Looking for stories from midwife clients who had c-sections?

[jksmith]

I'm a student midwife writing a paper about midwives assisting OBs at sections. I am discussing the positive and negative sides and looking for your stories. I would especially like to hear from you if your midwife assisted in the surgery, but I would also like opinions from those who did not. I am particularly examining the issues of continuity (did/ would you like the midwife assisting in the surgery or not, and why?), professional relations (how did the midwife and doctors work together, or not), and the promotion of natural childbirth (does it go against the midwifery ideals and goals, or not).

Please only post if you are ok with me quoting you in my paper.

[sjh9]

I had to have a c-section with my third son.  This was due to the fact that he was a breech presentation.  My nurse midwife was present in the OR with me when I had the surgery.  Having a section after having had two vaginal births is both scary and disappointing.  To have the warm and loving energy of my midwife in the OR was priceless.  She made the birth environment as warm and friendly as she could given the situation.

  She did not assist.  If she would have assisted I might not have ended up with a single closure, or staples.  But she did take lots of pictures.  Which was incredibly helpful to me.  When you give birth vaginally you are very involved in the whole process from the contractions to pushing out the baby.  When you have a section they strap you to a table and next thing you know there is a baby there.  I struggled a lot with how divorced I was from the whole process.  How did this baby get here?  I didn't experience any of things that were normal about birth to me.  To have her photos was incredibly helpful.