Raising with the village

Emergency vs Elective C-Section: Two Very Different Births with Anita

In this episode of Raising with the Village, we sit down with Anita, a mum of two, to talk candidly about her experiences of both an emergency C-section and a planned (elective) C-section — and how different those two births felt physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Anita shares her first pregnancy journey, which was complicated by a lung defect diagnosed at the 20-week scan. With close monitoring and a planned induction at 38 weeks, she hoped for a vaginal birth — but after six long days of induction, her labour stalled, her waters broke, and signs of infection led to a fast-moving emergency C-section.

She walks us through what it’s really like when a birth plan changes suddenly: the speed, the sensory overload, the number of medical staff in theatre, and the surreal feeling of meeting your baby while still trying to process what just happened. Anita also shares what recovery looked like after an emergency C-section, including pain management, mobility, antibiotics, and the emotional impact of focusing entirely on her baby’s health.

A few years later, Anita found herself pregnant again — this time facing a different decision: VBAC or planned C-section. Drawing on her first experience, plus new factors like gestational diabetes, baby’s size, age, and childcare logistics, she chose an elective C-section.

In contrast to the emergency birth, Anita describes the second C-section as calm, controlled, and predictable — but not without its own challenges. She talks honestly about anxiety before planned surgery, the physical sensations of a spinal block, longer operating time due to scar tissue, and recovery while caring for a newborn and a toddler.

Throughout the conversation, Anita reflects on:

• How expectations shape our birth experiences
• The reality of C-section recovery (both times)
• What surprised her most about planned surgery
• Why there’s no “easy” or “right” way to give birth
• Practical advice she wishes she’d known sooner

This episode is a compassionate, realistic look at C-sections without judgement — ideal for anyone preparing for a Caesarean, considering their options after a previous C-section, or wanting to better understand what recovery can truly involve.

Topics We Cover:

• Emergency C-section after prolonged induction
• Planned vs emergency C-sections: key differences
• Induction, stalled labour, and infection risk
• Theatre experience and medical teams
• Skin-to-skin after C-section
• Pain management and mobility after surgery
• VBAC vs elective C-section decision-making
• Gestational diabetes and birth planning
• Recovering with a toddler at home
• Honest C-section recovery tips and preparation

Anita’s Top Advice for C-Section Recovery:

• Stock up on pain relief before going to hospital
• Keep track of medication timings
• Prepare meals, snacks, and easy food in advance
• Set expectations — recovery takes time
• Prep older children so they know not to jump or climb
• Take pain relief even on “good” days

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.

In this episode, Candida shares her journey from being a child who adored babies to becoming a mother of three — and discovering how motherhood can be both everything she dreamed of and nothing like she expected.

She reflects on the years she spent worrying about her fertility in her 20s (not for medical reasons, but because of headlines and conversations around her), the long path to meeting her first baby, and the identity-shifting experience of going from one child to three.

From the early shock of becoming a mother much sooner than she anticipated emotionally, to the beautiful chaos of siblings playing together while she finally enjoys a warm bowl of soup, Candida speaks with refreshing honesty and humour about the realities of family life — the joyful, the challenging, and the entirely human parts in between.

In this episode, we talk about:

✨ Early longing for motherhood

• Candida’s childhood love for babies
• The sense of “I’m meant to be a mum” she carried from a young age

✨ Fertility fears in her 20s

• How media and cultural narratives created anxiety about her biological clock
• The disconnect between worry and actual medical reality
• Navigating early adulthood with an internal pressure to “hurry”

✨ Becoming a mother for the first time

• The emotional shock of the postpartum period
• The sudden loss of independence and identity shifts
• The long, hard days when a hot meal felt impossible

✨ Growing her family to three

• Her experience adding a second and then a third child
• How her expectations changed with each baby
• The moment she realised her babies were no longer babies — and life became easier again

✨ Siblings, connection, and reclaiming space

• The joy of watching her kids play together
• The return of small freedoms, including finally enjoying a warm bowl of soup
• How completing her family brought clarity, gratitude, and relief

Books mentioned by Candida

From the transcript, the books she referenced appear to be:

• "The Continuum Concept" by Jean Liedloff — A book exploring indigenous approaches to infant care and the concept of continuous physical closeness.
• "French Children Don’t Throw Food" (also titled Bringing Up Bébé) by Pamela Druckerman — A book on French parenting culture and boundaries around sleep, food, and independence.

(If you want me to verify the titles you think she meant, feel free to send a quick line and I’ll adjust.)

Why this episode matters

Candida’s story is a reminder that:

• you can deeply desire motherhood and still find it overwhelming,
• identity can feel shaky before it feels solid again,
• and sometimes the most profound sense of "arrival" comes quietly — with children laughing together nearby and a warm bowl of soup in your hands.

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.

In this powerful episode, Melissa walks us through her three water births — two of which resulted in rare “mermaid babies,” born entirely in their amniotic sac. She also shares how she discovered she had a heart-shaped uterus, her anxiety during pregnancy, and how each labour unfolded.
From a dramatic early pregnancy scare to three medication-free water births, Melissa’s story is filled with surprise, humour, and extraordinary moments (including her first baby swimming to the surface still in her sac!).

• Discovering a heart-shaped (bicornuate) uterus at 8 weeks
• Two babies born en caul (in the sac) — “mermaid babies”
• Why water birth felt right for Melissa
• Anxiety during pregnancy & navigating unexpected bleeding
• The difference between her first, second, and third water births
• The role of midwives, her mum, and her partner
• Gas & air, pain management, and what really happens in the pool
• Going past her due date for the first time with baby #3
• A sweep that triggered labour
• Recovering between births and leaving the hospital within hours
• The emotional side of birth stories and trusting your body

• “Half of my uterus knew I was pregnant… the other half didn’t.”
• “My firstborn literally swam to the top in her little alien sack.”
• “I know it sounds like I made my birth stories up — but I swear it all happened!”
• “Gas & air? I’m taking that if they let me!”
• “With my second, I gave birth at 4:45 AM and was walking around Sainsbury’s by lunchtime.”

These links provide accurate, medically reviewed information related to topics in the episode.

Water Birth

• NHS Guidance — Water Birth
  https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/what-happens-at-the-hospital-or-birth-centre/
  
  

En Caul Birth (“Mermaid Baby”)

• Parents — En Caul Birth Overview
   https://www.parents.com/baby/all-about-babies/you-have-to-see-this-video-of-a-baby-born-in-an-amniotic-sac/ 
  
  

Bicornuate / Heart-Shaped Uterus

• Cleveland Clinic — Bicornuate uterus
  https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22798-bicornuate-uterus
  
  

Signs of Labour & What to Expect

• NHS — Stages of Labour
  https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/the-stages-of-labour-and-birth/
  
  

Mucus Plug (“The Show”)

• NHS — What Is the Mucus Plug?
  https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/signs-that-labour-has-begun/
  
  

Gas & Air (Entonox)

• NHS — Pain Relief in Labour
  https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/labour-and-birth/pain-relief-in-labour/

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.

In this episode, Grace shares her family’s journey through discovering that both of her young children have growth hormone deficiency — from spotting early signs, to seeking answers when her instincts told her something wasn’t right, to navigating diagnosis, testing, treatment and life on daily injections.

It’s a story about persistence, parental intuition, advocating for your children, and the enormous difference early diagnosis can make.

💬 In this episode:

• Spotting the first signs that her son’s growth had stalled — and why she trusted her instincts
• The long process of ruling out allergies, food intolerances and “catch-down growth”
• How she pushed for referrals and why private healthcare accelerated the diagnosis
• What happens during endocrine testing: IGF-1 blood tests, stimulation tests, and MRIs
• Understanding growth hormone deficiency and why early diagnosis matters
• Starting treatment: daily injections, bedtime routines, and the emotional side for young children
• Realising her daughter also had the same condition — and how symptoms can look different
• The impact of treatment: energy levels, confidence, muscle strength and rapid catch-up growth
• Finding community through the Child Growth Foundation
• Grace’s advice for parents concerned about their child’s centile chart or growth trajectory

🩺 Useful Resources:

• Child Growth Foundation
   https://childgrowthfoundation.org
  
  
• NHS – Growth Hormone Deficiency in Children
   https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-we-treat/growth-hormone-deficiency/
• NICE – Human Growth Hormone (Somatropin) in Children
   https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta188
  
  
• Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health – UK-WHO Growth Charts
   https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/growth-charts
  
  
• MAGIC Foundation (Growth Disorders Support)
   https://www.magicfoundation.org

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.

In part two of Louisa’s story, she faces the reality of her baby’s possible medical complications and the uncertainty that follows. A powerful story of courage, resilience, and the unexpected strength that comes with motherhood.

💬 In this episode:

• The moment she had to make big decisions about her pregnancy and her baby’s health
• How her pregnancy eventually happened — with a surprise twist she didn’t see coming
• What it was like giving birth after such an emotional journey
• The early days of life with her newborn at the NICU and at home, and what helped her through them
• Her reflections on that first pregnancy — and what she’d choose to do differently next time

🩺 Useful Resources:

• NHS: Exomphalos (Omphalocele)
• Tommy’s – Having a baby over 40
• Fertility Network UK
• NHS – IVF and fertility treatment
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/omphalocele/ 
• https://bringyourbaby.org/ 

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.

In this two-part episode, Louisa shares her experience of becoming a first-time mum in her forties — from waiting to feel “ready,” to navigating IVF, and facing an unexpected diagnosis during pregnancy.
 It’s a story about time, choice, uncertainty, and courage — and about how sometimes, motherhood unfolds in ways we could never plan.

💬 In this episode:

• What it’s like to start trying for a baby in your late 30s and early 40s
• The emotional and medical journey through fertility treatment and IVF
• Discovering that her baby had exomphalos (omphalocele) — what that means, and what came next
• Finding support and strength in uncertainty
• Reflections on what “being ready” for motherhood really means

🩺 Useful Resources:

• NHS: Exomphalos (Omphalocele)
• Tommy’s – Having a baby over 40
• Fertility Network UK
• NHS – IVF and fertility treatment
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/omphalocele/ 

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.

Lily shares her unexpected experience with pre-eclampsia — a reminder that even when everything seems fine, it’s important to listen to your body and trust your instincts.

💛 Resources & Support

If you’d like to learn more about pre-eclampsia or what to do if you’re worried, here are a few trusted places to start:

• NHS – Pre-eclampsia:
  Clear info on symptoms, causes and when to seek help.
  👉 nhs.uk/conditions/pre-eclampsia
• Tommy’s:
  Great charity resource with easy-to-read info, FAQs and parent stories.
  👉 tommys.org/pre-eclampsia
• NHS Inform (Scotland):
  Friendly overview on signs, risks and management.
  👉 nhsinform.scot/pre-eclampsia

Remember — pre-eclampsia can develop after 20 weeks, and symptoms can include headaches, swelling (especially in the face/hands), changes in vision, or upper abdominal pain.
If something feels off, always speak to your midwife or doctor. You know your body best. 💛

💛 Stay connected
New episodes every week — listen wherever you get your podcasts!

🌍 https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 https://www.instagram.com/raisingwith_thevillage/

Got a story to share about pregnancy, parenting, or family life?
Send a message — your story could help someone else feel less alone.

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.

Welcome to Raising with the Village! I’m Maeva, and I’m so happy you’re here.

This podcast was born out of a simple idea — it takes a village to raise a child. But in today’s world, most of us don’t really have that village anymore. We often raise our children far from family, with little experience and even less sleep. And somehow, we’re just expected to figure it all out as we go!

That’s why I wanted to create a space where real stories are shared — the kind of stories you’d normally hear from a friend who says, “I know someone who went through that too.” Because when we share our experiences, we help each other feel less alone.

Each episode, you’ll hear from parents and caregivers who’ve lived through all kinds of moments — the beautiful, the difficult, and the downright unexpected. No job titles, no labels — just honest conversations about what it really means to raise a child.

✨ Raising with the Village is here to remind you that every story adds to our shared wisdom — that together, we can rebuild that sense of community, one conversation at a time.

If you’d like to share your story, I’d love to hear from you. Get in touch via Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/raisingwith_thevillage/ or by email at [email protected].

💛 Because there’s power in our stories — and when we share them, that power becomes our collective strength.

💛 Raising with the Village

This podcast is about real parents sharing real stories — because no one should feel alone in parenthood.
 New episodes every Thursday!

🌐 Website: https://raisingwith.co.uk/
📸 Instagram: @raisingwiththevillage
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all major platforms.

If you’d like to share your own story — about birth, parenting, or family life — get in touch via the website or Instagram DMs.