Seeing the actual birth during a caesarian

[lucysnowe]

Hi all

If I have to have a c-section I quite fancy the idea of seeing them cut me open so I get to see the baby as it comes out (if I'm allowed). However DH is not so sure he wants to and I wonder if when it comes down to it all the blood etc will freak me out a bit, although I'm not v. squeamish usually.

I'd love to know if anyone has done this and if you recommend it!

Thanks

[suwoo]

Hi, I wanted to do this as have seen it on american birthing programms on TV. There were 2 reasons why I didn't..(1) DH was so squeamish about it all and said no way. (2) The consultant nearly laughed me out of the room and also said no way. Apparently, the curtain is there to prevent infection/cross contamination and not purposely to obscure the view dontcha know .

[Flibbertyjibbet]

You would need to be sitting up somehow as the cut is sort of underneath the bump.
I can't see that being possible. I made dp sit facing me the whole time as I didn't want him to ever be able to tell me what he saw. I absolutely would NOT want to see people putting their hands in my tummy.
Some things are best left unseen imo!

If you end up needing an elective c section I suppose you can ask in advance, but if its an emergency then the team will have a lot more on their minds than whether mum can see whats going on or not.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

You would need to be sitting up somehow as the cut is sort of underneath the bump.
I can't see that being possible. I made dp sit facing me the whole time as I didn't want him to ever be able to tell me what he saw. I absolutely would NOT want to see people putting their hands in my tummy.
Some things are best left unseen imo!

If you end up needing an elective c section I suppose you can ask in advance, but if its an emergency then the team will have a lot more on their minds than whether mum can see whats going on or not.

[blueshoes]

Apart from baby, you'd probably also see your internal organs as well, like bladder, bowel?

I think my dh stole a peep over the curtain whilst doctors were stitching me up. He has sworn never to tell and he will take that to his grave.

[samiestresure]

well i tried it but the feeling of them moving about inside u freaked me out no one told me that u would b able to feel that bit just not the pain. but then again i had an emergency c-sec and had about ten minutes and no one told me anything so i was paniking as well so got knocked out in the end but gud luck wiv it

[EBenes]

Seeing didn't seem to be an option when I had mine. We were both at the pretty end, and the doc beckoned my husband over to the ugly end and insisted he started taking photographs. My husband was not wild about this. Having seen th e photographs, I think it was probably a misstep - not just the gore, it looks more dangerous than it is, and fortunately I wasn't paying attention to his face - but we were both very untraumatised by what was a peaceful, calm operation, even if he had a 'better' view.

I'm think I'm glad I wasn't watching - and certainly in the end it has made no difference to how much I love my baby and what comes after. However - some women who've had natural births talk a lot to me about how meaningful it was that they and their babies went through it together, and when my baby was handed to me, I felt quite blank and empty until a little while later - so it is POSSIBLE that seeing what's happening gives you some of that birth experience. I don't know if there's any reason it should, and I think when you have your baby none of this matters.

[suwoo]

Bloody lying consultant . I had an elective and I mentioned this at my consultant appointment and was given the explanation I explained earlier. I had looked into the 'natural c section' type of delivery and had mentioned this aswell and he just looked at me blankly and said 'we don't do that'. It wasn't actually him who performed the operation in the end thank god, he really was a knob and offended me with other things he said.

[Ellbell]

When I had my elective section, the consultant told dh that he was welcome to watch if he wanted to, as long as he promised not to faint, as everyone in the room would be busy looking after me and the baby and they'd have to just step over him till the operation was over! Dh opted to stay on the 'safe' side of the screen...

I did see my baby as soon as she was born. There was a bit of pushing and pulling, the consultant said that one shoulder was out, and then as he announced that the head was out he was drowned out by some very loud crying, and he then immediately held her up over the screen for me to see.

One compromise would be to ask for the screen to be taken down at the moment when the baby is delivered. I personally was only interested in the baby bit of the operation. I certainly didn't want to see them cutting into me (even if it had been possible to see over my bump) or to glimpse any internal organs [shudder]. But if the screen was taken down just as they knew the baby was coming out (they do know it's coming - they lean on the top of your bump quite hard to push it all down) you could see the actual moment of delivery, and then they could put it up again while they stitch you up (while you cuddle your baby).

Good luck!

[TuttiFrutti]

I asked the consultant during my c-section how many people had ever asked to have the screen down. He said, in 4 years at that hospital, only once. So it's not a common request.

Personally I wouldn't want to see myself being cut open, but each to her own. Having the baby lifted straight into my arms was enough for me.

[lucysnowe]

Thanks for all the responses! I like the idea of the curtain being snatched away just as the bub appears! (For some reason I keep on seeing it as made of red velvet.)

So Starlight did you get to see much in the end and was it worth it?

Stupid question probably - for those of you who were given the baby straight away, was that directly after birth or did they clean it up a bit and cut the cord?

[colacubes]

Wow, you are brave, I have had 2 sections, and there is no way on this earth I could have watched, it was terrifying enough just going in the theatre.

I have a friend whos dh watched, and he says it was ok, a little like the surgeon was washing up in her tummy!! But he very laid back, in fact nothing ever fazes him.

Maybe you could compromise and set up a camera, if thats allowed, then you still have the option if you have attack of the nerves.

Good luck with your new bunble.

[prussell]

I had to have an emergency c-section which I was wholly unprepared for and knew nothing about. I really wanted to see the baby come out (as did DH) but the consultant laughed at us and told us no way. I regret (a little bit) not being more forceful about it but in the scheme of things it really wasn't the most important thing going on at the time and perhaps they knew best.

Re being given the baby straight away, mine was in trouble and so they whipped him off to be seen to by the doctors. (I was told this was standard in all emergency c-sections?) DH went with him but I was only given the chance to hold him a little while later once he had been cleaned up etc. I felt quite removed from the whole process tbh. And when DS was offered to me to hold I was shaking so much from the anaesthetic I was too scared to hold him. When we got to the recovery room and I had stabilised though I had a lovely midwife who helped me with breastfeeding. But this was at least an hour after the birth and not ideal. DS and I really struggled with bf-ing at the beginning and I always wondered if that would have been easier if we had had the whole skin-to-skin thing just after he was born. If I had to have another c-section I would definitely be more specific with the doctors about what I wanted in this regard.

[Ellbell]

My dd was wrapped up immediately because she was small and quite cold. However, she was a bit early (36 weeks) and I'd had a very problematic pregnancy so they were expecting her to be small. But dh was given her to hold as soon as she'd be wrapped up (not cleaned up) and weighed and the Apgars done, and I held her within a few minutes. IIRC, they cut the cord immediately, as soon as she was out (i.e. it was already cut before they held her up for me to see).

[tigger15]

My dh saw it by accident. They asked him just before the delivery "do you want to see?" he thought all he'd see was ds on umbilical cord (which I saw when he was lifted over the screen) instead he got a nice view of my insides. I can't say either of us were thrilled by that - afterall a woman's got to keep a little mystique...

Ds was taken over to a table to be checked and cleaned (it was an emcs) and then given to dh to hold. I wanted to but couldn't as had blood pressure cough on one hand, drips in the other and they were tilting me backwards to stop me fainting. I was very cross about that.

[cheesesarnie]

i couldnt have watched mine-bleurgh.but dh watched ds1(2nd child).he kept being told that it might not be a good idea but he loved it and now reminds me often that hes seen my innards![vomit]

[icklelou]

Although I didn't see myself what went on during my section, at the last minute, they asked dh if he'd like to see dd being pulled out. I think she was already partly out, so he didn't see whatever they do beforehand, but he says it really wasn't as gory as you'd expect, and he was concentrating on watching dd rather than looking at anything else.

[yurt1]

C-sections are so rough you can feel what's going on anyway. I'm not sure that seeing it would add that much tbh. I always asked the anaesthetists to explain what was happening as it went along.

[Mintpurple]

Hi lucysnowe - in our unit we almost routinely drop the screen as baby is coming out, but I havent seen it done before then. The actual op if seen from the other end is quite brutal really and there are a couple of bits of the op that most midwives tend to look away at, as its really not pleasant to watch.

But speak to the docs doing the c/s if you want to see a bit more - often the more senior the doc, the more they will let you see as they are more confident. More junior docs are just concentrating on the c/s rather than the other things IMO.

Also, it is standard practice to put baby straight on mums chest for skin to skin unless it needs any attention from the paeds, and its an instant decision at birth - paed or mum - I just warn the anaesthetist to cover anything like bp cuffs etc that they dont want to get messy and in most cases it is really no problem.

I worked with a fantastic obstetrician in Australia (Gary Swift) who has been involved with what has to be described as the ultimate in mums involvement in a c/s - have a look at the link here. Dont know that you'd get this in the NHS!

[ChutneyMary]

When I had em CS (dd1) I didn't see anything til she was out and brought to me. It had been a real hurry and so she was whisked off to the resus table to be checked over.

DD2 was an elective section and DH was allowed to watch on condition that he stepped back if it all got too much. He watched the whole thing and loved it, even though it did get a bit fraught as she was transverse lie. The screen was dropped as she emerged, which I hadn't asked for but was lovely.

The incision will be too low for you to see done unless you look at the reflection in the lights. If you had a classic incision, chances are you would be asleep. Incidentally, I didn't hold either of mine for at least an hour afterwards what with one thing and another, and they both latched straight on. We had skin to skin in the recovery room though - I don't think delay automatically gets in the way of BF, though it is nicer if you can have it sooner

[3missys]

When I did my psych nurse training I did a maternity part and actuallt watched 2 x c-sections, trust me you don't want to see what is going on! They are really brutal to your tummy, I went a bit weak!

....
However I then went on to have 2 c-sections for breach reasons but those imagages stuck in my mind all the time - I still enjoyed the whole experience however and the blue "curtain" was taking down really quickly!

[lucysnowe]

That's a really lovely story Mintpurple.

Admittedly the only experience I've got is watching this vid:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ohJ99CfhcU

It is a bit gory though!