? for the moms...delivery options

I have severe UC and my GI recommended a C Section for that reason. She said in case I needed to have surgery some day, it was best to have it as in tact as possible. My daughter ended up being breach so it was a moot point, but personally I am glad I went with the C Section.

I had c-sections, but they were because my girls were both breech, oddly enough. I wasn't diagnosed until after their births. But a friend of mine who also has UC had said that it was recommended to her as well. She didn't end up having c-sections, and now after her third child, she has had significantly more problems with her UC. I don't know if that is as a result of having had a vaginal birth or not though.

I am glad that I am now a c-section mom regardless. If we end up having another, I won't have any choice, but I think it is probably a good option for us UC'ers.

it was never mentioned to me, i was kind of worried about it, but i just had a regular delievery,but they had to cut me.  And then i went into a flare, and that was AWFUL!!!  Not only did my butt hurt from being wiped, if you have had a baby, you know it already hurts down there just to move,but then with the cut too, OMG it was horrible!

I am lucky to have only minor UC (although god knows it doesn't always feel minor).  I am 33 weeks pregnant and having a midwife assisted birth at home for my fourth child, as has been discussed with my gastroenterologist and midwives.  I think that a woman's need for a C-section should be carefully evaluated, unless it's what she really wants.  We are quick in this country to dole them out in what are often medically unnecessary situations.  My gastro told me that I would only need a C-section if my disease was at the point where there would be a risk of me tearing all the way to my anus, in which case it'd be hard to stop the bleeding.  Good luck.

I was diagnosed after my daughter was born, so I don't know what's recommended. I had a c-section and thought the c-section recovery was difficult in terms of how my digestive system reacted to it. Took ages for things to start moving properly again. I can totally see the thing with the tearing being a huge issue. It seems to me that having abdominal surgery and risking an adhesion and having someone paw at your colon would be worse for someone with UC, though. I'm not planning to have more children, but if I did I would have to have a c-section again (turns out I can't get a full term baby thru the bony pelvis, some kind of cruel joke if you saw my hips, though. :oP) and it scares the buggins out of me to think of having abdominal surgery. ;o(

I had my son in Dec 07 and did so vaginally. I had to be cut on a slant as that is the way he wanted to come out for some odd reason..I was in sooo much pain...I could not sit for the longest time and literally crawled around the house the first few weeks. My massive flare hit home 8 weeks post partum and I am still struggling to get it under control.
I think I will still try to go vaginal next time I conceive...

I do not understand some of the comments above about future surgery complications and what not..what does one have to do with the other? (sorry for my ignorance here)

Nope Ugh, I was referring to having your anus in tact and future colectomy ...I dont get what one has to do with the other but I am very curious ..

I am actually going to see my GI tomorrow and will ask him about this. Most of my inflamation is low in the rectum and I am in a minor flare now with bleeding. I am not sure if that will affect a vaginal delivery or not. If we can get this flare into remission by the time I deliver I would hope not to have a C-Section but I will do what the doctors suggest on this topic. So far my OB thinks I will be okay with a vaginal delivery. I had one with my daughter and also had to take stool softeners for a while after she was born (makes me laugh to think of that now - it is the LAST thing I would need at this point). I am just worried about trauma to the rectal area since that is my worst area that I can never seem to completely heal. I'll let you know what my GI says tomorrow! :)

thatfield what meds are you taking now that you are preggo? are the rectal meds ok during pregnancy?

Krissy - I am on Lialda and have been since 8 weeks pregnant. I stopped taking it for the first 8 weeks which I think contributed to me starting to flare again. Maybe I would have flared anyway due to pregnancy hormones but now I will never know. I am in a very mild flare right now but have not been able to stop it. On most days I only have 1-3 BM's, semi - formed but soft and always with some cramping, some urgency, blood and mucus. Since I have been flaring for 10 weeks my GI just added Rowasa to my meds. I will start it tonight and hope it helps. I have been on other rectal meds and enemas but never Rowasa. I took Canasa for a few weeks early in the pregnancy. My GI said that rectal meds are safe during pregnancy.

Pokesmom - My first flare was very severe and it happened just a few weeks after I gave birth to my daughter 3.5 years ago. Since I am in a minor flare now he and I are both pretty darn sure I will flare again after giving birth. He wants us to have an action plan for that situation to try to keep the flare at bay. I have never achieved real true prolonger remission. Pred. seems to put me in remission but does not keep me there for long enough. I have had three major flares in the last 3.5years but the majority of time (since I was diagnosed) I have been in a minor flare that does not keep me from functioning and my old GI thought that was good enough for me. My new GI does not agree and neither do I so I am actually looking forward to trying Imuran after I deliver this baby. I bleed a lot with my flares (even the minor ones) and I want to be healthy and enjoy my new born.

I wish you both the BEST of luck!!! Glad to know there are others in my situation!

Thanks for all your replies.  I'm only 13 weeks along, so I guess I'll wait until the time gets closer to make any decisions.  The thought of surgery is scary to me when I had 2 other fairly routine vaginal births.  But the thought of me tearing up my rectum any more scares me too!  And yes, I would prepare for a flare after the baby is born.  I did with both my daughters, and I have noticed a huge correlation between my flares and hormone changes. 

both my drs. (gi and ob/gyn) recommended a C-section for delivery.

my gi said he knows of tons of women who have vaginal births with UC (flaring or not) and it causes heaps more problems later such as a flare after giving birth, hemmies, fistulas, fissures, longer healing time etc.... the list goes on.
he said with c-section i will avoid all the trauma to that area etc.

i am NOT going to risk getting any single one let alone many of those things he mentioned jsut to give birth vaginally. no way!

and the trauma to the bowel from c-section is negligible compared to the trauma to the perineum and anal area from a V-birth.
plus, if your doctor knows anything at all about you, he/she will be careful with the bowel while in there. duh!

im 33 weeks preggers, not flaring (in remission for last 5 weeks or so) and i have a c-section scheduled for april 30th.
spoken to lots of women recently and they all have good c-section experiences with healing etc..

my gi also said that (here in australia anyway) vaginal births tend to cause flares way more than c-sections. i would like to try to avoid that if at all possible.
another reason to have a caesar.