Topic Archive: c-section

December 21, 2011

Pregnancy Care and Birthing Options – US versus UK

We are an international family – I’m German, my husband is American and we currently live in England! I gave birth to my first two children in a suburban Chicago hospital and now we are expecting again! As my pregnancy progresses, I am amazed by the difference in care and options between the US and the UK!

Since PregTASTIC is gaining more and more international followers, I thought it would be interesting to share some of my observations!

Babies are born all over the world and while it is obvious that pregnancy and birth in Somalia will differ very much from the US or India, we expect the Western world to have comparable standards of care. While the US and the UK share a language (well, sort of…) and Western health care standards, the one big difference between the two is that the UK has a National Health System (NHS)!

This means that expecting mothers will not pay anything out of pocket for their pregnancy care – including blood tests, ultrasounds, amniocentesis etc – or their birth (including all anesthesia, the hospital stay etc). In addition they get free prescriptions for the duration of their pregnancy as well as free dental work until the baby is 1 year old. In the US most people are insured through a plan at work or privately. Regular co-pays are the norm and while most doctors do not charge every time you come for a pregnancy check-up, you certainly get a bill for an amino or the hospital stay. Depending on you insurance plan, the birth of your baby can cost you as much as a month of groceries to a semester of college! (more…)

September 16, 2011

Being Open to a Flexible Birth Plan

I’m coming down to the wire as I have only 3 weeks left in my pregnancy.  This second pregnancy has been different from the first – although not vastly so – there have been clear distinctions.  First, I’m having a girl.  Not sure if this is THE differentiating factor in what I’m experiencing this second time around but it’s definitely different.  Second, I am “healthier.”  While I continue to be reminded that I’m a mother of “advanced maternal age” (41 years old – I was barely 37 when I had my first), this time around, I haven’t experienced any high blood pressure or low amniotic fluid, which was what sent me to to get induced and what led to the slippery slope of an “emergency” c-section with Henry (high fetal heart rate I was told).  Even my low placenta, which was a concern in my first pregnancy seems to have moved up to the arbitrarily so-called safe zone of 2+cm (away from the cervix).

So, am I in the clear to have a VBAC?  Not really.  One of my goals this pregnancy was to try for a VBAC since I never experienced real childbirth.  With Henry, I was induced, on a pitocin drip for 12 hours, yet, still never felt any true, active labor.  Heck, we weren’t even sure if my water had broke!  My belief is that I ended up with an emergency c-section because the doctor-on-call was getting off shift and just wanted my baby to come out (I checked in at 7am and delivered at 12:15am the next morning).  (more…)

Episode 231 | August 23, 2011

Mercedes’ C-Section

PregTASTIC panelist, Mercedes, is back to share her birth story at age 40. Did her boy arrive on the 4th of July like everyone wanted? What song was playing in the operating room the moment her son was born? Plus, what happened to make it impossible for (more…)

Episode 230 | August 16, 2011

Top 10 Labor and Delivery Fears

Nobody ever said childbirth was going to be easy. In fact, most of us probably think about the worse case scenarios as our due date draws near. That’s exactly what TheBump.com explores in their recent article. So, what’s your biggest fear when it comes to labor and delivery? (more…)

Episode 228 | August 2, 2011

Theresa’s C-Section

PregTASTIC Panelist Theresa is back to share her birth story. Did she succeed at a planned VBAC? What was her husband’s clever way of sharing the birthing experience with family and friends around the country? How is their older son adapting to the family’s new (more…)