Cesarean section or C-section was another name too complicated pregnancy a decade ago. C-sections are performed for pregnancy complications like birth passage too narrow for the baby to travel, an uncomfortable position of the baby, the cervix is not opening properly and other life-threatening complications where a normal delivery is not possible. Some of the common questions that most women have when they are told about a c-section are, what is the difference? So when pregnancy complications are lesser and there is no trouble in the baby coming through the cervix, then a planned pregnancy happens. Otherwise, a C-section is performed. The pregnancy complications will be identified well before the actual labor.

An emergency C-section is performed when both the mother and the baby develop life-threatening complications. To protect the health of the baby and the mother, an obstetrician will general suggest a C-section. This will also reduce the labor pain but the post-delivery recovery period is longer than a planned delivery or a normal delivery. Most emergency C-sections are performed after the start of the labor. If a C-section is planned or opted for then it is called an elective C-section which is performed during the 37 – 40 week of pregnancy. So will anyone choose a C-section? Yes, I am one example of it. My gynecologist in Chennai explained me the possible complications I will be facing during my labor. She did not say that we will perform a c-section, an elective one but said that the chances of emergency c-section are very high. I read through the reports and started to read and discuss with my friends about the c-section. Once I got a clear idea of how this is going to be, I opted for a c-section. During my 39^th week, a successful c-section was performed on me and I delivered my child. So C-sections are not always complicated. From complication, it has moved towards being a choice. I was a little scared about the labor pain and mentally was not ready to face it. All these thoughts made me opt for the c-section. Other reasons for an elective c-section are:

1. Genital herpes is something that can be passed onto the baby via your vagina and hence, in this case, a c-section is performed.
2. If your baby is reverse. This is something we can identify over a scan well before c-section and we are sure about a complicated pregnancy. So a c-section is performed in this case also.
3. Blocked cervix. This case, the opening is so narrow that your baby cannot travel through.
4. If 1^stdelivery is a c-section. This increases the chance of a 2^nd delivery also being a C-section.

Finally, there are a lot of debates around a c-section child’s health. But there is nothing to worry. Most pediatrician in Bangalore will suggest some growth and development tracker keep your child on track with respect to height, weight and cognition developments.