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Surgical birth

How to have a positive Caesarean experience

By
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Originally published in Today's Parent November 2004

Pulling into the driveway of Catrina Girotti’s Toronto home I am struck by an unusual sight. In the back corner of the yard, among the overgrowth, lies a green birth ball. It’s deflated and dirty. I picture a woman in a fit of despair or rage flinging it from her bedroom window. She is trying to purge the intense feelings of loss that can come when the vaginal birth she so badly wants eludes her.

I am here to meet a small group of women who gather regularly, each of whom hoped for a vaginal birth, yet all gave birth by Caesarean. The abandoned birth ball, a popular tool for coping with labour, seems an apt symbol for their lost hopes.

Caesarean birth is probably the most difficult birth there is. Most likely the woman has already spent many hours in labour. Now she is facing major surgery, a birth done for her, rather than by her. She is usually the last person in the room to see her baby. She must wait for her abdomen to be stitched before she can hold or breastfeed her baby. And then she faces the challenge of recovering from surgery. Is it possible to have a positive birth experience when your baby is born by Caesarean section?

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