Emergency Caesarean Section

It is done where you may have been in labor for a while before the decision is taken, or some problem develops that makes urgent delivery necessary in the interest of your baby, or your health.

Fetal distress-Your baby may not be tolerating the forces of labor well, and may show problems like irregularity or slowing of the heart rate, or acid in the blood.Sometimes greenish discoloration of the amniotic fluid (passage of meconium or fetal stools in utero) may be a sign of distress.

• Non-progress of labor .
• Bleeding from your placenta.

An emergency surgery is always more risky than a planned procedure. This may be because you are not on empty stomach, or there are life threatening problems like severe bleeding or rise in your blood pressure, or complete facilities like experienced anesthetist / neonatologist / operative team / blood may not be immediately available.This is one reason why your doctor may suggest a planned or elective caesarean section to you. If there are certain pre-existing conditions, which make it nearly certain that you will not be able to deliver safely vaginally, it may be better to do a planned procedure.This could be for reasons like

• Previous 2 or more caesareans.

Placenta praevia.The placenta is the main connection between the mother and the fetus providing nutrition, oxygen and other essentials to the baby via the umbilical cord. Bleeding occurring from the placenta before delivery can be risky.It may be due to an abnormal location of the placenta, ‘placenta praevia’. It may be due to early separation of a normally located placenta called ‘abruptio placenta.’ These can endanger your life or your baby’s health. Hence a Caesarean section may be done. Mal-presentations of your baby(unfavorable positions of the fetus in utero).Some of these conditions may be corrected before the onset of pains by a procedure called ‘external cephalic version’, by which your doctor attempts to turn the baby to the correct position. This may not be feasible or safe in all cases.

• Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) is a leading cause of maternal and fetal problem. Due to uncontrolled blood pressure, it may be necessary to opt for caesarean birth.
• Maternal diabetes in pregnancy is also associated with problems, which may make caesarean birth a safer option.
• Other medical illness like severe asthma, certain types of cardiac diseases, etc.may also preclude labor as mother, baby or both may not be able to tolerate labor well.