AMA on my experiences of three different births - section, inductions / assisted and water birth

[Airconfan]

i have had three children and all had different types of birth, so AMA around my experiences:

• emergency cat 1 C Section

• mechanical induction
• hormone drip induction
• episiotomy / ventouse

• water birth / gas & air only

if you had your time again which would you go for?

How long did it take you to recover with each?

I would opt for a water birth, yes during transition I was very much asking for an epidural but actually recovery wise and birth was very straight forward.
Or a mixture of natural labour with an epidural would be a close second.

I wouldn’t say no to a mechanical induction (balloon) but would decline hormones if possible.

if I knew I had high chances of a c section I would opt for a planned over emergency for sure. But under consultant review opinion etc

Recovery:
Water birth gas / air - easy and was out walking doing normal tasks 24hrs later

Induction with hormone drip and episiotomy - a few weeks to feel normal but more mobile and less pain than a c section for sure.

C Section - pain / lack of movement was hard for the first 10 days. It gets better every day but then not driving and a lack of freedom gets to you. You are 100% more helpless and housebound.

thank you! I'm opting for a c section, what recommendations do you have for recovery?

Ask your midwife what painkillers they prescribe as standard. Some do codeine some don’t. Most will expect you to have stocked up on paracetamol, ibuprofen etc. it’s 8 tablets of paracetamol a day and 6 ibuprofen for 7 days minimum, which can take a few trips to the shops.

Ask if you get sent home with lactulose (helps soften stools). If not get it from the pharmacy ahead of time.

Prepare that you will need blood thinning injections at home for 10 days or 6 weeks.

If you don’t own many flannels I would get some more, I had a sink bath a few times as a shower was too much and I didn’t want to get the bandage wet. Then once the bandage is off it’s recommended to use one clean flannel to pat down the area after showering that’s single use so it’s straight into he wash each time.

A wedge or lots of pillows (I’m talking a crazy amount like 6-8 pillows) to help prop yourself up in bed.

thank you I am very naive! Were you bedridden? How long for? how long until you could go out for a walk?

They like you to keep moving to avoid blood clots.

I would say:
0-5 days - bed to toilet to small amount of time on the sofa.
5-10 days - more time on the sofa than in bed
10-15 days - very small walks (5mins)
2-4 weeks - very gentle 15 min walk
4-6 weeks - gentle 20-30min walk

I was a bit naïve too, when you get a tugging pain around the scar it doesn’t mean your skin is opening. They have thicker more tougher stitches for your uterus that can tug vs the dissolvable ones on your skin. It’s 7 layers and lots of stitches where I oddly only considered the top skin layer