# Asian Mom, White Dad: C-Section More Likely **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 4, 2008, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433 "2008-10-04T11:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/41 "2008-10-06T18:25:04Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I mention this only in the interests of educating; epidurals are not risk-free in themselves either. [Pros and cons article on storknet.com](http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/childbirth/epiduralprosandcons.htm) I think you’re hitting on the key reason behind the elective c-sections - education. There are many women who only have the sitcom version of birth and the difficulties thereof who would rather just do what their doctor tells them they should do. There are some doctors who would rather make a blanket suggestion rather than educate the patient as to the risks and benefits of c-sections, or epidurals, etc. and come to a joint decision (or perhaps the mothers are tuning this education out). And there are doctors whose blanket suggestion is a c-section because it is both convenient and (someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong) less risky for the doctor from a medmal standpoint. As I understand it, there are far more lawsuits over complications of vaginal births than there are for those of c-sections. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/42 "2008-10-06T18:54:07Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Now I’m thinking about 24th-Century _Star Trek_-universe 1-minute deliveries. > > **Doctor Crusher** : “Transporter room, do you have a lock on the baby?” > > **Transporter Chief** : “Yes Doctor.” > > **Doctor Crusher** : “Energize!” > > _10 seconds later…_ > > **Doctor Crusher** : “Congratulations Ensign, it’s a girl!” They did precisely that on an episode of Voyager. Every woman I know wished for that!! ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/43 "2008-10-06T19:01:32Z")
The midwife clinic I went to will do VBACs if there’s at least eighteen months post-section. We’re going back there anyway. They were _angels_ and I love them. Next time i’m pregnant, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/44 "2008-10-06T19:08:12Z")
The midwife clinic I went to will do VBACs if there’s at least eighteen months post-section. We’re going back there anyway. They were _angels_ and I love them. Next time i’m pregnant, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/45 "2008-10-06T19:39:48Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > All should be aware that interventions such as epidurals _can_ (not will) lead to more interventions, which _can_ end up in a C-section. > > I mention this only in the interests of educating; epidurals are not risk-free in themselves either. [Pros and cons article on storknet.com](http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/childbirth/epiduralprosandcons.htm) > > I, for example, ended up with a horrific tear and a botched epidural (not rare), which resulted in me having an excruciating spinal headache for several days – and a return to the hospital for a ‘blood patch’ to repair it (a lovely injection of my own blood into my spine – it felt like a nail being driven in). I also spiked a fever, a common effect of epidurals, which is risky for the baby. > > My two following natural births, while quite exciting and certainly not pain-free, were HEAVEN compared to the “medicated” births. I was back to something quite near normal within a week for both. Of course, you are right. I was only trying to point out that it’s not necessarily an either/or proposition to decide between 2 days of painful labor and a major operation. And that whatever you choose to do, it’s not always easy or work out the way you plan for it to. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/46 "2008-10-07T00:34:22Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Should we mention the first post c-section poop, or leave them to their ignorant bliss? 😃 You’ve piqued my curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/47 "2008-10-07T02:19:39Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > You’ve piqued my curiosity. Think: - You likely haven’t eaten in a day or so. - You’ve probably had some narcotics. - You haven’t been moving around much Therefore, the poop has had a chance to get settled in and get comfy, and isn’t interested in moving along. Not without encouragemement. The sort of encouragement that’s typically provided by abdominal muscles. Which, when asked to perform thusly, essentially react by saying ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? OOOOOH YOU’RE GONNA PAY!!! That said - as long as you’re a good girl and take the stool softeners they offer (and ask for stronger help “on the spot” as it were), this, er, passes quickly - I think I only had trouble with one “session”. As opposed to the grade-3 tear I had the first time around. That time, the problem wasn’t the abdominal muscles, it was damage \>\>\>right there\<\<\<. As noted above, that lasted for 2+ weeks. I definitely prefer the single post-C-section dump vs. 2+ weeks of severe painful dumps… hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/48 "2008-10-07T05:13:19Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > They did precisely that on an episode of Voyager. Every woman I know wished for that!! Really? I missed that one and thought I was being clever 😉 ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/49 "2008-10-07T07:24:57Z")
Siam Sam both my daughters were born c-section. My first was born as the result of a long-long-long labor, resulting in fetal distress. The OB’s decided my in-utero daughter was in distress, so an emergency c-section was performed. Late in my second pregnancy, the OB’s decided the baby would delivered by c-section for insurance purposes (the doctors’, not mine). My older daughter gave birth to three children vaginally. My younger daughter went into labor on 7/4/08 (_Yankee Doodle Dandy_ was on TCM as she started contractions.) She had contractions for 13 hours, her water broke, & they saw the baby’s head. The OB took her to surgery, and fourteen hours after she started contractions, Angelboy was born. (It seems his head was too large to pass through my daughter’s vaginal canal). My daughter & I both feel our c-section scars are badges of honor. Sam, if your doctor insists c-sections are the way to go, it might be time to get a second opinion. Phil ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/50 "2008-10-07T07:27:54Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > As part of his quiet and gentle approach, mothers were encouraged to be silent, or nearly silent, so as not to frighten the baby. Let’s see… kid is being squeezed through a tube of flesh surrounded by bone into an alien environment of light and air and Og knows what other new stimuli… and someone is worried that a little _noise_ is going to scare the kid? 😕 Is there anything about being born, even into a dim, tranquil environment, that _isn’t_ potentially frightening? ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/51 "2008-10-07T17:10:25Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > It _is_ a cultural thing. I don’t know about the Latin American cultures in particular, but in general, we react to pain in the way in which we’ve seen those around us do it. When my mother was a clueless 18-year-old in the hospital in labor with my brother, they put her in a room next to a woman giving birth to twins. The woman’s screaming and wailing was so loud that it had my mother terrified. The nurse told her, “Oh, she’s just screaming to scream.” That’s just how some women are. Now my mother’s deliveries weren’t a walk in the park, but my aunt is one of those women who go in, squat, push a couple of times, and out pops the baby. I doubt she even broke a sweat. Some people are just lucky. All of us (me, my brother, and cousins) were born vaginal. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/52 "2008-10-07T17:40:59Z")
I personally would never wish for a c-section, but I can understand why some women are afraid of labor and think they are an easier option. As others have pointed out, hollywood likes to make big drama out of childbirth, and women always are eager to share their own horror stories with each other. A c-section seems controlled and calm…no suprise water breaking, no screaming, no uncontrollable pain or surprises, no embarrassing pushing. Really, if you read a normal step by step account of a vaginal birth, it sounds awful and scary to many women. Having a Dr. take charge, and being able to plan for it can seem very appealing! I think for many women, the loss of control is difficult. You just don’t know what is going to happen during labor, and for the birth of my first child, that was very scary for me. Those first few hours of labor, when I knew it was really happening, I felt very very scared, because of the unknown. So I am not suprised that women would feel that way and want a c-section. Now, having gone through 2 vaginal births myself, I can attest that for me, the recovery alone made the labor worth it. When you want to be up and around, carrying your baby to and fro, is when a c-section recovery would make things difficult. After a vaginal birth you get back to feeling pretty good pretty fast. In the case of my second, I felt great just hours after. But I also know that each woman is different and each labor is different. My first child was a long, exhausting, painful process where the epidural wore off and there was back labor and hours of pushing and a giant episiotomy to tend to afterward. My second labor, was pitocin induced after my water broke, but a breeze. I was talking and watching tv for hours in minor pain and then the Dr. stripped my membranes and it was all over in less than 2 hours and about 10 minutes of pushing, with a perfect epidural and no pain at all during delivery! If I did not have both experiences, I would not have believed the other one was possible. I guess my point is, there is a huge range of childbirth experiences and all the best plans go awry and all that. I would never tell another woman she didn’t need that c-section, or drugs, or whatever, because after my first, I knew that all the best plans do not prepare you for the kind of pain that is possible. I also know that in many cases, things go just fine and there is no need for a c-section if you are doing it just because you fear childbirth. But, I also hate surgery of any kind and even after having very minor abdominal laprascopic surgery, I know it is no picnic to recover, and it is not an ‘easy’ way out at all. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433/53 "2008-10-08T04:14:23Z")
> [@phil417](#): > > Sam, if your doctor insists c-sections are the way to go, it might be time to get a second opinion. Well, not OUR doctor. We’ve chosen to be childless, and it’s a bit late to reverse that decision now. Even if the wife had not had her tubes tied, which she did, we’re both well into middle age. But from what I can tell, it’s not really a case here of doctors advising it so much as it is patients demanding it. Local women want C-sections; normal birth is coming to be viewed as something for the peasants to do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-mom-white-dad-c-section-more-likely/466433.md?page=2)