Planned C Section

Hiya, I had a planned C section for my first and only due to health reasons. To be honest, I don't think I'd want to give birth any other way. The prep is just like any other day surgery - you're invited in to see the registrar a few days before and then you just turn up in the morning on your date. You have to be NIL by mouth from about 9pm the previous night and we had to arrive at 7am. The only down part is that as a planned, you are automatically bumped back if there is an emergency c-section (obviously). We had been booked as second in line, so approx 8.30am, but there were an exceptional number of emergencies that morning, so we were moved from the ward into the kitchen which was tough because I had to remain NIL by mouth whilst watching other mothers stuffing massive bags of wotsits down their mouths. We didn't get into surgery until 2.30pm - so you can imagine how thirsty, hungry and tired I was. It all happened quite quickly after such a long wait. My husband was with me and he held me as they put the needle into my spine and an epidural into my shoulder. Once they kicked in, I was fine. There's a lot of pushing and shoving and it did feel as though one of the surgeons was jumping on my stomach at one point, but with the screen up you can't see anything - although hubby could but he held it together. Then hey presto, there's a baby coming over the screen to say hello. I got to see him briefly before my hubby was whisked away with baby behind the screen and they let him cut the chord, weighed and had his tag put on. Then baby was given right back to me, under my nightdress so we could go immediately skin to skin without him being cleaned up etc. One of the nurses said "he'll poo on you!", but I didn't care and he didn't poo on me...or if he did, I never noticed. He was screaming and screaming and screaming and it was absolutely amazing and he was left there until they'd finished removing the placenta and tidying me up. In fact, I suffer from keloid skin and the surgeon actually cleaned up a load of scar tissue from previous abdominal surgery at the same time to leave me with a much nicer scar. Once I was done, they wrapped baby up and put him in the desert trolley and by hubby pushed him to the recovery room with me. We were in recovery for about 4 hours because there was a delay in getting a free bed. The main problem I had started then, which was that my milk hadn't had the necessary trigger from childbirth to come through. I had nurses thrusting my childs head at my tits and/or pinching my nipples in the most violent way and hardly anything was coming out. In hindsight I should have told them to lay off but there is a massive pressure to do it in a rush, their way rather than calmly, by getting to know your baby. We were kept in 5 days in the end because of baby's weight loss due to the fact that the midwives wouldn't let me feed him formula and he became severely jaundiced and underweight. But once we'd returned home and I had power pumped for another 5 days and his mouth had grown out of it's tiny tongue tie, that all sorted itself out. If you've already had an emergency, then it's basically exactly the same but just a lot more relaxed - like getting up and going to a strange hotel for some major surgery, where you come out with another baby.

Good Luck! You'll do just fine xx

Hi.

I had a planned c section booked for today but ended up having an emergency on Thursday morning due to inpatient twins. I'd say no preparation is actually needed, you just need to remember that you'll have limited movement whilst recovering in terms of bending, twisting and stretching to reach things (I'd never thought about how much I do these things in everyday life until now and it causes a twinge through the wound). As you've already experienced a section not sure how much use this will be to you but it's things I wished I'd known before mine!

I'm now on day 4 since my section and find moving fine now so long as don't do any of the above but do suffer with pain when trying to sleep however the hospital staff are great with prescribing adequate pain relief and very supportive helping out with babies. Be prepared for your ankles to really swell though, mine have never been so bad so have to live in the stockings to reduce chance of clots.

Other point to remember is you'll have a catheter fitted for first 24 hours and on removal you might find the amount of blood you see coming from your body each time you use the toilet a tad alarming, I certainly did but if you're worried mention it to midwife. They'll check the sample and your pads to ensure its ok. You will need a lot of maternity pads and still expect your pants to get messy around the pads. If you notice any clots either in the toilet or pads/paper try to collect them/stop anyone using that toilet as midwife needs to see them. Based on experience I'd say so long as you're not loosing more blood than when on a heavy period they say it's normal so don't worry.

Other points

1) pants - think at least a size bigger than you currently need and granny style! BIGGER THE BETTER.

2) Dresses are much more comfortable than any kind of trousers - absolutely no pressure / touching or risk of catching them on the staples.

3) warm shower helps ease any mild pain from the wound. Also when it's time to get the dressing off have a shower first and absolutely saturate the dressing, and get the midwife to remove it whilst it's so wet- no pain whatsoever.

4) Get moving - even though it might hurt (give time for pain killers to kick in) and then push through the remaining discomfort. You might be slower than a tortoise and look more awkward than a great great granny but seriously it helps with the recovery and reduces the amount of pain you'll feel, with every day movement becoming easier and more comfortable.

Finally I found that 2 days after my section I was finally able to reach my feet - an absolute luxury to be able to wash bottom half of legs and feet after so many months!

Hope this helps x

Thank you to all who have replied, i have really enjoyed reading your replies (well besides the first one lol)

you have all really helped me and made me feel a bit more at ease!

hopefull15 i remember that jumping on your chest sensation from my emergency section, it was rather scary as i didnt know what to expect!

Btrouble congratulations on the unexpected arrival of your twins

xx

Hello everyone,

A few posts have been made in relation to autism and caesarean birth which have now been removed. Although some studies have suggested that an association between caesarean birth and autism exists, the best evidence we have indicates that a caesarean birth is unlikely to cause autism.

We welcome people sharing their experiences and knowledge of pregnancy, birth and parenting. However, we don’t want to unnecessarily worry or frighten new parents.

We have information on our website about what happens during a caesarean birth: nct.org.uk/birth/what-happe...

Hi, I'm in the same boat as you In a few months, I was feeling a little unsure but some people have said it's much better as you've already been through it once, recovery depends on you individually but shouldn't be much different than last time. Been told as you have an appointment and date given its a bit easier to get planned and sorted. It's usually 1 week before your due date unless you are struggling health wise or if baby is expected to be very large. But as for the procedure I'm not sure this is what im planning on speaking to the midwife about. Any of these questions should be answered fully by them to put you at ease.

I hope all goes well for you 😉

Take care

hi there,

I have type 1 and a medical scare had me opting for a planned C Section.

I had delivered normally with my first baby, it was horrific.

Now my C Section, oh it was wonderful! Being type 1 I had to go in the night before to go on my insulin drip, which was fine. I was first up in theatre, so my Husband came at 8.30am, at 8.45am my surgeon came and the nursing staff who put my rather sexy surgical stockings on! At 9.00pm I went down to a room next to theatre to go over my pre surgical questionnaire, like did I have false teeth and lots of other stuff, at this point my Husband went and got his surgical gown on etc. I was very calm and very excited, and not at all nervous. I then went and sat on the bed and had to learn forward for my epidural to be done. It stung a little but worst part was leaning forward with a bump and boobs pushed under my chin! The rest is a blur really, next thing I know my gorgeous son is being held up and moved to other side of room to be cleaned up. I get stitched up and then taken to a lovely side room for about half hr of skin to skin which was wonderful!

I recovered very well with lots of advice from my friend who had had 3 c sections prior to me. Lots of making sure I walked up right to enable muscles to go back to shape easily, taking the stairs backwards at home to reduce pulling etc etc.

By week 3 I was back on the School run and making sure I took really good care of myself.

It really was a wonderful experience and I wish you every health and happiness in your planned section too xx

ignore that stupid woman i had a emergency section 10 yrs ago and was really bad i did not like it one bit really sore then went on to have 3 normal births then last yr i had another emergency section and it was not bad at all cus i new what to expect i was up and about the next day im 31 weeks now and they want me to have a section due to the scar rupturing but im not worried just make sure you keep on top of your pain meds and the bet to do it get out of bed and move about good luck xxxxxxxx