19B - All Pregnancies Conceived by IVF Should Be Delivered by Caesarean Section

Summary

‘First do no harm.’ Caesarean section has been normalised in a world where birth trauma, bad outcomes and pain are seen as unacceptable despite being a historical reality of child-bearing. In a society where it is increasingly easy to control most aspects of life, labour and childbirth remain a difficult and unpredictable process. Anxiety surrounding this is high amongst pregnant women but also their care providers who are responsible for the outcomes of both mother and child and who also carry personal risk in this litiginous era. This anxiety seems even more prevalent in pregnancies that were difficult to achieve and long-awaited. One challenge of caring for the pregnant woman in the NHS as well as many other international healthcare systems is the lack of continuity of care. Many obstetricians and midwives will not see women in their next pregnancy or into their following stages of life. They are not responsible for the returning patient with the morbidly adherent placenta or the woman requiring pelvic surgery later in life in whom surgical adhesions make the procedure significantly more dangerous.