Would you have survived childbirth before modern medicine?

Nope. She couldn’t get through my pelvis after days of labor and hours of pushing. I am definitely incredibly grateful for modern medicine.

I wouldn’t have been born. My mom would have died giving birth to my older brother… but assuming she survived, I would have likely died giving birth to my first. My mom had 2 c-sections and I had 2 c-sections.

I probably would’ve died mysteriously months or a year after birth. With both of my pregnancies I had retained placenta that would not budge, so I had two D&Cs. The first one wasn’t caught until 3m PP when I was still bleeding after I changed doctors. The second time around was the same, but was caught 6w PP because of my bleeding history. So I probably would’ve died from infection without modern medicine.

Maybe??? I had a vaginal delivery but my uterus didn’t contract back down quickly. Lost 872 ccs of blood, over 500 is considered hemmorhage (over 1000 for csection). They gave me all sorts of things to stop the bleeding, which worked. But without those things, who knows? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would have survived giving birth, it was pretty textbook, but would have probably died of a kidney infection when I was 20.

I would have, but my child might have brain damage from complications in the first few days.

I would have, up until my last. My first two were super easy and textbook pregnancies, my third I had cholestasis and then hemorrhaged 3 weeks pp definitely glad we had access to a hospital within 5 minutes!

First one, probably? Had to be induced but delivery was easy

Second one got stuck occiput posterior with the placenta abrupting. I hemorrhaged and then got an infection that went septic. I'd be super dead! Baby probably would be too.

My Grandmother died 3 days post natal after delivering her 5th child in 4 years. Only 2 of the babies lived, one being my Mama who had just turned three.

She birthed and died at home. She had no medical attention. My misogynistic grandfather forced her to have sex, he refused to use condoms or withdraw, and she wasn’t allowed to refuse or there would be “consequences”.

I will stop after sharing one more piece of reality as a result of my gramma’s death at age 24. This is still a raw wound in my heart.

I promised my Mama when she was dying that I would be by her side, that she would be at home, and that she would not suffer during this process. And I kept my word.

As the end became close, my precious Mama began to cry in a little girl voice, crying out “Mama!! Mama!! I immediately lay down next to her, pulling her into my embrace, stroking her hair and face, covering her face in kisses, and whispering in her ear “It’s okay Patty, Mama is here, Mama is right here, I have you my darling, I am here with you”. And even though she was comatose, she heard me. And then my precious Mama relaxed against me, took in a final breath, and died in my arms.

The pain remains for me but what a privilege to be there for my beloved Mama and to help her cross over. My sweet Mama suffered all of her life as a result of losing her Mama while still a toddler. The psychological damage and emotional trauma stayed with her all of her life. And the root cause is two-fold: An SOB of a grandfather, and no medical care.

Death is never a comfortable process, but at the end of her life, my Mama felt her Mama’s arms and heard her soothing words as she left this life. What was denied to her during her life helped her to ease into the transition.

I will carry this for the rest of my life. Thank you for allowing me to share. 🫶😔

Nope…I would have died with likely child bed fever after I failed to deliver the placenta post birth. Also needed 2 blood transfusions. Kind of puts things into a different perspective

My first was stuck in the birth canal. Either one or both of us would have died without a C-Section. I was a forceps birth, so I probably would have died during my own birth.

I would have, two uncomplicated vaginally births. My partner very nearly died from pre-eclampsia delivering our third with modern medicine.

Not long after that we re-watched a historical drama show with a character that dies from what is obviously pre-eclampsia. It was sob city in our house.

I wouldn't have survived at any time where there wasn't roe v wade (like now). I had to fight for treatment for an ectopic that, even after rupturing, nobody wanted to touch until I was nearly dead because of "life of the child". Didn't even get a tylenol as I was screaming dying because it could "hurt my baby" it was only the law and a threat of a lawsuit that even got treatment started. No joke, no exaggeration.

I have very easy pregnancies and deliveries. So did my mom. So did my grandma. So did my great grandmother. I have no scientific evidence for this, but I truly think there is a genetic component to this. 

Actually it seems like our family's women are freaking breeding mares. We all had natural unmedicated deliveries with healthy babies at the end, zero complications for like four generations back (I don't know anything about generations before that) and all healthy babies, also without complications.

I had a hemorrhage after my daughter was born, so probably not.

My mom had C-sections for both her kids. When my gramma delivered my mom, forceps were used. I have one child. I went into labor naturally but she was stuck. She wasn’t even big, she was just jammed at my hip. When my OB pulled her out she said “yeah, she wasn’t going to budge any other way.”

I might have survived the birth but maybe not after. I had hypertension while pregnant and was induced but my BP wasn’t too crazy, so I might’ve made it through that part. But it turned into preeclampsia with severe features afterwards and I don’t think I would’ve made it through that one 😅

Nope. Emergency C section. I lost a lot of blood too. It was scary with modern medicine. My grandma was a nurse and she told me I would have died in her times. A lot of people in her time got paralyzed from epidurals too..they used to do it too low. 🤷🏻‍♀️ she’s 94.

Not the point of the post, but wow - she was 85 with multiple great-great grandchildren?? How old was she when she first became a great-great grandmother?

My grandmother would’ve been 110 this year (she passed away at 105), and she would’ve only become a great-grandmother eight weeks ago.

Nope. I could have died 3 separate times (ruptured ectopic, essentially bleeding internally), pre-eclampsia with both pregnancies and needed a magnesium drip to protect my brain from high blood pressure. I’m thankful for modern medicine! I think my husband and kids would agree.

Yes, I have had five uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries. So I’d have been fine as long as no idiot doctor gave me childbed fever (doctors used to go from the cadaver labs directly to the maternity wards without washing their hands and examine new mothers). Thousands of women died from puerperal fever (“childbed fever”) because “doctors are gentlemen and a gentleman would never hurt a lady with his hands.” They really thought they were above that shit.

He was breech, so i guess its possible. But not likely we would not have both survived.

And this whole thread is why when I hear “my body was designed for this” makes me cringe.

No. I needed an induction past my due date and had GD. I also required vacuum assistance and an episiotomy to get my daughter out after 4 hours of pushing with no real progress... If the vacuum assistance didn't work I was 10 minutes away from a C-section.

Not to mention I had complications that needed monitoring during pregnancy... Who knows?

If it were hundreds of years ago we both would be dead.

Nope. I had severe preeclampsia and HELLP and was in the ICU for 3 days.

I would have died. I had post partum preeclampsia.

Absolutely not. My first pregnancy, I had severe preeclampsia which turned into hellp and my first son was born at 32 weeks. I needed a lot of medication for my blood pressure. I then needed a d&c due to retained placenta. My second pregnancy, I had a placental abruption and i almost needed a blood transfusion. My second son was born at 33 weeks.

I wouldn’t have survived being born - my mom had preeclampsia and I was very premature.

I would’ve died - either from the placenta previa, the blood clot that showed up midway in my second trimester or the infection in my uterus from my son passing the meconium too soon. 🎉

I believe so, but my baby may not have. My daughter had to be induced at over 41 weeks, I wonder if she would have come on her own at all. I would have survived all 3 births (save for infection that literally anyone could catch because childbirth wasn’t sanitary) generally speaking. All my babies were born healthy too. I come from a long line of large families though (on my mom and my dads side) so maybe I have that in my favor. 

I was induced for high blood pressure with both my kids. I would have been fine with the actual labor and delivery circumstances, but I’m not sure I would have even made it to labor without modern medicine, or that my kids would have been okay.

Probably not, baby wouldn’t have made it out through my pelvis.

No. Had a placental abruption and we are lucky we both made it (emergency c-section, thank you modern medicine!)

I would’ve survived labour just fine, but I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum and was hospitalised twice. I would’ve probably died of dehydration had I not been admitted.

Read through a bunch of the comments. Damn, ladies, we are warriors. Also, modern medicine is lovely.

My first was stuck. Literally unable to descend. Then he was septic when he came out since my water had been broken for so long.

I would have died of eclampsia or whatever fatal step happens after preeclampsia. But then again, I don’t know how common preeclampsia was back in the day… from what I’ve read its rates have increased radically in more recent years.

Yes, I had two unassisted vaginal births. One of them of less than 15 minutes after getting through triage. I feel pretty confident I could home birth my next baby.

My grandmothers had 7 home births each and no complications, so perhaps it's in our genes. 7 is too many for me, though.

Apparently not, but I’m still not convinced. Two failure to descends after pushing into emergency cesareans. I’ve been told I have a “small pelvis.”

I probably would have been ok with the births - unmedicated for the first, only pitocin for the second- but my babies may have starved afterwards. Neither of them could get a good latch no matter what I tried. Thank you science for breast pumps and formula!

My grandma always says that when a woman is pregnant she has one foot on the ground and one in her grave.

First one would have killed me and the second one preeclampsia probably would have killed me as well. Thank you science and medical professionals 🙏

I would have probably died after my second child was born because her placenta wouldn't detach and caused me to start to hemorrhage. The dr had to remove the placenta piece by piece manually by sticking his hand up into my uterus. (Which felt far worse than giving birth) theoretically depending on the time period they would have also been able to remove it manually if they had the knowledge that was what needed to be done, but the dr used a portable ultrasound machine to check for leftover bits so the chances of a piece of placenta being left behind would have been greater in the past. They also inserted a balloon to create pressure to stop the bleeding so not sure if i would have stopped without the balloon or if the balloon was an extra precaution. Either way I think I would have been significantly more likely to die in the past from that experience.

I would have survived all 3 of my births, but died a few weeks after my 3rd from pulmonary embolism’s and DVTs

Nope, hemorrhaging and needed blood transfusions. 🙁

First kid, yeah she’d be fine. Not sure about me though- I tore pretty badly.  Second kid, we both would have been doomed (placental abruption/breech/emergency c section). Thank goodness for modern medicine! 

Possibly. With my first, I had a forceps delivery with an episiotomy. I know they’ve been using forceps for centuries, but I probably would’ve gotten sepsis and died because they didn’t understand germ theory 😝

With my second I would’ve been fine - I pushed her out in 15 minutes (with an epidural, but it failed lol).

Nope. Baby was massive and it caused a shoulder dystocia so he got stuck and it caused a massive tear on the way out. Because of that I bled out and needed a transfusion and god knows how many stitches.

So grateful for the NHS.

I wouldn‘t have survived pregnancy….my first pregnancy was an ectopic pregnancy….I needed surgery

Probably not. I had preeclampsia that turned severe at 34+3, immediately put on magnesium and induced. I probably should have had a seizure and died before baby was born had I not had modern medical intervention. I am so grateful for the times I live in.

I wouldn’t have made it to childbirth.

Odds are no one will see this comment since there are 500+ comments but oh well.

I had a total colectomy in 2019 and since they sewed my small intestine to my rectum (basically they removed my colon and hooked the ends together to avoid me needing an ostomy), I was told not to attempt a vaginal birth. I’m also a lupus patient so my pregnancy was high risk anyway. I conceived in late November of 2022 and was being followed by my OB and an MFM. When I was 19w4d, I saw my MFM for a routine appointment and reported that two days prior to the appointment I had some mild bleeding after using the restroom. My doc did a vaginal exam and afterwards sat my husband and I down and said the words I’ll never forget: “Your cervix is open”. I was 3cm dilated with protruding membranes. I was admitted to the hospital and had a cerclage the next morning. I was given vaginal progesterone and as needed Procardia for the daily contractions, as well as placed on bed rest. They told me that I’d be fortunate to make it to 28 weeks.

Around 22 weeks, I found out that my baby had IUGR (common with lupus patients).

I made it all the way to 33 weeks before I developed HELLP Syndrome around 12 hours after being told I had pre-eclampsia. I had my baby via vertical cesarean after which I had 3 inches of small intestine removed so that they could close my incision, I guess because I had adhesions after my colectomy. I had to have a blood transfusion and spent 3 days in the ICU, six days total in the hospital. My daughter was born at 3 lbs 1 oz and after 31 days in the NICU, she came home. She turned one last Friday.

Modern medicine stopped me from losing my baby during pregnancy, saved my life during birth, and saved my baby after she was born prematurely. I owe everything to modern medicine and every doctor and nurse my baby and I had.

Maybe? But most likely not.

My son was a week late already, head down but just not ready to come out at 9lb 14oz. If he had been left to cook any longer I'm not sure what either of our outcomes would have been.

I was induced with Oxytocin at 41+1 and the contractions were so strong (even though I told myself I wanted to have my first child with no pain medications) I BEGGED for the epidural. I had like a grade 2 tear and needed stitches and the like.

My son's shoulder got stuck on the way out and I'm not sure how that would have even gone without intervention.

I think the pain itself might have killed me. And I've walked around with an almost fully torn ACL. 🙃

I may have died from eclampsia with my first daughter, but I don't know if it got that far or the doctor was just overly cautious. I would, however, have died when my daughters were 7 and 4 from cervical cancer.

No I had a preemie and then a c section... Never thought about this actually it feels so... Macabre.

No. Due to preeclampsia I was induced. Before I was able to deliver my son vaginally, I was rushed away for an emergency C-section.

My son didn't breathe, had no reflexes and didn't react to pain stimuli. He needed to be intubated.

We had a rough start, but are now happy and healthy.

Yep! Some women rock at birth, like their bodies were made for it. I know someone who had all 5 of her kids at home. Another that just had her twins at home. I’m so grateful for medicine though. It’s just interesting to me how some people can do birth so easily and others just can’t. I know someone who hemorrhaged badly and lost her baby and almost died.

My baby and I would've died. He was stuck. Midwife thought he would be 8lb but he was 10lb, with an above average head circumference. The most painful 48 hours of my life!

No I would not have. I was 23 when I had my son and I labored for 44 hours before I had to have an emergency c section. My son also had trouble keeping weight on at first so needed a breast pump and formula to be able to feed him for the first few days until my milk came in. Thankfully it did and we could leave the hospital. But had I had my child a few hundred years ago or even 100 years ago, I may not have survived it which is so scary

ETA: no clue why he wouldn’t come out, I just didn’t dilate past 5 cm and when I hit 5 after two days, I went back down to. Apparently it can happen but idk

I might have. But baby wouldn't have. She came preterm at 32 weeks (and originally, she tried to come at 29 weeks but they were able to stall my labor and pumped me full of steroids). Needed feeding tubes and formula because I struggled to produce at first. And then she had a milk allergy and I couldn't have any dairy anymore.

My delivery was very painful, but over really fast comparatively. And I healed easily enough. But yeah. Whenever I hear people complain about how we should go back to "natural" and "better times", I definitely think about and say, that my daughter (and my husband who was a premie born in the late 80s at 29wks) wouldn't be alive without modern medicine, so I'll stick with modern medicine.

Yes. I had an uncomplicated pregnancy and an unmedicated birth at a birth center— no interventions, not even an IV. It was an amazing experience.

Nope - 12 lb breech baby who was breech from 6 months onward unable to turn due to size. I woulda been a gonger

I’m in the minority but I would have lived. I had single births. No natural complications. The only complication was actually caused by a doctor trying to force induction to fit his own schedule, (if I delivered later he would be on vacation and someone else would’ve delivered me and gotten paid for it instead) and the husband stitch he gave me afterwards so I might’ve been safer without him. I would’ve had a terrible time though because I don’t do well with pain and really loved the epidural

No. Got obstetrical cholestasis and hellp syndrome. Neither of us would have made it.

I would have but my baby would still have been healthy. I lost a litre of blood when delivering the placenta. Just remember the room filling with people out of nowhere. I was too tired to care at that point as I’d been in labour for 20 hours and awake for 40.

I would’ve, but my mother would not have. She had a PE delivering me.

Absolutely not. I had severe preeclampsia, allll the interventions, and ended in an emergency c section. I am so thankful to be here and have a healthy daughter.

It's hard to say. I think I would have but my son may not have or been severely injured. I was in labor for 3 days and pushed for 6 hours with very little progress. The doctor called it due to baby's heart rate not recovering after contractions. I ended up with an emergency c-section and he had a nuchal cord. The whole thing was traumatic but we were both fine in the end.

I ended up having partial placental abruption with my daughter having decels into the 40’s, I needed an emergency c-section. While I do believe being induced caused issues, without modern medicine my daughters heart would have probably stopped

Almost definitely! However two or three of my 4 sisters would not have.

Yes, had an unmedicated birth at home. Absolutely loved it.

First pregnancy ectopic with a burst fallopian tube. I was bleeding out internally. Doctor said 1 more hour and I would have died, as a warning not to wait so long to go to the ER.

I think me and my twins might all be dead. Depends on how long ago we are talking but they came at 32 weeks (there was a cord prolapse and crash c-section) and my preeclampsia didn’t resolve without medication.

Nope, developed HELLP syndrome and hemorrhaged during delivery. Would have bled out. 😅

Yes with both! Thankfully no complications here.

Not sure but I don’t think so with my first delivery. Fluid was low and I had to be induced at 41 + 2 and delivered on 41 + 3 but had to have cirvidil. Wasn’t dilated at all. So it could have been really dangerous. Also almost hemorrhaged. And Bebe went to NICU from meconium and slight lung issues so all of that would have been dangerous! With modern medicine, we were home on day 3 and healthy since.

Not my 2nd, he had his cord around his neck. We might have survived but he'd probably have had brain damage!

Probably not. My first was born by urgent C-section due to preeclampsia. However, my OB did say I was dilated, so I may have gone into labor soon anyway. I also had a 9.5sm dermoid cyst on my right ovary that was removed during my C-section. My second was a planned C because of the first one, but I had a bit more blood loss than expected and my uterus didn't contract properly initially.

Likely not. I have an autoimmune disorder that causes blood clots, particularly during pregnancy. No Lovenox shots = dead me and baby.

Probably not, or really I may not have even made it to having a child since my mom had an emergency c-section with me because I flipped and went breech right before due date and I also had a breech baby and had to have a c-section

Nope. My daughter would have survived but I would have bled out. I had zero issues in my pregnancy, labor, or birth, but I hemorrhaged once she was born.

Nope, we had an abrupted placenta, and on arrival at hospital discovered baby had gone transverse. Very quick and heavy blood loss was discovered with large clots passed.

Emergency c section, fluids and resuscitation for baby was required. Without modern medicine both me and my baby would be dead.

I don’t know. I was so sick, and all the women on my mom’s side have been with their pregnancies. I was on 2-3 different nausea meds & remedies with each pregnancy. I still lost weight & probably have damaged my teeth. I was anemic with all 3 as well. I literally survived on applesauce, milk, goldfish, & cheddar cheese with my last pregnancy. If I’d made it to the birth, I’d have been weak.

With my labors, 1 kid might have died from pushing 3 hours. He was purple/gray at birth. Another kid would have been fine, but she was also jaundiced & really sleepy at birth. Last kid had a hard time maintaining weight & gaining, plus apparently all 3 of mine have lip/tongue ties that went undiagnosed by their doctor. Breastfeeding hurt with the 2 that got breastmilk, so again-who even knows. My nipples were also flat, so we had to use a nipple shield with them. Thank god I had my kids when modern medicine was a thing.

Probably would have bled out from the 4cm tear. Or died of an infection from someone trying to stop the bleeding from said tear.

I mean I know that death from child birth is still a wide spread issue worldwide, but thinking back to how a little over 100 years ago women didn’t survive c-sections is wild. Like they knew they could surgically remove the baby, but they also knew the mother would more than likely die.

That said. I would have survived my first with no issues. My second got stuck in the birth canal for hours, but thankfully he worked his way out without surgery, so that’s a dicey whether that would have worked out in our favor without a peanut pillow. The third birth was easy for me, but the cord got wrapped around her neck mid birth so the doctors had to act quickly to snip it and cut it. She probably wouldn’t have survived that.

Hard to say…. My mom had an C section after failure to progress but from MY understanding the cascade of medical intervention may have caused the failure to progress. My grandmother had 9 vaginal births with no issues at home, but my mom was told she was too small to deliver me, I was 8lbs so not huge… to me it seems like her drs were just ready to have a C. I was told the same thing when I gave birth, I was too small and my baby too big. But I had a vaginal birth even though i had drs pressing me to have a C from the moment I got to the hospital until just before my daughter was born. I remember pushing and the nurse telling me if I “pushed like that the whole time” I was “never gonna have this baby”

That being said my daughter probably would not be alive without medical intervention. There was meconium in my waters and after 18 hours of labor I was not progressing and got pitocin. I wonder often if pit wasn’t an option would a midwife have tried something else to get the baby out and would it have worked… it’s impossible to know. I had a capable midwife team who as soon as they saw me and saw the meconium they sent me to the hospital “just in case”

No, I did hemorrhage out after a vaginal delivery and almost died even with medical intervention. I received multiple blood transfusions and some other stuff but it’s all blurry now. I was in the icu for days. 0/10

I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant in the first place. And I was a scheduled induction, who knows how it would have gone otherwise

I would not have. I had a varicose vein rupture internally and lost 1.7L of blood but they were able to fix it quickly. My labor was easy and quick, no pain. I would’ve just bled out bc it wouldn’t have been diagnosed in the first place.

Nope. Would have stroked out. I had preeclampsia at 30 weeks and had an emergency c-section. As it was, I was extremely ill

No. My middle daughter and I would not have lived without the intervention of modern medicine. Even with it we both almost died. 😅

I think so. I had a relatively easy delivery, labour came on naturally. I had the shot to get the placenta so I’ll never know if I’d have needed interventions for it. I also need stitches which I imagine wouldn’t have been done or in a very unhygienic way back in the day.

However I got measles when I was 1yo ish so probably would have died from that back in the day. I was deathly poorly even with the MMR jab.

No, I would not have survived. I have a bicornuate uterus (amongst other anatomical differences) so a vaginal delivery would be physically impossible.

Likely, baby was breech and we didn’t find out until at the hospital (midwife confirmed baby was head first at 36 weeks, but mistook baby’s butt for their head and shoulders), so they might’ve passed with no modern medicine. We ended up in an emergency c-section with no complications, thankfully

no, neither myself or my baby would have survived. he was stuck in my pelvis and the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck

It was just me and my husband in our bedroom so yes, I survived. It was scary and dramatic but a completely normal birth. And I didn’t birth the placenta for over 2 hours after my baby came out and I was completely fine.

Probably not. He was transverse breech.

No. I hemoragged twice on the table during my csection.  I had to have a blood transfusion.  Then I suffered postpartum eclampsia.  We are lucky I survived even with modern medicine.  

Breaks my heart to know we won't be having other children.  I suffered infertility for 20 years. This natural pregnancy came about as a bit of a surprise. I'm in my 40s!! He's 5 months old. During that stressful birth I begged for a hysterectomy.  I wish they'd given it to me because now I so want to do it again and I know I shouldn't, that it's too dangerous.  

It was dangerous to begin with as I have a bleeding disorder, but laws being as they are.. I think it would be closure, easier for me to accept no more pregnancies if they'd just given me the damn hysterectomy.  "But you could bleed out!!" Well I almost bled out giving birth so since you were already in there, should have just taken the damn thing like I asked!! 

Just my added soap box rant as I struggle with this baby fever while watching my baby sleep. 😥

Nope. Pre-eclampsia would have killed my (twice)

I was very lucky to have an easy delivery. However my mom almost died giving birth to my older sister (36 years ago) from a uterine prolapse. I wouldn't have been here had she not been in a hospital.

I think about this. If we are just keeping it to childbirth and no other medical history…I would have been infertile from a miscarriage after my 3rd child. My body was not recognizing that I needed it to do its job so a D&C was necessary.

I’ve had many babies since and they wouldn’t be here.

I would’ve died in the first trimester from HG.

Nope. Nor would my child.

My water broke before the onset of labor all three times and I was hooked up to pitocin, so I’m not sure what would have happened otherwise.

Nope. Hyperemesis gravidarum would've killed me before my second trimester, most likely.

The first was near textbook although I was induced because of pre-eclampsia. My second, I might not have? I was induced for this one supposedly because of having a due date around the holidays and COVID protocols (small regional Catholic hospital). Also as soon as I was checked in, my blood pressure finally decided to blow as i hovered near pre-eclampsia throughout the whole pregnancy (ended up on high blood pressure meds for 6 months post partum). I had a hard delivery with the cord getting stuck around her neck in the vaginal canal. It ruptured when the OB tried to slide her finger underneath it. I ended up with a moderate (?) 4-5 inch tear in my vaginal canal as well. Apparently it was bleeding pretty profusely. Both the OB and nurses were moving pretty quickly at that point. I'd also delivered the largest placenta she said she had ever seen in her career.

I wouldn't be here though - my mom's cervix wouldn't dialate and she was already a week past due date. Prior to that though, she had a DVT at 19 from birth control that she limped around with for 3 weeks thinking she had pulled a muscle while running. Finally went in to the doctor and was rushed to the ER.

My brother died in childbirth, that was only 35 years ago. He probably would have lived if my mum had a c section

Honestly, without modern medicine, I highly doubt that I would have lived far into childhood, let alone make it to considering having children. I had an ear infection in at least one ear, but usually both, every month for the first year of my life. I was one of those kids with a weaker immune system that got sick often. I dealt with things like asthma, eczema (multiple types) that would leave my skin broken and open for infection.

If I had made it, I don't know if I would have made it through childbirth as I had a planned c-section for reasons other than pregnancy specific complications. I absolutely would not have wanted to have any children because for the brief few weeks I had to seriously contemplate my potential options of giving birth vaginally or terminate to avoid it, was the most stressful, anxiety filled with heart palpitations time in my life. The idea of vaginal birth for myself toes the line of intense fear and actual phobia.

I’d be fine. Three kids, unmedicated and uncomplicated births. Some were fast, some were slow, but they all came out in good health!