Why Natural Birth: Considering Consecutive Pregnancies

This article is not your usual “natural birth benefits” article, although there are many benefits to mom and baby having a natural, hormone rich natural delivery which we will cover in future posts. Rather we would like to mention why we encourage natural birth vs cesarean section in light of consecutive pregnancies.

So why natural birth? This is a very important question to ask when considering your birth team and birth choices. The reason we encourage natural birth, aside from the fact that a cesarean section is major abdominal surgery (which comes with it’s own surgical risks) is to prevent complications in the following pregnancies. What do I mean by this? Can a C-section affect my next pregnancy? Emphatically yes!! Here is how:

Scarring of the uterus can cause the placenta to attach abnormally and sometimes cover the previous C-section scar (anterior placenta) or the cervical opening; this can cause bleeding in pregnancy and pre-term delivery. This is also known as a low-lying placenta or placenta previa. A previous cesarean also increases the risk of conditions called placenta accreta and pecreta (when the placenta implants abnormally to the uterine wall) and can be life threatening to mom and babe. The research shows that you have 0,31% chance of accreta after your second cesarean, 0,57% after the third, and a big jump to 2,13% after the fourth. Due to this your doctors will recommend avoiding having big families and will encourage sterilization after your 3^rd pregnancy.

Furthermore there is an increased risk for infertility, ectopic pregnancy, abdominal adhesions (which can lead to further surgery later in life), placenta abruption and uterine rupture. A lot of medical lingo yes but the bottom line is that these complications increase your chances of having a blood transfusion, hysterectomy, prolonged hospital stay, ICU admission (mom and baby), separation from baby, delayed bonding, breastfeeding difficulties and mental and emotional trauma. These risks rise with each consecutive C-section and automatically are contraindications for natural birth.

Wow!! This might sound overwhelming and scary yes and these are all very serious complications but what we are trying to say is that these risks can be avoided by facilitating woman to labor and birth with very little to no unnecessary interference. Of course the cesarean section is a life-saving procedure however we want to promote that unnecessary cesareans not be done and to avoid multiple cesarean sections. Always make sure to understand all risks and benefits related to a procedure like the cesarean section and ask your care provider to walk you through it.