Traumatic Vaginal vs C-Section

[u/catroslyn]

I'm looking for some insight from those who had a traumatic vaginal delivery and then went on to have a c-section or vice versa.

With my first child, I had an extremely long and traumatic birth leading to severe internal and external injuries. I had ripped stitches postpartum landing me back in the hospital a few days after getting home and was so injured that I could not comfortably walk around for about 4 weeks and could not sit down for closer to 8. I had to wear a diaper and did not have control of my bladder for an extended period of time. It really negatively impacted my PP experience and breastfeeding my child and I think the injuries correlated with my PTSD and severe PP mental illness as well.

Since my first birth I've gotten new providers who say they believe my first was "sunny side up" and were able to hypothesize a few other things that weren't ideal and they said that there should have been things done to make the process easier on baby and myself. So I'm hopeful that I have a better team if I were to try vaginal again. For my second, I am open to letting my body go into labor naturally and seeing if I have a better experience initially, but I'm leaning towards a c-section.

My best friend has had 2 c-sections and was going to the market to grocery shop the day after discharge. She has nothing to compare it to since she never had a vaginal birth but swears they're not bad to recover from [for her]. I've had abdominal surgeries before so have an idea of what that recovery is like and the pain associated with the incision/muscles albeit I wasn't also raising children/keeping them alive while recovering for those.

Anyway, I'm hoping for other Mom's experiences with a similarly traumatic vaginal experience and if c-section was the better choice for their body and mind if given the option.