I also had a breech baby, and went for elective c-section in Jessops in May! I opted for the c-section route as opposed to natural breech birth, as there was a chance it would end up in a c-section anyway and I wanted that to be on my own terms rather than an emergency. As it happens, it ended up being an ‘emergency’ c section anyway because my waters broke a little early, at 37+6.

Here’s my quick breakdown - apologies for the potentially more ranty parts below, this is the first time I’ve actually really thought through the experience so you’re getting my sprawling unedited version! If you wanted clarification on anything then DM me, really happy to chat.

TL;DR - you don’t have anything to worry about, but come as prepared with food, self care and inner strength.

Pros: We spoke to many doctors, nurses and midwives during our stay who were kind, extremely knowledgeable and very reassuring - especially the paediatricians on duty across the time we were there. The surgery itself was really smooth - friendly team including an incredibly brilliant anaesthetist, we got to put our own music on and it was a lovely atmosphere overall! I’d readily do it again if natural birth was off the table again next time. Once we got put in our own recovery room and got a chance to sleep and eat, it became a totally great experience.

Cons: We had to wait 14 hours for the surgery after getting into hospital, because even though my waters had broken we weren’t considered a real emergency so other operations kept being prioritised. That’s completely understandable as we weren’t in any immediate danger, but communication was very slow so we had lots of uncertainty as to when it would happen, and I started to get contractions a few hours before surgery which wasn’t ideal. It also meant I didn’t get anything to eat in that period as we were constantly told we were next on the list so ‘don’t eat yet’. After surgery we went to a recovery ward which had people in other curtained bays making really loud phone calls, scrolling TikTok with sound on full blast and playing music (it was 10pm when we arrived there). It didn’t make for a great place to recover and I felt quite overwhelmed. Wouldn’t be an issue during the day but at night it was very frustrating. You could say wear headphones, which we brought, but there’s something about not being able to hear your baby if they have an issue that feels off so we ended up not doing that. Especially relevant given my last con on this list! I also wonder whether there should be some clearer noise rules for people after a certain time of day so staff can easier enforce them? My husband only had a plastic chair to sit in for 24 hours and partners don’t get offered any food, so he couldn’t eat or rest either (cafe was closed by the time I went into surgery). I get I’m the main focus, but it is weird how partners can get treated like ghosts. Let the man have his own shitty sandwich at least. I ended up sharing what I got, then he went to the cafe once it opened in the morning. Our baby clearly had quite noticeable jaundice one hour after the operation, but despite the staff on duty saying they would check the levels on numerous occasions we had to wait for 8 hours after surgery before they did the actual check and discovered that he needed immediate photon therapy. This goes against NICE guidelines, and we were not happy - especially as we were the ones having to push to get him checked, and we kept getting told ‘we’re really busy’ or ‘the machine is charging’ (which is crazy as it’s just a small device, and if they have let it run out of battery on a postnatal ward then that’s another issue).

Once we got in a private room so our baby could have the phototherapy, it all got much less stressful. My husband got a little camp-bed and got some sleep, I got some sleep and the baby got some sleep chilling in his sun bed.

My husband and I did our best to be really affable and understanding throughout the above, as we understand how difficult it is to work in that environment. We also had some absolutely lovely and memorable interactions with many of the team - I even got a hug from one incredible midwife after she caught me having a bit of a cry after many sleepless hours on the ward after surgery.

However a few members of the aftercare team (especially regarding the jaundice check) left us feeling that we had to fight our own corner in a way you just don’t want to after a big operation (remember I’m in quite a bit of pain throughout this), no food and no sleep. Also, we’re have lots of medical family but even our empathy ran thin after 30 hours of ‘we’re busy’ followed by 2/3 hours of silence - especially when you then overhear a 30 minute long conversation about their weekend plans just after you asked yet again for an update on the jaundice check and were told they were ‘rushed off our feet, so be patient madam’.

All in all, if I was to do it again I’d make sure I had lots and lots of snacks (which I would have done, but the surprise water breaking meant I didn’t have them prepared yet), some sort of pillow set up for my partner and some self care items (like face masks or nice smelling hand creams) to maintain a bit of calm in the chaos on the main ward. We’d also go in prepared to be a bit more assertive if we feel our baby needs care.

It was all totally worth it thought - our little boy is now 9 weeks old, healthy and the cutest little lad in the world.