C section with a general - any experiences?

[civilfawlty]

Hi all. Due to a combination of circumstances (raised amniotic fluid levels and a terrible needle phobia which rules out an epidural ands breech baby) it appears that a c section with a general is my most likely delivery method. I am finding it very hard to access a realistic nuts and bolts summary of what will happen - has anyone any experience of this they would be willing to share please?

I am keen to find out what the pre-prep is like (invasive?); whether there is a way of being calmed before they administer the general; who is in the room; how long it takes; when my husband can have the baby; recovery times; when I can do skin to skin; length of hosp stay; pain; when I can shower; if it has any implications for breast feeding; and most importantly outcome for my baby. And I'll bet there are a million other things I've not thought of. (I know-I have catheter anxiety-can they do that once I am out? I dont think I can cope with being touched when I'm awake.)

Thank you for any input. Appreciated

My wife had our first son as an EMCS under general, as the spinal block had not taken and he needed to come out.

I don't think she was cannulated. They just induced general using the face mask. At that point I was expelled as, apparently, they don't think it is good for people to see their partners intubated (doubt it would have bothered me overly).

My son was brought out to me while my wife was still being sewn up so I spent about 40 mins with him alone before my wife was brought out. It was nice, in a way, though obviously I wanted to see my wife healthy and awake before I really celebrated. I put him onto her skin chest immediately she was awake, even though she was a bit out of it.

She told me that due to the G.A she did not feel the immediate rush of maternal love she expected but, when they spent the night together it came on and, by the next day, they were breastfeeding fine. Recovery was good but it was 3 day s in hospital and no driving for 6 weeks.

I had a.needle phobia, I'd need holding down for blood tests and such things, however during my pregnancy with ds1 I was hospitalized for 2 weeks before they induced me, with daily blood tests, I had oc and the thought of preventing a stillbirth got me through them.

I ended up with a failed induction, and several failed epidurals, so had a general for an emcs. I wasn't on this planet afterward, had to have oxygen as I could barely breathe etc. I was still on l&d 24 hours after his birth, nobody washed me down, and I couldn't feed my son, could barely acknowledge him. It took 3 days before all the drips and cathetars were removed and I could walk around.

Ds2 was another emcs after a labour, I insisted on a spinal block, which so much less painful than repeated attempts at an epidural. I could move my feet within a few hours, was able to have skin to skin, dp was involved (he was very scared the first time as he didn't know what was happening) and it was so much nicer. I was up and about 12 hours later, with everything removed - would have been sooner but I had him at night.

Phobias are horrid, but it may be worth trying to go through with the spinal, or epidural, as you're more likely to have to spend less time with cannula and cathetar in after the birth. Or at least in my experience anyway.

The worst things for me are the cannulas.

onaquest sorry to hijack thread, but that happened to me also, and I've never yet met / heard of anyone else it has happened to. Just had rushing feelings of relief that I wasn;t the only one.

civilfawlty I chose to have my ELCS for my second child under GA. For me it was great. I walked across to the theatre myself, said goodbye to DH there. There were a lot of people in the room, but I was only really aware of the anaethetist, the consultant and the midwife. They put the cannula and the catheter in after I was under. You have to have 3 minutes of oxygen before the GA (to help baby), which I found the worst part of the whole experience tbh. Timewise, I left DH at 9.40am and baby arrived at 9.55am. Unfortunately she was poorly and had to go to SCBU for a few days. Also, they had to use forceps to get her out but she had no marks on her from that. Waking up was painful as they have to wake you up before giving you morphine.
After that, I found the pain easily bearable with painkillers, and your wound acts like an early warning system if you try and do too much. Had no problems with breastfeeding either - either holding or producing milk, but then she didn't have her first feed till 48 hours after birth.
For me, I am 100% glad I did this, though I would recommend you research the pros and cons first. Good Luck.

You do realise that you'll have to habe a cannula to administer the GA, and this will be in your hand more than likely so you will be able to see it.
You can have gas and air for your spinal, and can lie on your side, or sit up, either way you wont see and the area will be numbed with lidocaine.

You really are putting yourself and your baby at risk by demanding a GA.

Try breathing techniques, distraction therapies, an ipod anything that might help.
Im not trying to be nasty, i know what its like, i had an unecessary GA because i have PTSD, but i wasnt pg and it was a decision i made for myself, only i was at risk and the risk of a GA normally is miniscule.

So-again-thanks for all the insights and shared experiences. I really do appreciate them.

But-once more-for the record. This phobia isn't a joke or me being self absorbed or precious. It is an overwhelming and terrifying experience and I am trying my bet to manage it. I would respectfully ask any one else who feels like posting telling me off or belittling me not to bother. I hate myself enough already for feeling this way and really dont need any further judgement. Thanks

No one is judging you for heaven's sake. Look, I don't want to annoy you but would you at least acknowledge that it would be a good idea at some point in the future to look into treatment for your phobia? Have I said that sensitively enough for you? That is all that people on this thread are saying.

Don't insult people by telling them they are being judgey.

It very clearly says in an earlier post that I am seeing a therapist to try and tackle this issue, but that the professional consensus is that this is unlikely to be achieved before I have my baby.

i had a cs under GA for dc1, because i had gone into labour and was haemorrhaging (not even going to attempt to spellcheck that), they thought i might need a hysterectomy so did GA instead of spinal.

it was all such a rush because it was an emergency that i genuinely remember very little about the preamble. i don't think they do the catheter til you're under though - mine came out lateish because i was unwell, i think it was day 2/3, the taking out feels odd but not unpleasant/painful and is over within seconds.

obviously dh wasn't allowed in, but they gave ds1 straight to him to cuddle for the several hours it took for me to surface. i remember coming out of the GA and being very sick & freezing & confused, which i think is quite common. then ds1 ended up in NICU before i had a chance to see him, hard to say how the GA impacted on that though obviously he was very sleepy.

so it was not fun and having subsequently had an emergency c/s with a spinal, and then a planned c/s, the 1st birth was by far the worse. not trying to be unhelpful, sorry. on the plus side, i don't think there was any difference in terms of recovery between the GA sections and the spinal sections. i hope it all works out for you whatever you choose.

Hi, Im a big wuss when it comes to needles but do have to say having an epidural with a good anethisitist (i know my spelling is awful), is no worse then having a canula.

Civil,

People are being ridiculously overdramatic. These days there is minimal risk to you or your baby by having a GA CS. They get the baby out very quickly so he/she is not very exposed to the GA and, certainly, in our case, when they brought my son out to me, he was wide awake for at least 40 mins. You are clearly dealing with the issue and you are consulting with the right people.

And, I don't think they need to use a canula. They can just use gas to knock you out. I think it is a bit of a strange feeling but maybe the lesser of two evils for you. Anyway, it is something you can chat to the anaesthetist about ahead of time.

I had an emergency cs under a general as there was no time for an epidural. It was a horrible experience but unfortunately I have nothing else to compare it with as I've only one child. I would imagine a planned experience would be a lot different. I just remember chaos and lots of people and tons of needles unfortunately as I developed severe pre eclampsia. I do remember they put the cannula in before I was put under but I don't remember it being terribly unpleasant. Good luck.

I havent read all the other posts but just wanted to say I have had three c sections, one with a spinal and two under GA. For me personally the ones done under GA were grand, no problems at all (much easier than the one done with spinal!). I bonded instantly with baby, recovered well and was up and about within hours. If thats what you want and your doctor is ok with it then go for it! If I was to go again, never happening btw :) , then I would opt for GA (I have to have CS for medical reasons)

lakeofshiningwaters- really? I too have never heard of it happening to anyone else, I spent ages afterwards googling trying to find out how, but I could never find anything. Its 'nice' (iykwim) to know im not the only one too

1944girl, you do realise that things are different now? The baby is handed to mum as soon as she comes round, not two days later as it was with you.

I'm sure a CS under ga is traumatic for someone who doesn't want it, and has it thrust upon them suddenly.

But to me, it really is the perfect birth. The process holds no meaning to me- i just want a baby and want to remember nothing about how it got here.
VB is a highly repulsive and terrifying thought to me. CS while awake sounds very unpleasant as well. I'd personally just want to wake up when it's all over. Can't for the life of me understand why anyone would want to be awake and alert for something painful and unpleasant.
I realise I'm an exception though, so to each their own.

Hi 1944girl:) Sorry, I should have read your entire post before commenting.
I'm sorry to hear your experience wasn't what you wanted:(

Unfortunately, I will not get my wish. Very few doctors will agree to a CS under GA for non-medical reasons.

Kitts, you said so much more that I missed!

Some hospitals will allow the father in if you push it but will be difficult. They don't want him to smack them (as you said it's pretty violent, I remember grimacing to break the seal because I felt like I was suffocating) or to be traumatised and there's not a lot they can do there APART from being the first one to hold baby and making sure things go as you wish them to.

About pain relief, ask your hospital for SMACS (self medication after CS) they don't all automatically offer it and it could be that you have to be a certain criteria to be offered it but they should do it if you ask.

You can ask for biological nurturing even if you're still under.

1944, have you ever seen anyone? It could be a form of Birth Trauma.

Civil, personally I think that it should be the last option and whatever but this isn't about my birth, it's about you and if that's what is best for you then it's what you need to do.

How many weeks are you? Is there a chance still that your baby might turn?

DS2 was breach until 36.5 weeks. Then turned, thank goodness.

Also agree that would be good idea to look into whether a breech delivery would be at all feasible for you. Better chance then of avoiding all needles/cannulas and so on.

You're welcome 1944girl I've been talking lately with a lady who's children are similar age to me, she's been affected by one birth the entire life of that child because of Birth Trauma and it was only when she heard me talking about my own experiences that she realised it's what had happened to her. I was also the first person to tell her that the thoughts she'd had in birth (she was wishing one of them -her or baby- would die) were normal and that they didn't make her a bad person. Nearly 30 years later she still cries because she thinks she's evil.

Pooka, I was going to say that but when I read back on the OP I couldn't see if it was breech a lot of babies are breech until term because they have more room like that. That's partly why I said to wait to go into labour naturally at least because you've given baby every chance to turn.

Civil,

I hope you have a wonderful cs birth under GA and ignore several of the judgmental comments on this thread.

I have a friend who has a similar needle phobia to you and it is not a joke. People who suggest you just breathe throught it have no experience with extreme phobias.

Also from having read through the posts, it seems as though most bad experiences stemmed from crash sections under GA -- a completely different experience to what you will be having.

If there is one small thing I have learned after giving birth, it is that you know your body and mind better than anyone else. If this is the birth plan you feel most comfortable with, then stick with it and all will be well.

Best wishes.