Question #1: How many Cesarean Births Have you had? 

From the comments in subsequent questions we can see that many women who have had . . . → Read More: A Closer Look at the Cesarean Survey]]>

As we review the results and over 200 pages of comments, we will post the results to each question individually. These links will take you to our main website for complete articles.

Question #1: How many Cesarean Births Have you had? 

From the comments in subsequent questions we can see that many women who have had just one cesarean experienced it with their first birth. This also provides some insight as to why ‘traumatic’ and ‘disappointing’ were the words most participants used to describe their experience. Many women go into their first birth with expectations that may not be met and having it end in a cesarean or in an emergency situation can be very scary and upsetting. 

Interestingly, many women who had subsequent cesareans for various reasons (see question #3) described the experience as calm and even empowering…

Question #2: Your Cesarean Birth was…? 

The majority of women in this case did not opt for their cesarean, nor did they have an emergent situation. Many failure to progress answers, which in some cases (in my experience) has been failure to wait on the part of the provider. I certainly cannot speak for all the women who did answer this survey, but I can share some comments that were left.

While all these comments are not directly related to failure to progress, these are the ones I found to be most interesting, telling, and helpful when…

Question #3: If Elective or Planned Cesarean, What was the Reason? 

There is so much more that could be shared about this subject in general, but I am just going to share some quotes from others instead of breaking this one down because it can certainly be a touchy subject, or carry feelings for some women…

Question #4: What Support Did You Have? 

I do not have very much to say about this in general, but there are a couple alarming trends with this.  One thing that I am not happy to see is women depending on hospital staff for support during labor. Unfortunately in hospital situations and settings we know that nurses as well as hospital staff are completely over worked, and there are some serious shortages across the nation. Depending on a hospital staff member could be a contributing factor to the cesarean rates.

Another issue I can see is the lack of professional support, like using a doula which is connected directly with lowered cesarean birth rates…

Question #5: Would You Describe Your Experience As… 

Wonderful :             27.7%   227 mothers
Empowering :           7.4%    61 mothers
Frusterating :          26.7%   219 mothers
Traumatic :             46.8%   384 mothers
Disappointing :         45.5%   373 mothers

Due to the wide range of experiences and emotional comments, we have separated the comments into two posts; Part 1: Positive Comments and Part 2: Negative Comments. Please understand that some of these comments are extreme but we wanted to represent how women feel and what their experiences are in their own words.  

Question #6: Do You Feel You Were Respected and in Control Throughout the Process?

Like every other question on this survey, we saw complete extremes on each side of the question, and very few moderate or middle of  the road answers. 312 women left a comment with their answer for this question, which left me with 14 pages of information, experiences, and comments that could be a trigger for anyone with any sort of a birth trauma. So I truly caution those same people from reading further.

 More to be added as we continue to look at results.

In a recent survey, hundreds of mothers shared positive and negative feelings about their cesarean birth. While traumatic and disappointing described the majority of experiences, many also expressed gratitude.

Hartford, Connecticut. March 22, 2010 – Eight hundred and sixty one women . . . → Read More: Press Release: Post-Cesarean Feelings Survey]]>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     

Survey Reveals Overwhelming Support for Vaginal Birth After Cesarean and Desire for Better Care     

In a recent survey, hundreds of mothers shared positive and negative feelings about their cesarean birth. While traumatic and disappointing described the majority of experiences, many also expressed gratitude.

Hartford, Connecticut. March 22, 2010 – Eight hundred and sixty one women recently participated in a survey about their experiences and feelings following a cesarean birth.

The Post Cesarean Feelings Survey was created by Danielle Elwood, doula, birth advocate and blogger at Momotics.com, and Theresa Shebib co-founder of HealthyBabyNetwork.com, with the goal of raising awareness about the emotional impact of cesarean birth.

“With the recent controversy over bans on Vaginal Birth after Cesarean, also known as VBAC, as well as warnings in the news about cesarean births and repeat cesarean sections, we thought it would be important to release these results nationally,” said Elwood.

Of the women who were surveyed, almost half (46.8%) described their experience as traumatic, while 7.4% described it as empowering. Participants were also given an opportunity to expand on their answers and rate their emotional recovery. On a scale of 1 through 10, one being no emotional issues, and 10 being described as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the majority of the women surveyed rated their emotional recovery between 5 and 10.

“This is not surprising since many women do not go into labor expecting a cesarean,” said Shebib. “Women want to talk about their experience but fear being judged or appearing ungrateful. These experiences matter and women need support from family, friends and health care professionals following an unplanned cesarean birth.”

The birth experience impacts future birthing decisions. While many women expressed a desire to have subsequent cesareans, the majority (77.5%) would consider a VBAC for future pregnancies. Unfortunately, many women also feel that their birthing options are severely restricted, even illegal in some cases, showcasing the lack of information and support available to many women regarding VBAC deliveries.

To better understand the birthing experience, the survey included questions about labor support, physical and emotional recovery, whether women felt adequately informed and respected during labor, whether they understood the risks of a cesarean, and plans for future births.

The survey results will be used to write a series of informational articles and blogs exploring the emotional impact of cesarean birth.

About Momotics:
Momotics.com is a personally run blog entailing current events, birth education, postpartum support, and the politics of parenting maintained by Danielle Elwood, birth advocate, doula, and aspiring childbirth educator.

About HealthyBabyNetwork.com:
HealthyBabyNetwork.com is a network of websites providing services and products related to pre-conception, pregnancy and birth. HealthyBabyNetwork.com is owned and managed by Exanics.

The initial survey results are available upon request. Subsequent articles based on the response to each question of the survey will be available in coming weeks. For additional information and inquiries, please contact Danielle Elwood or Theresa Shebib.

Contacts:

Danielle Elwood
203-513-2116
http://www.momotics.com

 Theresa Shebib
1-877-755-0702
http://www.healthybabynetwork.com

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When Theresa Shebib and I embarked on a small survery about cesarean section mothers, we never imagined it would skyrocket so nearly 861 mothers worldwide.  Starting as a simple project of two cesarean mothers, . . . → Read More: Post Cesarean Feelings Survey Initial Results]]>

This is the first of a series of blogs written by Danielle Elwood summarizing the results of the Post Cesarean Feelings Survey.

When Theresa Shebib and I embarked on a small survery about cesarean section mothers, we never imagined it would skyrocket so nearly 861 mothers worldwide.  Starting as a simple project of two cesarean mothers, and a passion for internet blogging we threw together a survey with 16 questions that peaked our own interests about other mothers experiences.

Over night the project grew a mind of its own multiplying in size a number of times. The information, numbers, and comments.  Much to our surprise many women were more open and honest than we expected. It was amazing to see the impact of social media today on this project.

What became even more shocking to us were the replies, numbers and information we were able to obtain with this project.  I will go question by question reviewing and sharing some of the results through various posts, but first before getting into each individual question, and the comments and experiences listed, I would like to give a general overview and release of the actual poll results.

Starting with question #1 : How many Cesarean Births have you had?
1 Cesarean – 67.4%   580 mothers
2 Cesareans – 23.5%   202 mothers
3 Cesareans – 6.5%    56 mothers
4 Cesareans – 2.6%   22 mothers
1 mother skipped this question

Question #2 – Your Cesarean Birth was :
Elective or Planned : 14.8%   118 mothers
Unplanned : 39.5%  316 mothers
Emergency : 21.0%   168 mothers
Repeat Cesareans :  15.1%   121 mothers
(First was unplanned cesarean, scheduled subsequent cesareans)
First Birth was Cesarean, VBAC attempt or other births : 5.6%   45 mothers
Always attempted vaginal birth, always ended in cesarean : 3.9%   31 mothers
62 mothers skipped this question

Question #3 – If Elective or Planned, What was the reason?
Previous Birth was Cesarean, Doctor Recommended :  33.9%   112 mothers
Knew what to expect, was the birth I wanted: 10.3%  34 mothers
Fear of labor & Natural childbirth : 2.4%  8 mothers
Previous Traumatic Birth, Cesarean was Less risky : 6.4%  21 mothers
No VBAC Support or availability : 5.5%  18 mothers
Other : 56.1 %  185 mothers
531 mothers skipped this question

Question #4 – What Support did you have During Labor?
Midwife : 18.2%  152 mothers
Doula : 9.3%   78 mothers
Spouce/Partner : 90.7%   758 mothers
Family/Friend : 37.0% 309 mothers
Hospital Staff : 49.2%  411 mothers
25 mothers skipped this question
*Note, mothers were allowed to choose more than one option

Question #5 – Would you describe your experience as :
Wonderful : 27.7%   227 mothers
Empowering : 7.4%  61 mothers
Frusterating : 26.7%  219 mothers
Traumatic : 46.8% 384 mothers
Disappointing : 45.5%  373 mothers
41 mothers skipped this question
*Note, mothers were allowed to choose more than one option

Question #6 – Do You feeling like you were in control and respected through the process?
Yes : 37.4%   318 mothers
Somewhat : 35.3%  300 mothers
No : 31.4%  267 mothers
10 mothers skipped this question

Question #7 – Were you happy with your birth support team?
Yes: 71.1%  601 mothers
No : 28.9% 244 mothers
16 mothers skipped this question

Question #8 – Do you feel adequately informed about interventions, medications, and complications during labor?
Yes : 41.1%   350 mothers
No : 28.3%  241 mothers
Somewhat : 21.6%  184 mothers
Does not apply : 8.9%  76 mothers
10 mothers skipped this question

Question #9 – Do you feel you were adequetely informed about the risks of a Cesarean section?
Yes : 51.5%   434 mothers
No : 48.5% 408 mothers
19 mothers skipped this question

Question #10 – How do you feel now about your cesarean section?
It was necessary, greatful we are all ok : 48.2%   406 mothers
It could have been avoided : 25.4%   214 mothers
I wish I had made difference choices that may have not resulted in a Cesarean : 30.6%  258 mothers
Neautral/No strong feelings : 6.0%   51 mothers
It was a traumatic experience : 31.8%   268 mothers
I am angry : 22.8%   192 mothers
18 mothers skipped this question

Question #11 – Did you discuss your experience with family and friends?
Yes : 90.8%  768 mothers
No  : 9.2%  78 mothers
15 mothers skipped this question

Question #12 – Please rate your physical recovery in 1 – 10 scale.  1 being easy, 10 being difficult, painful, with compications.

1 – 16.0 % 136 mothers
2 – 12.9%  110 mothers
3 – 12.2%  104 mothers
4 – 7.0%   60 mothers
5 – 8.7%  74 mothers
6 – 8.1%  69 mothers
7 – 9.9%  84 mothers
8 – 11.5%  98 mothers
9 – 7.0%   60 mothers
10 – 6.7 %   57 mothers
9 mothers skipped this question

Question #13 – Please rate you emotional recovery in 1 – 10 scale. 1 being no issues, 10 being difficult, or PTSD.

1 – 17.9%  152 mothers
2 – 10.2%  87 mothers
3 – 7.5%   64 mothers
4 – 5.5%  47 mothers
5 – 8.7%  74 mothers
6 – 7.1%  60 mothers
7 – 11.8%   100 mothers
8 – 13.5%  115 mothers
9 – 7.7%  65 mothers
10 – 13.3%   113 mothers
12 mothers skipped this question

Question #14 – Did you seek counseling or other support?  (Support group)
Yes : 27.8%  234 mothers
No : 66.7%  561 mothers
N/A : 5.5% 46 mothers
20 skipped this question

Question # 15 – How do you plan on birthing your future children?
Elective/Repeat Cesarean : 23.3%  196 mothers
VBAC : 49.3%  416 mothers
Home Birth : 22.8%  192 mothers
Water Birth : 12.1%  102 mothers
No more children : 26.6%  224 mothers
18 mothers skipped this question

Question # 16 – Would you consider having a VBAC?
Yes : 77.5%  628 mothers
No : 22.5%  182 mothers
51 mothers skipped this question

On top of all the questions we included a box to add any additional comments, in which 302 women used to comment about their experiences and even made comments about the survey itself.
In the following posts, we will start to break this information down question by question providing quotes and comments from the real mothers who took the survey, and opinions on the numbers, and what they say for birth, especially cesarean birth today.

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The Cesarean Feelings Survey was created by two cesarean moms; Danielle Elwood, Doula, Momotics.com and Theresa Shebib co-founder of www.HealthyBabyNetwork.com