Caesarean section or natural childbirth: all the pros and cons

There are only two types of obstetric aid - natural, provided by nature itself, and cesarean section - operative delivery. Disputes about how good they both are, how safe and comfortable, how they affect the child, do not stop not only among pregnant women and women in labor, but also among doctors and scientists. In this article we will tell you what advantages and disadvantages each type of labor has and whether you can choose one of them yourself.

The natural appearance of the child into the world was provided by nature itself. All mechanisms and biomechanisms of the birth of a new person are regulated at the most subtlest level, which, alas, neither science nor medicine is fully able to understand.

Undoubtedly, it is better for a child to be born that way, naturally. When passing through the birth canal, the baby gradually and smoothly adapts to the outside world, receives the skills necessary for survival. He first meets with bacteria. Adaptation to new living conditions occurs smoothly and in stages, as the child moves along the birth canal of the mother. High adaptive abilities make the baby more viable in the first days after birth, and also have a positive effect on the formation of his immunity.

Natural childbirth begins when the organisms of the mother and baby are fully prepared. Proper hormonal background during birth, as well as the ability to immediately attach the baby to his chest after his birth contribute to the establishment of fast and normal lactation, the child will earlier be able to get the nutrition he needs.

Yes, childbirth is more painful, they require more strength, patience, endurance, knowledge of how to behave properly in order not to injure the child and not to be injured herself, but the postpartum period proceeds more easily and gently. Within a few hours a woman can take care of her baby herself.

Cons of childbirth are mainly in the birth pain, as well as the likelihood of the baby getting some kind of injury during this process. No one can know in advance how natural births will take place, what complications can occur. But a competent approach to their management and an experienced obstetric team will always find an opportunity to save the lives and health of the child and his mother.

Natural childbirth always lasts longer than operational. They can take from 4-6 to 24 hours, whereas the cesarean section, including the introduction of anesthesia, is completed in 35-40 minutes.

From the point of view of a possible birth injury, for a child, a cesarean section is considered safer than an independent birth. With him, the baby does not have to make its way through the narrow birth canal. It will be removed by the surgeon’s caring hands through incisions in the anterior abdominal wall and uterus. Accordingly, head and spinal cord injuries are unlikely. But this factor also has negative consequences.

Numerous experiments and studies have shown that the lack of generic experience is undesirable for a child.Such babies grow weaker and more painful, their immunity is worse than that of their peers who appear naturally. "Kesaryat" already in adolescence is less stress resistant than their peers. According to children's psychologists, they are not so purposeful, more cowardly, they are given more difficult important life decisions.

Therefore, expectant mothers should be treated with a healthy skepticism about the conclusions of psychologists and nameless researchers regarding the adverse effects of the operation on the child. The most ridiculous myths are:

• "Caesar" lagging behind in physical development, later they sit down, begin to crawl and walk;
• babies born through an abdominal incision cry more in infancy, cry and worry more often;
• "Caesar" hyperactive and have a lot of neurological problems.

All these statements are not true, and there is no reason to refuse the operation for which there is evidence only because of fears for the physical development of the child in the future. Famous pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky claims that In essence, childbirth does not have a way of giving birth to anything, and even more so it cannot form from it a weak and repressed, passive personality.

The undoubted plus of operative labor is the absence of generic pain. A woman is anesthetized; she either sleeps with a deep medication sleep, or is conscious if she has an epidural anesthesia. But any anesthesia has its adverse effect on the human body, and in this case two people fall under it at once - the mother and partly her child. These drugs inhibit the central nervous system of the crumbs, cause severe inhibition and increase the likelihood of respiratory failure after birth.

The probability of the spread of infection, bleeding, adhesions at the end of the operation is always ten times higher. The woman herself after a cesarean recovers longer, spends more time in bed, gets harder, cannot be weighed for a long time, and even caring for the child after discharge from the hospital will require the help of helpers. Within two years, a woman should not become pregnant, because it is unsafe for her, whereas after a natural childbirth a woman can plan a second child earlier. The scar on the uterus must become quite strong, and the formation of connective tissue takes at least two years.

The advantages of the operation - no contractions, childbirth without breaks. But the pains that one has to endure during the recovery period are quite comparable with feelings during childbirth. In addition, after surgery on the uterus, there is always a scar, to which particular attention must be paid when planning the next pregnancy and delivery. The external scar, if the surgery was done according to plan, is usually located in the region of the lower uterine segment, that is, the scar is almost imperceptible under the laundry.

In Russia, the choice is usually not provided. By default, all pregnant women should give birth naturally. A cesarean section is done only if there are contraindications for independent labor. These include:

• narrow pelvis;
• narrow pelvis and large fruit;
• twins in the wrong position of one of the babies;
• twins after IVF;
• singleton pregnancy due to IVF;
• two or more uterine scars from previous operations;
• severe preeclampsia;
• placenta previa;

• high or low water (with fetal complications);
• genital herpes;
• HIV infection in the mother if untreated during pregnancy;
• suspicion of placental abruption;
• weakness of labor forces at any stage of labor and the lack of effect of stimulation;
• condition of fetal hypoxia (acute, threatening).

In many countries of the world there is a practice of so-called elective caesarean section or an operation at will. It implies that the woman herself can choose a surgical method of delivery, despite the medical indications, and, more precisely, their absence. In Russia, such a caesarean section can only be done for a fee in private perinatal medical centers. The cost of the operation is in the range of 360-560 thousand rubles.

Maternity hospitals and state perinatal centers operating under the compulsory health insurance system do not imply a surgical operation without obvious evidence, since such intervention is risky and can have serious consequences.

But a certain freedom of choice can be granted to a woman whose first pregnancy ended with the operation. Under certain conditions, the consistency of the scar on the uterus, the elimination of the causes that led to the first delivery on the operating table, doctors can allow natural childbirth during the second pregnancy. And here it is necessary to choose the patient herself. If there is fear and psychological discomfort, it can also give up natural childbirth in favor of re-operation.

If cesarean section is shown and strongly recommended, it is not necessary to persist, it can lead to irreversible and even tragic consequences. Risk factors should be summed up and make the right adult decision. If a woman is going to give birth for the first time at 39 years old, became pregnant after the IVF cycle, and even birth is coming on the background of thrombophilia, then a planned cesarean section will be much safer, which will save the life of the mother and baby.

Most doctors, both obstetricians and pediatricians, tend to consider vaginal delivery more preferable. With this woman and her child, nothing happens in this process that could be regarded as an intervention in the body; recovery is more easily tolerated. Every woman has enough resources in the body to bear and give birth to her baby.

At the same time, the share of operative labor in the total number grows annually and today in Russia every fifth child is born not in the delivery room, but on the operating table. The Ministry of Health believes that the list of indications for surgery is expanding due to the fact that women have become physically weaker. This contributes to a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy diet, lack of adequate physical exertion, some even go to the store for bread and drive a car, refusing to walk completely.

Careful preliminary training will help get rid of the fear of natural childbirth. A woman should understand well all the stages of this process, be aware of what is happening, master the techniques of proper breathing and massage, which will make it easier for her to transfer labor contractions and attempts.

Some researchers point out that after a cesarean section a woman experiences psychological discomfort caused by the incompleteness of the process, many suffer from guilt feelings, they are ashamed that they were able to carry the child, but to give birth to it in the traditional way. Psychologists and psychiatrists note a higher level of anxiety in the parturient women after surgical delivery, a greater tendency to severe postpartum depression and psychosis.

Pediatricians are less categorical. They do not indicate direct consequences for the child. And they are interested in the method of delivery not because the baby needs some special development program after birth by cesarean section, as many moms think, but because it is so accepted for drawing up a medical card. Data on the early neonatal period must be entered into it. At the same time, the child - “kesarenka” is not placed on any special dispensary registration.

According to most women, natural childbirth is also preferable, but the responses themselves are noticeably different from each other. There are women - ardent opponents of cesarean section, there are completely different personalities who promote surgical surgeries and cite numerous personal and heard examples of successful operations.

Indeed, the outcome of cesarean section is more predictable than that of the generic process. But this should not be a motive for everyone to go under the knife only because of fears about their own well-being and the health of the child.

Women who have gone through a caesarean section indicate that breastfeeding is much more difficult, physical activity has been limited for quite a long time, and losing weight after surgery was both more painful and more painful. The need to visit the doctor more often, to wear a bandage, to limit weight lifting makes the young mother dependent on assistants. If suddenly they are not around (in life everything happens!), Then many actions become practically inaccessible - it is not possible to pull the carriage down the stairs to the street, pick up the child from the walk to the apartment, etc.

On the other hand, women who have been allowed a natural childbirth during the second pregnancy often refuse such experience and insist on another cesarean section. They fear a rupture of the uterus along the scar, severe complications, and the operation differs for them in that the procedure and rehabilitation are already clear and familiar.

Those who are against natural childbirth without medical reasons, simply because it is scary to give birth, while not so much. They usually do not meet with understanding either on thematic forums on the Internet, or in the offices of doctors in the antenatal clinic or clinic.

After a natural birth, mothers are discharged on the third day from the maternity hospital home, but after the operation, both mothers and children in the obstetric institution will have to stay. Usually they are discharged on the fifth day if there are no complications.

On the pros and cons of cesarean section, see the following video.