I was denied a caesarean despite a scan showing my baby would be a huge 11lb. I ended up with horrific internal damage and lost three pints of blood. This is the appalling reason I was forced to have a natural birth

After enduring a hard 56-hour labour with the commencement of her archetypal child, India Crotty wanted to bash immoderate imaginable to guarantee the transportation of her 2nd was little traumatic.

So when, towards the extremity of her pregnancy, regular checks revealed that her 2nd baby, a boy, was going to beryllium adjacent larger than her 8lb 15oz daughter, India requested a caesarean.

Her lad wasn't going to beryllium conscionable a spot bigger – scans suggested helium would beryllium approaching 11lb; astir a 3rd bigger than the mean babe lad – and India, who is 5ft 7in and slim-built, was understandably nervous.

'Even my assemblage midwife was disquieted astir maine giving commencement naturally,' says India, 35, a concern consultant.

The midwife supported India's determination and contacted the advisor successful complaint astatine the hospital. But she reported backmost that the advisor felt India couldn't person a caesarean 'just due to the fact that she's scared'.

When India went into labour days later, her midwife assured her she could inactive petition a caesarean erstwhile she arrived astatine the hospital. But erstwhile she got there, India was near unsocial successful a transportation country for 2 hours until she was screaming successful agony. When midwives yet came to measure her, they said she should conscionable 'carry on' arsenic determination was nary theatre available.

'My spouse was hopeless to get maine help, but they didn't person the staff,' she recalls. 'We were terrified. The full happening was horrific from commencement to finish.

'I americium usually rather a calm, composed person, but I was terrified knowing I was going to person to propulsion retired this tremendous baby,' she says.

India, from agrarian Gloucestershire, had to springiness commencement to her immense 10lb 12oz lad people successful a 'truly horrific' 11-hour labour, during which she suffered specified terrible interior harm that she haemorrhaged and mislaid astir 3 pints of blood.

What's much she had to springiness commencement without symptom relief, aft medics botched an effort to insert an epidural.

'Words cannot explicit the symptom I was in,' says India. 'I was screaming and crying – astatine respective points I told my spouse I wanted to die. He was wholly shaken by the experience, too.'

India mislaid truthful overmuch humor that she needed regular robust injections for weeks afterwards.

The acquisition near her truthful traumatised she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic accent upset (PTSD) and was prescribed medicine arsenic good arsenic talking therapy for this.

India says: 'We thought we were going into infirmary for a caesarean delivery, but alternatively I was near with nary 1 to assistance me, nary 1 listening to maine and successful unimaginable pain. I felt similar I wanted to die.'

India is present truthful anxious aft her experiences that she struggles to permission the location with her children. 'Before I gave commencement to my son, I had truthful galore radical reassure maine not to interest and that it would each beryllium fine, but everything was adjacent worse than I feared,' she says.

The interaction of denying women caesareans tin person adjacent much tragic implications.

Last week, an inquest recovered that babe Emmy Russo, who died connected January 12, 2024, would person survived if a caesarean had been performed sooner.

Her parent Bryony arrived astatine Princess Alexandra Hospital successful Harlow, Essex, aft having contractions and losing meconium – a heavy brownish liquid that tin signify that the babe is successful distress.

Yet contempt this and monitoring astatine 3pm suggesting the babe was struggling, a caesarean was not performed until that evening – astir 11 hours aft Bryony arrived astatine the hospital.

By that clip Emmy had been deprived of oxygen and, tragically, she died successful her parents' arms 3 days later.

The inquest was told that Bryony had requested a caesarean connected January 9, but this was 'laughed off' by a midwife. Philippa Greenfield, manager of kid wellness and women's services astatine the hospital, told the inquest they were present reviewing 'whether determination should beryllium a much structured process' astir requests made for planned caesareans precocious successful the pregnancy.

In a connection apologising to the family, the hospital's main caregiver Sharon McNally said the information of women and babies was an 'absolute priority' and 'learning from immoderate incidental is portion of our absorption connected continuous improvement'.

Until astir 3 years ago, galore hospitals prioritised 'natural' (now often called 'normal') vaginal births, and adjacent had targets to bounds the fig of caesareans performed. Just however hard it could beryllium for women to get a caesarean connected the NHS was brought into absorption successful March 2022, erstwhile elder midwife Donna Ockenden published a study into maternity failings astatine the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which the spot said it 'fully accepted'.

This revealed an 'obsession' with the 'natural' commencement people meant women had been denied caesareans, starring to hundreds of injuries and deaths. She recommended women indispensable beryllium allowed to petition a caesarean.

The aforesaid year, a survey by the commencement wounded enactment foundation MASIC revealed lone a 3rd of women injured during instrumental transportation (where the babe is delivered utilizing forceps oregon a ventouse suction cupful device) were adjacent fixed a accidental to sermon a caesarean arsenic an alternative.

Weeks earlier the Ockenden study was published, NHS England told hospitals to scrap a people aimed astatine limiting the caesarean complaint to astir 20 per cent. Yet portion rates wide person increased, a sizeable proportionality impact not planned births, but riskier exigency caesareans. Close to fractional of each babies – 44 per cent – calved successful England betwixt February 2024 and January 2025 were delivered by caesarean, the latest maternity information shows, compared with 37 per cent successful 2022/23.

Furthermore, exigency caesareans accounted for much than fractional – 56 per cent – of each the 229,600 caesareans performed successful England successful the past year, contempt the fig of planned caesareans rising by astir a 5th since 2022.

And immoderate NHS trusts person acold little planned caesarean rates than others, suggesting that the civilization astatine idiosyncratic hospitals whitethorn inactive play a portion successful access.

At Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, for example, planned sections made up 32 per cent of each births successful September 2024 – the busiest period for births.

But astatine Barts Health successful London the planned caesarean complaint that period was conscionable 8 per cent.

It was 12 per cent astatine Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals, and 15 per cent astatine Leeds Teaching Hospitals. (These NHS trusts were contacted for comment.)

Another origin reducing entree to caesareans is capacity, says Dr Ian Scudamore, vice-president for acquisition astatine the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

He believes women should beryllium 'fully supported' successful their choices, but says under-investment successful NHS maternity services means determination are not ever capable staff, beds oregon theatre abstraction to guarantee women get the commencement they want.

'Managing planned caesarean country lists is much hard erstwhile a infirmary does not person entree to 2 dedicated maternity theatres,' helium adds.

Maternity units indispensable person astatine slightest 1 dedicated operating theatre, but an probe by the Health Service Journal past twelvemonth recovered 1 successful 3 bash not person a 2nd theatre. And those that did often did not unit it astatine nights and weekends. This means that erstwhile much than 1 exigency occurs astatine the aforesaid time, medics indispensable find an operating theatre elsewhere successful the infirmary – costing up to 30 minutes and putting lives astatine risk.

Women whitethorn beryllium offered a caesarean for a scope of reasons – if a babe is breech (when it is feet oregon bottommost archetypal successful the womb) oregon the parent has a aesculapian information specified arsenic pre-eclampsia oregon gestational diabetes, which whitethorn mean the babe needs to beryllium delivered earlier to debar risks to their wellness oregon their mother's. These conditions are much communal successful older oregon overweight mothers.

Abigail Latif, an NHS assemblage midwife based successful Manchester, says she is seeing much mothers similar India requesting caesareans aft traumatic erstwhile births. And probe past twelvemonth by the maternity run radical Delivering Better recovered that 1 successful 4 women accidental their commencement acquisition was negative.

Under guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) medics should enactment women's requests for a caesarean, arsenic agelong arsenic they are satisfied they are making an 'informed choice'.

This means midwives and/or a doc volition sermon a woman's reasons for wanting a caesarean and the risks and benefits.

Anoop Rehal, a advisor successful obstetrics and fetal medicine astatine University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, says astir doctors 'want to enactment women to person the commencement that is close for them – and decisions are ever made successful the interests of safety'. While some vaginal transportation and caesareans are safe, caesareans transportation somewhat higher risks of complications, specified arsenic bleeding, infections and humor clots, peculiarly if the parent is overweight, and betterment typically takes longer. For example, women whitethorn beryllium incapable to thrust for up to six weeks afterwards, compared with astir 2 weeks successful vaginal deliveries.

Caesareans besides rise the hazard of complications, specified arsenic issues with the attachment of the placenta, successful aboriginal pregnancies. Some babies calved via caesarean request assistance breathing astatine commencement and person a higher hazard of processing asthma oregon being overweight arsenic adults.

But determination are besides risks from vaginal birth, particularly successful instrumental deliveries, which tin see tearing, incontinence and pelvic level dysfunction.

Under the NICE guidelines, if a pistillate has anxiousness astir childbirth, she should beryllium offered enactment from a perinatal intelligence wellness team, and if she inactive wants a caesarean afterwards past healthcare professionals should 'support their choice'. Yet immoderate women accidental they inactive consciousness pressured to not person a caesarean.

Nikki Melless Botha knew she wanted 1 from the commencement of her archetypal gestation past year, but she says that midwives tried to dissuade her from it astatine each antenatal appointment.

'I truly had to combat for it,' says Nikki, 34, from Beckenham, south-east London, who works successful advertising.

She felt anxious astir giving commencement vaginally, particularly fixed midwife shortages successful her section hospital. And though a advisor agreed to publication her successful for the surgery, her prime was repeatedly questioned by 4 antithetic NHS midwives.

'Even erstwhile the country was booked for the pursuing week, the midwife kept asking if I was 'sure' I didn't privation to springiness commencement 'normally',' recalls Nikki. 'To usage that benignant of connection is truthful damaging due to the fact that it sounds similar thing other is abnormal.' Her girl Hailey, present 8 months old, was calved safely via a planned caesarean. 'I'm truthful gladsome I fought for my C-section,' adds Nikki.

Dr Catherine Bernard, an NHS anaesthetist based successful confederate England, believes it 'doesn't marque sense' for hospitals to effort to speech a large pistillate retired of having a planned caesarean.

'It's denying women the prime to program successful advance, erstwhile determination is simply a anticipation they could extremity up with an exigency conception anyway,' she says.

'Why trim the fig of planned caesarean sections, lone to summation the fig of exigency ones – which person worse outcomes?'

A 2021 survey by doctors successful France recovered women who had the astir urgent exigency caesareans were astir 7 times much apt to get infections afterwards than those successful the slightest urgent category.

'In an urgent situation, it tin instrumentality arsenic small arsenic 2 minutes from the weapon touching the tegument to the babe coming out,' explains Dr Bernard. 'In contrast, with a planned caesarean section, the surgeon has clip to cautiously enactment down done the musculus layers implicit up to 10 minutes.'

Recovery whitethorn beryllium much hard from exigency country aft labour, and probe presented astatine the 2025 Pregnancy Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine suggests women who person an exigency transportation are besides betwixt 15 and 20 per cent much apt to make postnatal intelligence wellness issues specified arsenic slump and post-traumatic accent disorder.

What's more, though caesarean births outgo much to execute (almost doubly arsenic overmuch arsenic unassisted vaginal births), economical modelling carried retired by NHS obstetric consultants successful 2020 suggested planned caesareans really prevention the NHS £400 per birth, erstwhile compensation for injuries and deaths sustained during vaginal births was taken into account.

The NHS pays retired £1.15billion successful maternity compensation claims per twelvemonth – equivalent to astir £2,000 for each kid born, figures from its compensation assemblage NHS Resolution amusement – often for delays successful urgent treatment, including exigency caesareans. But determination is the quality cost, too.

The toll of India's commencement meant that she struggled to attraction for her lad and enslaved with him successful the aboriginal days.

'I felt truthful blameworthy for not being capable to beryllium the parent I wanted to be,' she recalls.

As a effect of her anxiousness station childbirth, India present feels incapable to enactment her children, aged 2 and 8 months, into nursery, oregon to spell connected agelong journeys, due to the fact that she perpetually fears they could travel to harm. 'I'm terrified that thing atrocious volition hap to them,' she says.

She has besides present abandoned plans to person much children.

'I ever wanted a ample family, but I cannot hazard going done that again,' she adds.

India is aggravated that the requests she made for a caesarean arsenic she approached her owed day past September were ignored.

'I hadn't taken the determination to take a C-section lightly,' explains India.

'I knew the betterment would beryllium hard with a toddler to look after. But I knew a C-section would beryllium the champion enactment and I had been told this was a prime I could make.

'Bringing children into the satellite is expected to beryllium this magical happening and it's conscionable truthful bittersweet that for truthful galore women it ends up being traumatic.'

An NHS spokesperson said: 'Each commencement is antithetic and it is important that each large pistillate tin sermon transportation methods with her maternity squad – arsenic portion of a personalised attraction and enactment plan.

'There is overmuch much we request to bash to thrust up standards of attraction and physique connected improvements already made, and the NHS volition proceed to supply intensive enactment to the astir challenged trusts to amended attraction for patients.'