Infection after C-Section...???? (tmi!!)

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Hello all!!

After a hellish pg our beautiful DS arrived 2 weeks ago by CS. After 3 DDs we are thrilled to say the least and madly in love with him!!

I am slightly worried about me though! It's my 2nd CS & I was sterilised too, first was 2 years ago and despite other health issues the incision etc healed very well and very quickly.

A few days ago I noticed that there are a few worrisome things going on with my wound and wondered if anyone can help??

• there are 3 'holes' in the wound which are open though not bleeding
• there is an awful smell coming from the wound (sorry tmi ) which I am very aware of and DH notices when he checks for me
• my lochia is also not 'normal' (has been greenish for the last few days & this eve turned bright red again with clots) also an odour present. I should mention that I'm EBF so could maybe explain the blood??

It bothers me as I am incredibly clean, showering daily and keeping the wound clean & dry using sterile gauze as per the midwives advice. I showed her the area and she said it looked clean although open (!) so she swabbed the outside of the wound which came back clear on Friday.

Could there be internal infection? I'm pretty sure that holes & such a smell are not normal although I have no flu like symptoms to suggest infection. It is so strong it actually makes me feel sick & I'm tempted to contact the GP tomorrow for a second opinion.

Any advice please?? Thank you! x

Hi

don't know about c sections but I had a uterine infection that went undetected for about 10 days, definitely go to the gp- I had a midwife look at my pad & tell me it was fine, then ended up in A&E so with your symptoms I'd defo get checked at GP tomorrow.

Congrats on DS!

I think you should consider phoning on-call midwife tonight. Have you checked your temperature? At the absolute minimum you need to be seen first thing tomorrow.

Midwife has discharged me to HV now as she said the wound didn't look infected was just "sluggish to heal" even though the other side is healed well! And the external swab was clear.

daisy I'll be ringing gp first thing, although temp is only 37.3 and I feel fine (aside from the normal overwhelming tiredness of the early days )

poss worth insisting on internal swab?

I had an infection in my scar and a severe UTI, it isn't pleasant and shouldn't be left, please get an appointment asap. I became quite unwell with my UTI.
My section scar symptoms were pain on onseide which I had mentioned from day one but told it was healing ok. Then after 2 weeks it bled at the same side, then continued to discharge and smell after the bleed stopped.
Do get it checked out.

They gave me anti-b's before testing me because it can be pretty horrid (and I had pretty bad symptoms by then). Sure the GP will do all investigations, don't worry but make sure you see someone tomorrow.

I don't know about c-section, but I had an infection in my episiotomy and the smell was very strong, although I have to say the pain was also incredible!

Very distressing as like you I had been keeping very clean.

I think the health visitors are more for the childs welfare than for yours, I wouldn't hesitate to get medical advice quickly given the symtoms you describe, whether it be the on call midwife or going back to the maternity ward and insisting on being seen.

Hello all and thank you for your great advice

Well I went to the GP who took one look and immediately diagnosed an infection!! He seems to think it may well be internal as although the wound is not swollen it is weeping a lot. He ordered immediate swabs & got the nurse to dress it with appointments every other day for repeat dressings. Also started penicillin in the interim until swabs are back. So great outcome...no thanks to the midwife who wasn't at all concerned!!

So glad you went and got it sorted. I felt as though after the birth the mw was more interested in the baby really. Infections can be v dangerous though, your GP sounds great.

ursula I agree with you there! I had been told that if it was that bad they'd have smelt the wound "coming through the door"!! I was slightly about the fact that they'd leave it til that point before considering it serious enough to warrant treatment!

Would def offer up the advice I've received on here to anyone who is even slightly worried about a wound...scary business!

Ty again.

When I had a postpartum infection I had been told that a dangerously serious infection would have been so smelly that it would have stunk the whole room out, mine wasn't that smelly, but me and my husband certainly noticed it (I made the poor guy smell the pad to get his opinion - he still married me...) however they still gave me two lots of antibiotics straight away to stop it from getting to that point.

I rang labour ward when I became concerned - it was a Christmas Eve evening, and NHS direct told me they'd ring back within 6 hours, so I called the hospital instead - they were great and happy to treat me rather than making me feel like an idiot or timewaster.

I was told the exact same thing. TMI alert... I even said to a mw while still in hospital that I thought I had leaked a load of diarrhoea when trying to expel some gas. I was laughing & on the way to the bath. Around the same time another mw came to see baby & said she must have pooed. I was too embarrassed to say the smell was me again. Looking back it should have been obvious to at least one of them what was happening.

My GP was also the one who dived right in and looked after me.