Relentless MIL Is Pressuring Mom-to-Be Into a C-Section & Convinced Dad It’s ‘Healthier’

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Most of us would agree that, as much as you can, only you should get to control how you give birth. Sure, sometimes flexibility is needed, but that’s usually because it’s medically necessary — not because your mother-in-law is pushing you into a birth plan that you really don’t want. Sadly, this is the exact situation for one Redditor, who recently shared that her MIL is trying to push her to have a C-section, no matter what she says.

The concerned mom-to-be recently wrote in to the r/babybumps forum with her uncomfortable conundrum.

Reddit

“My mother-in-law wants me to have a C-section,” the original poster wrote. It all started “a week ago at the ultrasound appointment.”

"Her doctor told her that she is 100% able to give natural birth to my baby girl, but my mother-in-law is forcing me to get a C-section as it is ‘healthier’ for me,” she explained. “My husband is supporting wanting me to do it.”

Later in the comments the OP explained that her MIL talks about the C-section “everyday.”

And will argue with her when the OP tries to fight back.

“It only results in a huge argument and it causes friction between me and my husband because she would start crying and accuse me of throwing a fit and that I was shouting at her to my husband which makes him furious,” she added in a later comment.

“She also told me if I don’t do a C-section then my hospital bill wouldn’t be paid for and that I’ll pay it myself. I am at a breaking point.”

Her MIL’s reasoning was that “she had her son with a C-section and that he is more healthy than his older sister who was a natural birth,” she added.

But no matter what she, or her doctor, have to say about it, her MIL “just would not listen,” she wrote.

People in the comments section were livid.

via GIPHY

"I would stop talking to your MIL about your birthing plans at all — they are none of her business," wrote one commenter. "Set the firm boundary now before she continues to insert herself into the decisions you make for your child as their mother. It will only get more difficult to establish those boundaries as time goes on. Your husband needs to listen to you and your doctor — not his mother."

"That’s not a decision for your husband to make," someone else pointed out. "You make that decision with your doctor. Screw them. Do what’s best for you. Only you and your doctor know that. Wonder if she wants you sore and recovering from a C so that you have to rely on her. Stand strong."

Another commenter put it this way: "You’ve got to stand up for yourself, I’m afraid. It’s YOUR body and YOUR choice. Not your husband’s, not his mother’s, YOURS. She can’t make you do s—t if you don’t want to. Your husband sounds like a jacka– to be honest, and this is part of the problem. Who’s he married to, his mother or you? Who’s birthing his child, his mother or you? Do you feel happy and safe in this marriage OP? Are your family or friends close by? Wishing you all the best."

But we think one person said it best: "Tell her to pound sand."