Please help. Looking for reputable links on the pros and cons of C sections vs. vaginal birth

[8isenough]

that does not read "scary" for first time mom. A girlfriend is leaning towards selecting a C section birth for her first child. I have given birth both vaginally and via c-section and have had to bite my tongue on many occasions. I believe unless I am asked, to keep my comments to a minimum. As we all know, when preggo we are slammed with unsolicited advice and I know she is sick and tired of hearing everyone's birthing horror stories. (Why do woman do that? YUCK.) She is in defensive mode and I am afraid that she is not making a truly informed choice considering everything. I do not want to add to her emotional/mental burden by telling her my stories. Birth is such an individual thing. But I feel like as her friend, I owe it to her to try to provide her with some information. I feel she will be most receptive to a "non-confrontational" set of links that she could read at her leisure sent by e-mail. Then I thought I could end it with "if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask me.." kind of thing. So do you have any non-scary reputable links that helped you, that I can send to her? Thanks.

Sterling

[hez]

Jude (judegirl) should be able to help a lot on this as should Rachel (rachels).

[Rachels]

Oh, gosh. What you're asking for is tough, simply because the overwhelming balance of research points to elective cesarean as a fundamentally risky choice. Major surgery is much more dangerous in a healthy woman than vaginal birth, and it's more dangerous for her baby, too. The primary indication for an elective cesarean is to reduce the risk of HIV transmission to the newborn. If that's not a consideration, then a woman who chooses an elective surgical birth is letting herself and her baby in for more risks than she would be if she gave birth vaginally. Most elective cesareans go fine, of course, but if she's interested in informed choice, then she's not going to be able to avoid reading about risks, because every research-based source is going to talk about them quite a lot.

Here are a few links-- not sure if they're helpful or not.

From Henci Goer:
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/plabor/0,,8wvj,00.html
http://parenting.ivillage.com/pregnancy/plabor/0,,48f2,00.html

From Maternity Center Association:
(about evidence-based care) http://www.maternitywise.org/mw/ebmc.html
http://www.maternitywise.org/mw/topics/cesarean/
http://www.maternitywise.org/mw/topics/cesarean/booklet.html

(The cesarean booklet is outstanding, fwiw.)




-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
New baby coming in October!
(Holy smokes, it's a boy!!!)


"When you know better, you do better."
Maya Angelou
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_amethyst_36m.gif
Nursed for three years!

[kijip]

I just wanted to laud you for not judging her. If she reads the information and then still opts for an elective c-section, know that while there are risks she has a high chance of a positive outcome either way.

[kijip]

I just wanted to laud you for not judging her. If she reads the information and then still opts for an elective c-section, know that while there are risks she has a high chance of a positive outcome either way.