To think the gynae might have said something or anything during CS.

[Cricketsong]

Had a CS a few days ago, wheeled down and gynae was already scrubbed up ready to go. He performed the section, didn’t say ‘oh baby is out’ or anything, heard him obviously ask the team for tools etc but then stitched me up washed his hands and walked out 😂

I just thought this was really impersonal and a bit strange. I know it’s not a jolly to have a chat but to not even say one word throughout the birth seems really odd.

Its surgeons.

If he did a good job thats all that matters and in 6 months to a year or so thats all your going to care about.

I dont think mine said many more than one sentence before we went in and we never saw each other again.

She said ‘no babies for two years’. I was like ok. And off she went.

Yet years on I still think about her to this day sometimes. She did such a bloody good job. Incredibly impressive work and super grateful to her and her skills.

Awful. Just not good enough.

It's like the "Hello, my name is" campaign never happened.

You are not a piece of meat and we all deserve to be treated better than this.

Congratulations on your little one.

I've had 4 c sections and never spoke a word to the surgeon and until reading your post I didn't question it!

I didn't expect any convo with my surgeon either. The baby was passed to me and that's all was foccussed on. The surgeon was still continuing his work.

All the other health care professionals in the room were lovely, the surgeon was behind the screen over my abdomen

I think I was lucky in my previous CS then as the gynae was lovely, introduced himself and made sure I was aware of exactly what was going to happen, explained it had all gone well and I’d be able to still have babies in the future. Then postoperative checks daily on the ward till we went home.

In our hospital the care is usually very personalized. Same MW and consultant the whole way through, patients always send cards of thanks to the MW and consultants who cared for them. So I guess really this just felt different.

My sons were born ELCS and the surgeon were absolutely brilliant. Asked me what music to choose and both came for a chat in recovery asking about names etc.
This was 1995 and 2000.
Both surgeons called in the next day to see the boys,am guessing they got job satisfaction back in the day!!

Exactly my experience. With my second section I didn’t even realise the surgeon had arrived until we were starting.

Not gynae, but I had a spine surgeon present (I was told) during an operation to remove a lung tumour that was near, possibly entwined, with/on my spine.

I really didn't care. I cared very much about the outcome, but as I made clear to the thoracic surgeon, not the details of the actual op.

Presumably the obstetrician will be concentrating on the operation itself, the rest of the team in particular the anaesthetist will be the focusing on you and your well-being. Whilst the midwives and paediatric staff will be dealing with baby. Each person in the theatre will have their role to play.
My obstetrician said a brief hello and then she got on with it after the go ahead from the anaesthetist, and I’m not quite sure who said it’s a boy may have been the midwife or the surgeon.
One of the midwives on the ward said to me later, good to see your surgeon was x - she does a very tidy incision, and stitches. Personally rather have someone focussed on doing a good job than talking to me.

I was sort of relieved that the surgeon was concentrating on what she was doing. It’s quite a complex surgery. There were so many people in the room, two midwives, theatre nursing staff including the senior charge nurse, two midwives, one for me and one for DS, the paediatrician with the house officer and the senior house officer who had looked after me for 4 weeks ( she asked if she could watch and spent the whole time by my side talking me through it) and of course the lovely consultant anaesthetist and her registrar who kept my DH busy. She lives in our village so they were swopping gossip throughout.
I doubt the surgeon could get a word in edgeways.
My own consultant gyni and the two others who looked after me during the four weeks I was in the anti natal ward all came to visit after I’d had DS to congratulate me. I think I’d become part of the furniture so they were a bit invested. Most of the midwives who’d been looking after me also popped in while we were in the NICU and transitional care for 10days.
It was a massive joint effort to get me to 36 weeks so I suppose I wasn’t just a set of notes.
There were two midwives, in particular, who saved my sanity, often sitting and chatting with me at night when I struggled to sleep. And another one that had a complaint against her while I was on the ward. I’d witnessed the event and the patient who’d made the complaint had been completely unreasonable. So I was happy to make a statement.

However this was 20 yrs ago and different times. Sad that we no longer see that level of care.

I was in the labour room for 24 hours, had an assisted delivery at the end, then had to be stitched up. The gynae doctor didn't say a word to me either.

I was too exhausted to chat, I guess she was too tired too. We'd both been up all night. I don't hold it against her. She did a good job, DS & I both came home healthy. That's all that really matters in the end.

Mine did introduce himself but I had an EMCS but not an urgent, urgent one so there was time I suppose. However, I recall led him being arrogant when I visited triage once and also quite matter of fact after the birth. However, he did a great job, I had no infection and my scar is invisible so I wish I could have him again actually.

Apparently you can ask. And some do like to revisit their past work!

And this was replaced with a really large badge that says "hello my name is..." so HCP don't ever have to do that.

Ah, I did wonder but he's gone onto pastures new I've been told by my obstetrician! 😂 Even she is impressed with my scar and said he did a good job.

Ahh gutted!

I am having another C later this month. I also tried to get the same surgeon. Sadly she too had moved across the country. But they all knew who it was I was asking for before I even said the name 😂

Some are just very skilled.

During my C it was the anaesthetist who was the one who talked to me, I was his sole focus, everyone else was there for the baby.

I don't think I could even tell you the gender of my surgeon, and it was only 5 weeks ago! I was a bit distracted I guess.

Other people in the theatre were engaging with me and they were lovely. Never crossed my mind to think the surgeon should have spoken to me. Honestly, maybe they did! It was a blur ...

I cannot imagine having a major surgery, that was successful, I went home with a healthy baby, and then caring that the surgeon who did a good job didn’t make chitchat with me.

My section went well, inoffensive scar and healthy happy baby. I have zero recollection if the surgeon said anything directly to me. Other staff did who were responsible for my direct care. The surgeon as I recall did their job and left. Major abdominal surgery that comes with risks to mum and baby - literally cannot imagine caring I didn’t get a jaunty ‘hello! Do you like that we’ve got Magic radio on?!’

Congrats on your new arrival!

Many surgeons are like that IME.

I only really remember the anaethiologist, very friendly, and my DH filming the entire thing over the screen.

And the nurse who had to shave me down there because i was a week before schedule and hadn't done it myself! The humiliation of being naked from tits down on a narrow bed, nightie held up as a screen, while all these strangers watched and chatted.

Also nobody told me the bsby would come out screaming and kicking like my first (vag birth) that shocked me.

I remember holding her while the team tried to stitch up, but I kept bleeding out so asked DH to take her. In the end they called the specialist from home to help.

I know a few surgeons... only one is chatty, and thats because his patients are very often awake as he fiddles with their brains. Even then, he's concentrating hard and anything he says to a patient has some relevance, even if it sounds frivolous (ie 'do you remember x' or 'whats your favourite colour'...).

The rest would very much prefer their patients were not awake and its a major problem if they are as it means something has gone tits up. They want to concentrate on their job and in some respects that job is VERY much easier if they focus on the mechanics, yes, the meat and bones and so on and so forth... than if they wibble about entertaining the thought that this is a person.

So yeah its nice if they have a good bedside manner but I'd put that way down the bottom of the list of priorities when it comes to surgeons!

Yes the anaesthetist was amazing for mine- a really funny personable chap. I knew my surgeon as she was my OB during my whole pregnancy. We had Christmas tunes on and all very convivial really considering I was being cut open! She did a great job on the surgery and chatted once baby was safely out. She made a joke it was definitely my husbands baby - as she was clearly a little mini clone of him.

Was it elective or emergency?

I had my baby in my own hospital. The need for c-section was urgent urgent. I only know who my anaesthetist was because I recognised his voice. I didn’t know who did the procedure until the following day.

Turns out that it was the utterly amazing registrar on-call, because it all happened so quickly that the consultant was still putting his scrubs on. I’ve never met him. I only know his name because I asked so I could send him a thank you card for his appraisal folder.

I don’t know which of my paediatric colleagues resuscitated my baby.

I don’t care that nobody spoke to me. I care that I left home with a live baby without brain injury (even with all the quick decision making and action, I very nearly didn’t), and I am incredibly grateful for everything that they did.

Even if it was a slightly less dramatic emergency, the obstetric on call may not have had time or presence of mind to focus on chat, as there may have been a good few other emergencies on the list to move onto next, and one of those may have been more mentally taxing.

if it was elective, then I agree that it’s a bit more unusual. Perhaps he doesn’t have very good social skills. Perhaps for him, it would have been a routine experience and he has forgotten what a miracle it is for you as a parent. Perhaps he did previously chat and then got a complaint about this intruding into someone’s experience of childbirth or that they found it inappropriate when he should have been concentrating on the matter in hand. Perhaps he was still relatively inexperienced and concentrating very hard.

Try not to dwell on it, and enjoy your lovely new baby. Very many congratulations! (I wish I could go back to the time when I had a lovely little baby in my arms).