Understandably, Caesarean Section is a major surgery and no one ever wants to go under the knife. However, It should not be taken as a death sentence but by as an alternate way out of a threatening situation.

I was on a visit to a new mother who was dejected that she had to go through CS to have her baby. Of course gloom descended on her because some mothers around her were boasting, talking, bragging, you know the kind of talk that crops up in a situation like childbirth. Instead of wrapping around her the cloak of gratitude, their recanting of their brave exploits in the labor room succeeded in making her fall deeper into an abysmal world of depression. This was someone who almost gave up after several refusals a Caesarean Section even after a prolonged labour.

The medical team decided with the consent of her husband to act fast to at least save her life because her mother literarily influenced her decision to reject the C-section by asserting that she had seven children without a CS, therefore, her daughter would not undergo any surgery.

The CS was done in nick of time, saving both mother and child. The irrational myth tied to Caesarean Section birth has resulted to quite a number of unavoidable deaths. Most mothers tangled with the nonoperational misconception that caesarean section is a taboo live with the consequences.

It is not all women who can give birth vaginally as we always want to term as “Hebrew women” stop binding and casting when the option is available. If it worked for Mary, it may not work for Jane. Just pray for the success of the CS. You are not less a woman if you have to be sectioned. God’s hand is in every birth, either through cesarean section or through vaginal birth. Do not endanger your life trying to hold unto ‘Hebrew women” style.

Years ago, my dad was hurriedly summoned to take one of his sisters to the hospital when life was slipping away due to prolong labour. She was in labour in the church for days instead of going to the hospital. My dad was livid; she was moved to the hospital barely hanging on to life. Now do not get me wrong. It is not wrong to go to church if the church has a clinic or trained nurses. It is even best when “village people” are sitting on your case.

Medically, CS is the use of surgery to deliver babies and often necessary when a vaginal delivery puts baby or mother at risks. It is also necessary to prevent complications. Sometimes emergency C-section is necessary when there is fetal distress, when there is rapid or slow heart rate. It could be carried out when there is placenta abruption or decrease oxygen supply to the fetus. When placenta has grown over the cervix making it impossible for baby to be born.

It is also necessary when there is small pelvis called cephlo-pelvis disproportion this is usually common with skinny women. When a baby becomes distressed during labour, it would be advisable to have a CS. It is also necessary when there is pre-eclampsia; this is caused by a defect in the placenta, which raises blood pressure and protein in urine. When a child is breeched or lying transverse across the uterus rather than top to bottom.

It takes six weeks approximately to recover from the surgery. Complications can set in just like having vaginal birth. Infection can set in, blood clot in the legs, nausea and vomiting. After this CS all you need to do is avoid heavy rich or fatty food that produce gas because of the change in the digestive system. All you need to do is eat light, nourishing food such as soup, poultry, fruits vegetables or yoghurt. The good news is you can still be VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) it means you can still have another baby vaginally after a previous cesarean section.

The choice is yours to accept a CS or lose your life or that of your baby because of ignorance.

Medical sources: Wikipedia and www.webmd.com American pregnancy.org, Rosalind Ryan femail.co.uk, the mail online.