Unexpected Cesarean Birth: Gathering Info

external monitor

If you have any other questions abt unexpected c-section (or need to vent about anything that happened) feel free to get in touch!

unexpected meaning emergancy? You labor then end up needed one? If that's the case, I didnt have that experience, sorry.

Kid #1, external, then they moved to internal then they screwed that little probe into his scalp (the snowball effect) ... unexpected and unnecessary C-section. :-(

Kid#2 and 3, V-bac, home births with midwives and doulas, no monitoring except for what they knew and observed during the labor and birth. No wait, I do remember a thesiscope (sp) like the Dr. uses to hear your heart and lungs at an office visit.
Hated the c-section but without it I never would have known there was another way and would have missed out on the amazing home birth option. So, in a way, I'm thankful for the bad experience. I have been given three amazingly healthy and energetic kids... blessed am I. :-)

I had a prolapsed umbilical cord. No question about the need or the urgency of being rushed to the delivery room. This was my 3rd delivery and first c-section.

I started out with external fetal monitoring and progressed until about 3-4 centimeters. The doctor/nurse then had a hard time keeping my baby on the monitor (couldn't find heartbeat) and then they did internal monitoring, where they put a probe on his head. I was stuck at 3-4 centimeters for over 24 hours and they were talking to me about a possible c-section. They told me they would give me another 4 hours to dialate on my own and then wanted me to consider a c-section. Well about a half hour later...my blood pressure went sky high and I wasn't given a choice. I was induced for pre-eclampsia so I knew I had the bp issue but still when I went into labor a c-section was not on my mind.

intermittent monitoring. My labor progressed normally, but after pushing for 4 hours, my baby wasn't coming any further down the birth canal, so I had a C-section. He had quite a bruise on his nose and one side of his head, it looked like his head had been wedged tightly at an angle.

Hi there,

I had external monitoring. My water broke on it's own and was in labor for 31 hours, 22 of those were on pitocin (sp?). I never fully dialated, and in fact started to swell and un-dialate (is that a word?). Anyway, never really found out why this all happened but I do have severe TMJ/Jaw issues and have a physical therapist is has a theory related to women with TMJ/Jaw issues never being able to go into full labor (due to the connection your jaw muscles have all way down to the pubic area).

Fetal monitor prior to surgery. But that is also probably because we actually went in for an induction and got the whole process started before we felt his little bottom!

I had an external but I don't think it played a role in my c-section. Considering it was about 18 hours when he heart rate dropped. The nurses really started to watch then and about an hour later it dropped again. About 2 hours later my dr came in for the day and was checking me. Apparently heart rate wasn't great and I hadn't progressed past 9. Then it was mentioned my son might be stuck so off to a c-section I went. Come to find out during the c-section my son being the stubborn thing he is wasn't even in the birth canal. So a c-section besides the heart rate issues was needed since I honestly don't think he would have come naturally. I wasn't happy about it but at least he was born safe ans sound.

Assuming you're asking because you feel as you had an unnecessary c-section? I definitely did. I was on an external monitor only. It was 11pm and I think the doctor wanted to go home. I had been at 8 centimeters for about 6 hours, and she said it was time since the baby's heart rate was fluctuating, she was "concerned". She also said the baby was huge! And I likely wouldn't get her out anyway....I went in for what I thought was you basic procedure right up until my spinal was administered. They put it too high and paralyzed me from the lungs down, I was put out and woke up over an hour later. I saw my daughter for the first time when she was 2 hours old. And guess what? She weighted 7 pounds!!!! Talk about an unnecessary decision.

I had a planned homebirth, using intermittent monitoring with the doppler, but had a posterior baby with meconium present when my water broke just before pushing. Pushed nearly 5 hours, transferred to hospital and ended up with a c/s. I was bummed!! BTW, the doppler showed his heart rate was fine the entire time, just dropped a little during each contraction, but then went back up to a normal range. [I think sometimes the hospitals freak if they see fluctuations like that, but my midwife assured me that it was normal for a baby's heartrate to change during a contraction - obviously within a certain range and no extreme fluctuations.]

Just had my second, a VBAC, didn't want the continuous monitoring that hospital required, and ended up not needing it, because I arrived at the hospital pushing! Had a beautiful healthy girl!

Good luck to you!!

External fetal monitor, I had many problems, he was 5 weeks early.

they had an external monitor on me, but the C-section wasn't because anything was wong with my son, I had high blood pressure and had become pre-eclamptic

Hi T.,
I had 3 c-sections the first one was unexpected after 5 hrs of pushing we did the c-section and i was on the external, as for my second i went into labor 2 weeks early and a week before we were to schedule it. In labor went to the hospital and was sent home b/c they didnt have it scheduled yes they sent me home went home couple hours later it got worse went back (thankfully my Dr. was there) sat on the bed and my water broke and off i went no monitoring that time. (3rd one was the charm she waited for scheduled day lol) Hope that helps.

External.

Although very sore for a while after the surgery, a c-section wasn't all that bad and I've delivered both ways.

external fetal. lots of unnecessary c-sections happen with these.

For my VBAC at home we used intermittent monitoring. I have two healthy children, so in the end everything was OK.

I was on an external monitor that kept "falling off." I was left to my own devices to get some sleep and when a nurse finally came to check on me about 6 hours later she found that the monitor wasn't working, that I was way further along that she expected me to be, it was too late for an epidural and then, after pushing a baby who happened to be in an incorrect position for nearly 20 hours, I had an emergency C-section. All this and I was at the "good" hospital in the area. Sigh.

Baby #1 - external monitor, pushed for 6 hours with no progress and had c-section. He weighed 9lbs 11oz

In between babies I was informed during an exam that my pelvic area was too small to birth anything larger than about 8 1/2 lbs.

Baby #2 - external and internal monitor trying for Vbac with a guesstimated weight (by ultrasound) of 7 1/2lbs. After 3 pushes his heart rate dropped from 150 to 45 with the next 2 pushes. No choice I was rushed in for another c-section. He weighed 10lb 4oz so wouldn't have come out anyway.

I don't know that the method of monitoring matters. It all depends on the situation at hand.