Hi All,
I’ve seen lots of threads where people have discussed their recovery etc, or have compared elective c section to vaginal birth.... but I’m feeling a bit clueless about how a c section actually works!
I had a vaginal birth for DD1 nearly 4 years ago, which I was very happy with and fully understood - I’d been to the NCT classes and knew about stages of labour, pain relief, skin to skin afterwards etc. That won’t be how it’s going to go this time - almost certainly going to be a c section (identical twins sharing a placenta which is not ideally placed, so consultant says outcome for twin 2 might be poor with vaginal birth)
Can you talk me through what happens? I’ve got some specific questions, but any guidance would be wonderful, I’ve not seen my midwife since I found out it was twins (lockdown) and I didn’t feel comfortable asking the consultant this kind of question!
An epidural is a spinal injection. Do they do this once you are in theatre, or does it take a while to kick in? Can they tell if it’s wearing off, or does it suddenly just start hurting? (Bit nervous about this)
How soon after they’ve finished are you able to get up and move? I assume the epidural had to wear off enough that you can feel your legs?
When do they put the catheter in? Does it hurt when they do it? How long does it stay in after and does that hurt?
Are you able to do skin to skin? Do the midwives look after the baby while the doctors finish up, or can you hold them? How soon can you breastfeed? With DD1 the midwife encouraged it immediately and said it would help trigger further contractions to push placenta out and then help uterus to shrink, but this sounds like it might be a bad idea to have things moving quickly if I’ve just been stitched up.
How long does it take from when they start cutting to when the baby and placenta are out?
As you can tell, I’m feeling pretty clueless, so anything you can think of that I should know, please do share it!
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Can you talk me through your c section?
39 replies
crazychemist · 30/07/2020 19:44
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