What are the medical reasons to schedual a c/s?

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Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that the stress of having an operation is equal to the stress of labor and delivery? I'm not a doctor, but just off the bat I would think that. I might be wrong, though. I myself have a condition were my heart beats too fast, and we have been worried about it, but I managed to have two out of hospital deliveries. It's probably a lot different when you've actually had heart surgery, though.

Right away like a pp said I'd say placenta previa is probably one of the most well-known conditions that truly necessitates a c-section. Another, which is very rare, is reproductive anamolies or birth defects. My mother's twin sister had this. She had a thick wall covering her cervix(how she actually got pregnant, we don't know) and if I remember correctly her uterus had a wall seperating the two sides. Anyhow, she had placenta previa, so they scheduled a c-section, but when they went it, they discovered all the anamolies that she had. She feels lucky that she had placenta previa or else she might have bled to death because of the wall that was covering her cervix.

Barring any defects and placenta previa, undetected gestational diabetes can produce very large babies that sometimes are unable to be delivered naturally, I've heard, but that's is questionable because a mother's pelvis is amazing when she's got the right position, and can stretch to birth very large babies.

Also certain birth defects that the baby has could *possibly* necessistate a c-section...I've heard that as well, but again questionable, is probably rare.

Rare cases of true fetal distress also, and emergency situations with the mother's health also.

I know one woman on another board who is planning an elective c-section with her third child. I'm certain the reasoning wouldn't pass muster with many here, but I must say I'd make the same choice in her case.

The situation with her is this: She has large babies and honest-to-God COPD. Her first birth was very traumatic because of this, though it was vaginal. The second time around, she was induced a month early to try to avoid another traumatic birth, and wound up with her son in NICU for a short time because his lungs weren't quite mature. (Yeah, poor idea to do that.) Personally, after such a traumatic first birth, I'd have scheduled a c-section the second time around. She's got a section scheduled for #3 because it is her best option to a) avoid another traumatic birth & difficult recovery and b) avoid complications for the baby that would be associated with induction early enough for her baby to actually fit (if I am recalling her story correctly, even with the early induction she had a very hard time giving birth to #2).

And, of course, there are a number of ways a first birth can be mismanaged to create an artificially traumatic experience that a woman would concievably want to avoid the next time around, and a mainstream woman would likely see a c-section as her best/only way to do so. Things like homebirth and UC really don't even occur as possibilities to most women out there. It's a matter of making the best decision you can with the information at hand, and I do think that psychological reasons are as valid as medical reasons.

ETA: Another thought I had. Some women who have been sexually abused/assaulted have a very hard time pushing. It's another of those things that no one talks about. I'd only heard of it in passing, and certainly never expected to have the issue personally (though I do have the requisite background for it to crop up). So it took me by surprise even though I was aware of the possibility. I can see how traumatic it could be if you were not aware of what could happen, and though I wouldn't personally make that decision, I could 100% understand another woman wanting to avoid pushing again.

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Sagesgirl - I loved your entire post. This part was something few realize though - the psychological reasons may be greater than major surgery. The stats in Denmark for women who chose cesarean whithout medical grounds are: of all multipara (those who have birthed before) who chose cesarean as the mothers wish, 93% have suffered from an extremely traumatic first birth experience. 93%! So these women are not chosing cesarean because of convenience, or because they want to know the babys birthday, or they think the physical recovery will be easier.

It is very easy to pass judgement on others, esp. those that we don't know very well. I mean, is this woman here to defend herself, and more importantly, should she even have to? A woman should have the right to birth at home, assisted or with a midwife, in a clinic or hospital, or to not birth at all and have a cesarean. Only each individual woman has the right to make that choice, and no matter how we feel, or judge it, we should respect her choice. Unless we have been THAT woman, and walked in her shoes, we have no right to jedge her life.

Another reason for a scheduled c-section would be transverse lie on a baby that doesn't want to be turned. It's hard to deliver an arm first.

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That's exactly why I'm discussing this on here and NOT with our mutual friend- I 100% support her choice to birth in the way she feels most comfortable and there's no way I could discuss this with her (or with anybody who may relay the story back to her) without me sounding judgemental.

I'm well aware that c/s can and do save lives, and I'm somewhat familiar with many of the situations that can occur during late pregnancy and during labor that make a c/s advisable. I also understand why many women choose a repeat c/s rather than a VBAC. What I'm not familiar with is reasons a woman would plan on a c/s after having a vaginal birth, based solely on the outcome of the first birth.

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In this situation, a c/s would be schedualed in the last month of pg or even in early labor- not the middle of the 2nd trimester!

I know of a couple of people who opted for a cesarean birth after they had a fourth degree extension of an episiotomy. One woman had the c/s and the other arrived pushing at the hospital and delivered vaginally without significant tears. The pain of a 4th degree is something that I thought A LOT about when I was pregnant with my 2nd. I could see why a woman would be frightened enough of vaginal birth to schedule. I think it's up to her careprovider to let her know that a 4th is not necessarily going to happen again... (It certainly didn't in my case! )