How many c-sections is "too many"?

[WifeofAnt]

I read this story the other day of this woman having her 8th c-section... Isn't there some kind of biological limit? Could the majority of women realistically have 8 c-sections and still be able to have children? It just really confuses me. VBA1C is considered 'risky', VBA2C is a little rare, most doctors wouldn't even consider VBA3C... but to cut someone open 8 times?!

[AlexisT]

It's all very individual. I know women who have had 6 or more and ones who were told to stop after 3. I think 8 would be at the right end of the bell curve, though. Anecdotally, problems seem to go up sharply from #4 and up (and I seem to remember something about stats supporting that... risk of accreta, percreta etc).

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

It's all very individual. I know women who have had 6 or more and ones who were told to stop after 3. I think 8 would be at the right end of the bell curve, though. Anecdotally, problems seem to go up sharply from #4 and up (and I seem to remember something about stats supporting that... risk of accreta, percreta etc).

This is my understanding, too. There's no way to just set a limit (like 6) for all women - every situation is different, yk? 4th, 5th, etc., are more risky, in general, than a 2nd c-section, sure.

[Storm Bride]

As others have said, there's really no general limit.

I've had five. I haven't suffered any major problems, and had excellent recoveries from four of them (my fourth was beyond brutal, but I did have a fully recovery eventually, and a lot of the brutality of it was because I'd lost my baby and was also emotionally devastated). However, I really probably should have quit after the third, because of the nerve damage, which was worsened slightly after number five. Someone else may have five (or even more) without the odds catching up at all, yk?

ETA: Oh - and the OB who did my second and third told me he was okay with doing "up to four, but not more than that", and that he preferred to stop at three.

[jeminijad]

[VillageMom6]

My good friend had her eighth c-section last summer. She's 44 now so I don't know if she'll have any more... but I'm pretty sure her doctor was okay with it.

I'm thinking that I heard somewhere that Ethel(?) Kennedy had eleven... and that was back in the '50s and '60s!

[MamaJenese]

I just had this chat with my OB. She feels comfortable going to 4 with her patients but has had some women go up to 8. Really it is a case by case.

[Climbergirl]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

ETA: Oh - and the OB who did my second and third told me he was okay with doing "up to four, but not more than that", and that he preferred to stop at three.

For some reason, I find this a bit amusing. So, what happens after 4? They won't do a c-section? So, now you need to birth vaginally (because exactly what is the other option)?

I think a better statement would be, "After 3 c-sections, your risk of complications (such as x, y, and z) increase and the surgery becomes more technical requiring more skill. If you want to have more than 4 c-sections, I would make sure you find a provider that has experience with doing higher numbers of c-sections." Or something like that.

Just an observation

[KempsMama]

Originally Posted by Climbergirl

For some reason, I find this a bit amusing. So, what happens after 4? They won't do a c-section? So, now you need to birth vaginally (because exactly what is the other option)?

Nope, if you get pregnant after X amount of C-Sections, you stay pregnant forever.

[WifeofAnt]

I guess after 3 or 4 your risks start to go up pretty fast. 2.4% chance of needing an emergency hysterectomy after 4 c-sections, 9% after 6... I really don't like those odds!

I think the doctors who tell you to stop at 4 just wouldn't accept you as a patient unless they absolutely had to. I don't think they can be forced to treat you unless they're on call and you show up at the hospital in labor or something.

[CherryBomb]

Depends on the individual woman, I suppose. I have a friend who's had 6 and no problems. I've known other women who had serious issues after only 2 or 3.

[MegBoz]

Originally Posted by Climbergirl

For some reason, I find this a bit amusing. So, what happens after 4? They won't do a c-section? So, now you need to birth vaginally (because exactly what is the other option)?

I figured they were just suggesting you not get pregnant again. Ya know, use birth control of some kind. (In this case, tubal ligation if you need to stop reproducing forever.)

[Ammaarah]

I can't imagine having that many surgeries. I'm pregnant with my second child right now and hoping to VBAC. If I do end up with another c-section, I'm not sure if I'll have another child after. I've had one c-section and one extensive abdominal surgery and they have taken a toll on me, although both were necessary.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Climbergirl

For some reason, I find this a bit amusing. So, what happens after 4? They won't do a c-section? So, now you need to birth vaginally (because exactly what is the other option)?

This whole conversation was going on when I was fighting with him about a VBA2C. If I weren't already exhausted from holding my ground on "this is not going to be a c-section", I'd have asked him exactly that. It seemed his choices were to either 1) perform a tubal without my consent, or 2) force me into a VBA3C when I got pregnant again. However, what he really meant was more along the lines of "I'm am King God OB and I've decided how many children you should have, and your opinion on the subject is irrelevant". My opinion on the subject is that I can't actually give my opinion on the subject on MDC.

I think a better statement would be, "After 3 c-sections, your risk of complications (such as x, y, and z) increase and the surgery becomes more technical requiring more skill. If you want to have more than 4 c-sections, I would make sure you find a provider that has experience with doing higher numbers of c-sections." Or something like that.

Just an observation

I agree completely.

What I eventually ended up doing was landing on a new OB's doorstep (so to speak) with four c-sections already under my belt, and almost at the end of my first trimester. Her choices were to take me as a "patient" or take a chance on being the OB on call when I showed up at term saying, "okay - I've had four c-sections - what do you want to do?" (which would have been fun, in a way - but I didn't want to get my prior OB).

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by WifeofAnt

I guess after 3 or 4 your risks start to go up pretty fast. 2.4% chance of needing an emergency hysterectomy after 4 c-sections, 9% after 6... I really don't like those odds!

I think the doctors who tell you to stop at 4 just wouldn't accept you as a patient unless they absolutely had to. I don't think they can be forced to treat you unless they're on call and you show up at the hospital in labor or something.

Yeah - it's kind of funny how they can go ahead and perform surgery without consent, and mark us for life, but they can't be "forced" to "treat" us, because that oh-so-safe, implied-guarantee-of-healthy-mom-and-healthy-baby surgery has made us ticking time bombs.