Elective Caesarean section or a C-section refers to a caesarean section which is performed on a pregnant female before the onset of labor. An elective C-Section is of two types-the indication based C-section and the patient’s request C-Section. In the indication based elective C-Section, there are many medical reasons based on which the doctor may recommend delivering the baby before labor, while in the patient’s request elective C-Section, the mother requests the doctor to perform C-Section for delivering the baby before the onset of labor.
Reasons for Indication Based C-Section
- One of the major reasons for an indication based elective c section is that a labor might not progress as it normally should. In some cases, the pregnancy or the labor might not progress forward in a natural way and the doctors might suggest the mother that it is better to perform a surgery and deliver the baby rather than let it happen naturally.
- Having a placenta praevia is another common reason due to which an elective c section is opted by the doctors and the mother or mother’s family. Placenta praevia is a condition in which the placenta is lying low in the womb and it covers a part of the womb entrance.
- In some cases, elective c section may be done when a woman suffers from viral infection. Some examples of these viral infections are first attack of genital herpes.
- Some other reasons for this type of an elective C-section include history of previous C-Section, multiple pregnancies or known obstructions of labor.
Reasons for Patient’s Choice Elective C-Section
- There can be many reasons why a patient or the mother may request the doctor to perform a C-section before labor. One of the common reasons for this is to avoid the pain of natural delivery of baby.
Risks of Elective C Section
Before a woman opts for an elective c section operation to deliver a baby, she must be aware of the following given risks involved:
- The mother is at a risk of haemorrhage and a wound infection if an elective c section is performed.
- Some other risks involved with this procedure are small blood clots, longer time of recovery, risk to the baby and higher chance of having breathing difficulties in the baby.
- One of the long term effects of the operation is the presence of scar on the uterus which may affect any gynecological surgery performed later.
