What I Learned From My emergency Cesarean Birth

How we give birth is important, and how we feel about our birth experience is equally as important. 

April is c-section awareness month, so for this blog I want to highlight my chiropractic journey because it’s directly related to the birth of my children.

As I tell families who come to my office, I haven’t always been a chiropractor.  And I mention that now because my mindset about birth was very different between my first and second pregnancies.  I have written a 3 part blog series on my journey to chiropractic which chronicled prenatal chiropractic care, pediatric chiropractic care, and the subsequent lifestyle shift and changes my family and I made.  But if I had to sum that journey up into one thought, it would be - that I would not be a chiropractor had I not had an emergency c-section delivery with my first child. 

However, this blog is not about that journey.  You’ve got to go read my other blogs to get that story!  😉  But to sum it up for you: my emergency c-section with my first birth, led me to start under chiropractic care with my second pregnancy, which helped me achieve a VBAC, and then once my family started under care, I was able to witness the body’s ability to heal when nervous system irritation is removed. 

This blog is about how I processed the aftermath of the birth of my first child, what I learned about myself and human physiology, how I embraced the concept “that if I wanted my next birth to go differently, well, I was going to have to do things differently”, and what I’ve learned from the strength and resiliency, the dreams and desires from the moms in my office. 

What I learned:

…..I am not “less than” because I had a c-section. 

I remember going back to work way too early (after 4 weeks postpartum!) and having women ask me about my birth.  I wasn’t comfortable talking about it because I had not come to terms with it yet.  And with the comments like, “at least you and the baby are healthy” or “I’m sorry” – as they looked at me like I was a poor young mom who just couldn’t do the natural birth thing.  Then they would tell me their birth story, of their natural drug-free vaginal birth, not realizing that that was exactly my dream and desire.  We need to be aware of the words we use.  We have so much power in not only our thoughts, but the words we speak.  And by golly, we are not less than because we either chose a c-section or those were the cards we were dealt.

…..We can’t ignore the fact that a c-section birth is different from a vaginal birth. 

It’s different for mom and it’s different for baby.  There are things to consider with recovery such as taking care of your c-section scar, giving yourself more time to heal including more time with return to exercise, and understanding how the pelvic floor and abdominal muscles are connected and how they heal.  When babies are born vaginally, they get a good squish aka cranial molding as they come through the birth canal.  Babies also get a good bacterial bath from the birth canal.  In a c-section, those events might be missing and are things that need to be remembered for c-section babies.  I love going over pelvic floor physical therapist recommendations with my moms as well as continued chiropractic care during the post partum time.  I also love mentioning chiropractic care for newborns to assess primitive reflexes and cranial shape, and to also mention nursing support, formula choices if necessary, and infant probiotic supplements.

…..A c-section birth is major abdominal surgery. 

No matter how gentle the c-section is, it is still surgery.  There is a period of rest afterwards that is needed for proper healing, and yes, having a newborn doesn’t make it easy when the only instructions we give moms when they go home is to not go up and down stairs or lift anything!!  You can’t compare your postpartum healing to moms with vaginal births or to any other moms for that matter.  It took me a very long time to get back to running and exercise.  And that’s ok! 

…..I didn’t expect the emotional aftermath of birth, and it’s ok to ask for help. 

I vividly remember sitting in my bathroom after my mom had left, and my husband and gone back to work, and it was just me and my baby.  And I’m crying and he’s crying (but I’m still not supposed to go up and down stairs or lift things!) and this birth wasn’t what I had imagined, I felt like a failure because not only could I not birth this baby, I obviously didn’t seem to know how to take care of him, and it was all the things.  Now I know that I’m not alone in those feelings.  Plenty of moms with unmedicated vaginal births experience the overwhelm too, but my thoughts were so deeply rooted in my birth experience that it was seeping into all aspects of my life.  I’m thankful that in the years that have passed, maternal mental health resources and services are talked about more.  Sharing your birth story with a licensed professional can be so healing.  And sometimes, it’s not just the scar that needs to be healed. 

I learned so much from my experience.  I wish that I had had a doula.  I wish that I had taken independent childbirth classes and not just the hospital ones.  I wish I had asked more questions of my providers.  I wish I had been under chiropractic care.  I wish I had had a photographer.  I wish that I had spent as much time on creating my birth support team as I did fearing childbirth or prepping my nursery. 

But even as I write those wishes, I’m so very thankful for the experience.  I learned so much about my strength.  I learned how much I love my husband.  I learned a love I’ve never known before.  I learned that fear can really impact birth.  I learned that however we give birth is beautiful.  I learned what my life’s purpose is which I take very seriously and give thanks for each day that I adjust a pregnant mama. 

This blog is not meant to provide medial advice.  It’s not meant to make you feel judged either, for whether you had an emergency c-section or a planned one, what I hope and wish for you is that you felt supported, that you were listened to and respected, and that you made informed decisions. 

~Dr. Shannon

And I think this picture sums up perfectly all that I learned from my birth experience :)