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Her 9th C-section birth went viral. Let's talk about it.

Mama Doctor Jones

400,919 views

A few weeks ago, I reacted to a viral influencer sharing her second free birth/home birth. Today, I'm reacting to another influencer who went viral for completely opposite reasons: having nine (yes, 9, as in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) C-sections.

Mercedes Lynn (Mercedeslynnnn8 on TikTok) shares her life as a 32-year old Christian homeschooling mom of 9, all of whom have been born via C-section over the last 15 years. Fortunately for her (and all of us), her births have all gone well enough that her whole family is apparently happy and healthy, which is the outcome we all want, of course.

As an ObGyn, I simply have to talk about this. How many C-sections are actually safe? Should you really stop at 3? What happens if you don't? And should doctors "allow" this to happen??

Watch the PlayDoh C-section by ‪@DianaInThePink‬ here: How Does a C-Section Actually Work? Watch ...

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00:00 - Intro
1:15 - Worries heading into her 9th C-Section
1:29 - General anesthesia during a C-section
2:28 - Uterine window
3:52 - What I'M worried about
5:07 - Her C-section history
5:26 - What I say to patients choosing C-section or VBAC
7:34 - Back to her C-section history
10:55 - Tubes tied?!
11:18 - Are C-sections ACTUALLY a big deal?
12:41 - AFTER her last C-section
15:34 - Complications from her C-sections
20:37 - Is there a C-section limit?
21:33 - Reacting to her TikTok comments

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** The information in this video is intended to serve as educational information and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/advanced practice provider. **

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20 Comments

@MamaDoctorJones Creator 3 days ago Pinned

Would you rather: have two freebirths at home on the farm or nine C-sections over 15 years?

I KID I KID - I support everyone's right to have the family size and birth experiences that they want, and I also enjoy talking about the cases that fall outside the norms.

But seriously.....which would you pick 👀

@falvlynn2303 3 days ago

With all the "what doctor would allow that" comments, I just wanna ask: What do these people expect the doctors to do? Just leave the baby in there?

@barbborja1910 2 days ago

My sister in law wanted 5 children. After her 3rd emergency c-section, her doctor told her that it was like cutting through concrete and advised her not to have any more. I’m glad that she listened.

@aranoanor 2 days ago

hearing that she's a quiverfull christian and had her first at 17 makes me heart break. i bet he's older.

@NeverendingBlonde 2 days ago

I’m more concerned about how she went from wanting her tubes tied after a few babies to having a total of 9.

@mcaskey358 2 days ago

If a ten year old is considered old enough to have a baby, an 18 year old should be old enough to choose not to.

@amandajarboe1131 3 days ago (edited)

My grandma held the world record for C-sections at 6 until the 1970's. She was told she could die from coughing or sneezing with my aunt. It's wild to think about!

@tinamaarij 2 days ago

Your expertise on this story is so important!!!

@wendyamsterdam8482 3 days ago

She started having babies when she still was a child herself

@morbidmouse2 3 days ago

She said, "oh you won't let me tie my tubes? Bet"

Like so dumb they didn't. She's old enough to have 3 kids but not old enough to have her tubes tied?? How does that make sense!?

@NettleAbsentmindedly 3 days ago

There's just something so horrifying knowing she tried to get her tubes tied at 20, after 3 kids, but couldn't because she wasn't 21.

I'm sure she is happy with her subsequent children but that is just horrific. She wanted a different life at one point but couldn't get it

@nobody8328 3 days ago

"What doctor would allow that?"

The doctor that refused to tie her tubes, that's who.

@belongingembodied77 3 days ago (edited)

My mom had 7 kids. She was pregnant and or breastfeeding for 20 years. The toll its taken on her body is absolutely horrible.

@LotusYurei 3 days ago

In my head, I'm just thinking, what if something went wrong and she somehow passed during one of these c-sections. All those poor kids would have no mother and the father would be completely overwhelmed.

@KatMo126 3 days ago

Can you please please please cover the Emily Mitchell case? She recently won a huge lawsuit against a hospital in Maine when her OBGYN removed her BLADDER instead of an ovarian cyst and didn’t even notice after surgery.

@Tormekia 3 days ago

At that point it's not a scar, it's a velcro closure.

@fayej6591 3 days ago

At 9 cesareans, I don’t just worry about excessive bleeding, I’m also worried about scar tissue, including adhesions of the bowel and bladder to the uterus or to the abdominal wall and having an injury to those organs…especially if the injury wasn’t obvious at the time and the injury didn’t get immediately repaired, leading to sepsis and organ failure.
She apparently heals well, thankfully, but I have seen scar tissue that is like cement and you can’t see anything clearly. Many cases you don’t know what you are going to find until you are in there.
Previously undiagnosed accreta is an absolute nightmare.

@heatherhoutz4136 3 days ago

One of my besties had a single daughter at 15, and she will be infuriated to find out they will actually give you a General if your Spinal doesn't work. I never knew it was that easy, and she was forced to endure a C-section regardless of whether her spinal worked! She went in early with complications and required an emergency C-section. Her doctor wasn't available and her daughter was delivered by a very cruel woman she hadn't met before. She didn't get the pleasure of a general when her spinal didn't work. As she screamed and told the doctor she could FEEL everything and cried, the doctor belittled her and said she was being a baby and there was no way she was feeling anything but pressure and literally went as far as to get very angry and eventually hissed, "Well maybe now you'll consider keeping your legs closed in the future." She finally began to feel relief as they started the stitches. She healed like a dream, but never had another child, and would go on at age 23 to lose 3/4 of her cervix to cancer prevention and was forced to start a FIVE YEAR FIGHT to get a tubal, even though carrying a pregnancy would be near impossible, because she only had ONE kid and wasn't yet married, and what if her possible future husband wanted his own, "real" child with her. We can say the American Medical System failed her at this point.

@kieleyevatt2232 1 day ago

With the way people blame pregancies 100% on the woman carrying them youd think the way you got pregnant was by sitting there focused intently on the thought I WANT A BABY for 5 days straight, and not a whole other person being involved in a brief interaction?

@TerriWhyton 2 days ago

I’m a loud and proud childfree by choice woman for what it’s worth and I cannot wrap my head around how a c-section is treated like something kinda minor. Like you say, it’s a major abdominal surgery but I feel like society doesn’t treat it that way