I Did Not Cut My Baby's Umbilical Cord for Six Days So We Could Have a Natural "Lotus Birth" Just

[Ms. Toad]

132. Well - I'm the flip side of that -

I had a C-section after 48+ hours of labor.

It was necessary, given the circumstances. I had been fully effaced and dilated for several hours, and contractions had gone from regular to intermittent and ineffective, and I was exhausted from having been awake for most of the 48+ hours of labor. My doctor aligned my daughter's head in the birth canal several times, but when I pushed (or released from pushing - by now I am no longer sure) her head receded.

That said, I still suspect that the involvement of a skilled midwife would have allowed me to deliver vaginally. I think more support is needed for vaginal delivery so that labor complications don't wind up being necessary surgeries merely because there is no one who is competent to assist in overcoming routine labor complications through to delivery.

I don't know your mom's situation, but I know my own. Even though a C-section was necessary at the moment in time when I had it, I believe that had our medical system been biased toward reducing C-sections, rather than viewing them as an easy solution to routine complications, we might never have arrived at the moment in time that made it necessary.