Cesarean Section, C-section, CS, you know what it is.
I would like to think I came to know it for the first time in my early teens, and as far back as then, it seemed to connote tragic childbirth, weak womanhood, misfortune, and even wickedness to a husband – seeing as he’d have to pay almost 5 times the hospital bill for a vaginal delivery. Also, for us Christians it felt bad, shameful, and faithless to not give birth like the biblical ‘Hebrew woman’.
In my early twenties, the campaign against emotional blackmail, victimization, and whiplashing of women who have their babies through CS picked up. Sadly, it didn’t start just because of better education, it started because of horrible experiences. Families, friends, and colleagues, cried out about their losses and shared horrific tales of avoidable pain and death of women and their babies on the delivery bed. Stories like the ones below, filled newspapers, radios, magazines, and several media platforms.
…she bled to death
“Her husband refused to sign off on the operation, his mother said CS is an abomination, she bled to death”
“Though her pelvis was too small for the baby to go through, they insisted it must be a vaginal delivery – or how else would they testify?”
“She could have been saved, she could have lived, but we wouldn’t listen – at least not when we still could.”
Sighs! While I may never have heard the other side of these stories, nor come to terms with the regrets those left alive may have felt, I know for a fact that many women today still feel the need to explain and validate themselves over and over after going through a CS, and this shouldn’t be.
He is the originator and benefactor of the knowledge that drives medicine & surgery
Now, I am not saying go and opt for an Elective CS, especially out of fear, no, you have nothing to fear. The average woman’s body is designed to conceive and deliver. But say, for instance, you are unable to conceive when you want, or you do conceive but your pelvis is found to be too small, or maybe like me, labor doesn’t kick in by itself and you’re past due, are you any less of a woman? No!
God is there to help you come through anything, and He is the originator and benefactor of the knowledge that drives medicine & surgery (before you crucify me, humans can take a good thing and use it wrongly, such as we see in the changing a female into a male – the use for good or bad is a ‘human’ problem). Clinicians warn against elective CS, and so do I, but it is still your choice, and you have absolutely nothing to feel bad about. If you opt for an elective CS and go through with it, God’s love for you wouldn’t drop one bit, you would still be able to trust him to keep you and your baby through the procedure.
…what matters is going in and returning safely with your baby – no complication, no loss.
Delivery is delivery, vaginally or by CS, what matters is going in and returning safely with your baby – no complication, no loss. God can heal diseases miraculously without the intervention of science or medicine, still, he can heal diseases by causing the body to respond correctly to medication. Medicine is not the opposite of faith, instead, it is a tool in the hand of God. Jesus in his ministry on earth healed the sick by speaking, touching, or even mixing spit with soil, He can use anything, don’t put Him in a box.
There is a place of divine instruction and guidance, you know it for what it is, and obedience is key. But otherwise, always remember that medicine is not the opposite of faith, but a tool in God’s hands. This also shows that you don’t place your trust in science or medicine, you place your trust in God. I can only hope this is clear as we proceed to part 2 of this piece.
This is so beautiful. I had my last baby via CS and it wasn’t as bad as people portrayed it. I carry my marks with so much joy.
God bless you Mama.
I wish many more mums see this.
Please do mummy!
Amen! Amen!
Sure they can, remember to share!
Great piece Ma’am.
People need to come to know this fact “medicine is not the opposite of faith, but a tool in God’s hands”.
Thanks for the share.
This blessed me!
Thank you FK
Well said. As a matter of fact, I believe like a girl said, ‘we’d get there when we get there’ is a phrase that’s so applicable to this, When it’s your turn to birth (either as a man or a woman), we’d come to appreciate God’s love and provision such as the C-SECTION.
Keep the pen rolling dear.
Absolute!!!
God is not against science. The issue is when it crosses the line of faith and God’s sovereignty.
As a believer, mastering the faith walk is to know when your faith reaches its peak. At that point, add science with faith in God to come out great without negative implications.