What do you think?
Rate this book
Pinter & Martin Why It Matters #12
Why Caesarean Matters
Caesarean birth is a hugely complex and emotive topic. Few women actively choose to birth by caesarean, and it is associated with both positive and negative health outcomes. Women can be left feeling that their body has become a battleground, and it can be hard to distinguish between evidence-based practice and personal opinion. Why Caesarean Matters aims to navigate the research and put women at the centre of their own care so that their birth can be a positive experience, however it unfolds. The clear and evidence-based discussion addresses the questions that women and their care providers may have, enabling women to make positive decisions and feel supported if a caesarean is needed.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 25, 2018
6 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 21, 2023
Short, handy guide on the topic addressing the practical and emotional aspects of Caesarian surgeries
March 8, 2019
This book appealed to me because I wanted to find out more about this method of birth and most importantly, women’s experiences of it, and what women can do to feel more in control or empowered by their caesarean births.
This is a really important book and area to be expanded. Around 1 in 4 babies are born by caesarean, so it affects a lot of women, women who need to feel listened to, understood, accepted and validated. It can feel like there is a divide between natural and caesarean birth, so let’s pull down that barrier.
There is a lot of information given early on in this book regarding how many women have caesareans, why they have them etc which was interesting although I felt it became bogged down in figures and statistics at times.
Sometimes I also felt that Goggin was trying to justify caesareans and there were some bizarre ‘facts’ given, such as benefits of caesarean would be ‘less vaginal pain during birth’ ‘less perineal recovery pain’. These examples left me a little perplexed. In the same way I felt that the scale of the caesarean operation was sometimes underplayed, especially in respect of post operation recovery.
The two main reasons given by Goggin for UK caesareans are ‘Presumed Foetal Compromise’ at 22% of total caesarean births, and ‘Prolonged Labour’ at 20%. What concerns me about these figures is that these two areas can be greatly affected by the birthing environment and processes (including drugs and procedures), and whilst safe delivery should always be available when needed in these situations, there could be a lot more done earlier to reduce the likelihood of these outcomes.
The book demonstrates how different a planned caesarean and an emergency caesarean are, and when you think about it, that’s obvious. I would imagine that if you are told you need a caesarean late in the day, that you really hand yourself over to the medical team, trusting that they need to take control of the situation for you and your baby’s safety, and I doubt you would be thinking about dimming the lights or deferred cord clamping.
Planning a caesarean however, allows the woman to have much more control and ownership of the event, as these women who plan caesareans bring gentler techniques into the operating theatre, such as having partners present, viewing the birth, skin to skin as soon as possible, so these procedures have become more common and are then incorporated into emergency caesareans as much as possible.
I suppose I wanted to bring caesarean birth in from the cold of the clinical, but actually reading this book reminded me just how different natural (especially home) birth and caesarean birth are. That being said, birth is a magical event whatever context it happens in, and the steps to encourage women to own their caesarean births and personalise them are commendable. I thought that Vivienne’s ‘gentle caesarean’ experience was as beautiful as any natural birth experience I’ve read.
There was a lot of practical information and suggestions given for women planning a caesarean, or if women think a caesarean is possible, things that they could consider in that eventuality.
There was some really good signposting to other groups and organisations for further information and support, however I found these difficult to find after reading the book, so it would have been really handy to have them all repeated in one specific area for easy reference.
I also would have liked to read more practical experiences from mothers, but that’s just a personal preference.
I found this book interesting and I think it would be particularly useful to women who are planning to have a caesarean or who think they may have one, and it would also be useful to examine your experience retrospectively after having a caesarean. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in those situations, and especially for women planning a caesarean it is a great guide and advocate.
You can watch my review of this book here: https://youtu.be/ZlKouivvXyA
This is a really important book and area to be expanded. Around 1 in 4 babies are born by caesarean, so it affects a lot of women, women who need to feel listened to, understood, accepted and validated. It can feel like there is a divide between natural and caesarean birth, so let’s pull down that barrier.
There is a lot of information given early on in this book regarding how many women have caesareans, why they have them etc which was interesting although I felt it became bogged down in figures and statistics at times.
Sometimes I also felt that Goggin was trying to justify caesareans and there were some bizarre ‘facts’ given, such as benefits of caesarean would be ‘less vaginal pain during birth’ ‘less perineal recovery pain’. These examples left me a little perplexed. In the same way I felt that the scale of the caesarean operation was sometimes underplayed, especially in respect of post operation recovery.
The two main reasons given by Goggin for UK caesareans are ‘Presumed Foetal Compromise’ at 22% of total caesarean births, and ‘Prolonged Labour’ at 20%. What concerns me about these figures is that these two areas can be greatly affected by the birthing environment and processes (including drugs and procedures), and whilst safe delivery should always be available when needed in these situations, there could be a lot more done earlier to reduce the likelihood of these outcomes.
The book demonstrates how different a planned caesarean and an emergency caesarean are, and when you think about it, that’s obvious. I would imagine that if you are told you need a caesarean late in the day, that you really hand yourself over to the medical team, trusting that they need to take control of the situation for you and your baby’s safety, and I doubt you would be thinking about dimming the lights or deferred cord clamping.
Planning a caesarean however, allows the woman to have much more control and ownership of the event, as these women who plan caesareans bring gentler techniques into the operating theatre, such as having partners present, viewing the birth, skin to skin as soon as possible, so these procedures have become more common and are then incorporated into emergency caesareans as much as possible.
I suppose I wanted to bring caesarean birth in from the cold of the clinical, but actually reading this book reminded me just how different natural (especially home) birth and caesarean birth are. That being said, birth is a magical event whatever context it happens in, and the steps to encourage women to own their caesarean births and personalise them are commendable. I thought that Vivienne’s ‘gentle caesarean’ experience was as beautiful as any natural birth experience I’ve read.
There was a lot of practical information and suggestions given for women planning a caesarean, or if women think a caesarean is possible, things that they could consider in that eventuality.
There was some really good signposting to other groups and organisations for further information and support, however I found these difficult to find after reading the book, so it would have been really handy to have them all repeated in one specific area for easy reference.
I also would have liked to read more practical experiences from mothers, but that’s just a personal preference.
I found this book interesting and I think it would be particularly useful to women who are planning to have a caesarean or who think they may have one, and it would also be useful to examine your experience retrospectively after having a caesarean. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in those situations, and especially for women planning a caesarean it is a great guide and advocate.
You can watch my review of this book here: https://youtu.be/ZlKouivvXyA
June 5, 2020
Great book for anyone wanting to remain informed whilst considering a Caesarean section. Easy to understand with real facts and figures and pros and cons.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews