to make sure it does not come to pass. Anything but a C-section. She would not give anyone a reason to say she is not a real woman.

While in the labour room, she would give it all her best, she would insist and keep “pushing”. While many women who insisted on having a V-birth ended up killing themselves and their babies, others ended up deformed.

A Cesarean section often called C-section, is the use of surgery to deliver a baby or babies. It is usually required where a vaginal delivery would put the life of the mother or/and baby at risk.

The factors that require a baby being delivered via C-section range from prolonged labour, a breech baby, multiple babies, fetal distress (when the baby is not getting enough oxygen), a previous Cesarean section, a severe health condition to placenta issues, none of which is the mother’s fault.

During a C-section, the following things happen:

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An IV is placed under your arm, the IV would give you the fluids you will need during the procedure. The abdomen is washed, and sometimes, the pubic hair is trimmed.
A regional anastasia is administered to make part of your body numb, which is safer than a general anesthesia that would completely put you to sleep during the procedure.
A horizontal or vertical cut is made on your abdominal wall then an incision is made in the uterus which would break the aminotic sac surrounding the baby
The baby is then brought out.
The mother is stiched up and those stiches dissolve over time.

While it is only natural to want to have a vaginal delivery, what should come first should be the health of your baby as well as your health. If you lost your life because you insisted to push out your baby, you wouldn’t be around to look after your baby or watch him or her grow.

Having a Cesarean section does not make anyone less of a mother, it only proves the strength and the choice she had to make to bring her baby safely into this world. So instead of worrying about what people would say and wrongly feeling like you have failed as a mother, focus on your health and that of your baby.

The worth of a mother is not measured by how she delivered her baby but by how she cares and raises her child.

Source: Livescience