Post elcs - preventing infection, arnica and peppermint oil?

[legallyblond]

Do they help and are they ok if breast feeding? I would have though yes to both (arnica for healing and peppermint oil for wind - and neither should be problematic for bf) but has anyone else taken these? Also, what's that horrible fibre type stuff in sachets that's good for constipation - I had it after DD (natural birth( but have blanked it!!

Finally, this is likely to be an elcs with twins in 5 weeks time (Eeek!!!). Does anyone gave any good tips re keeping the wound infection free? I had an episiotomy with DD but that was different - best tips for that were sloshing with water as I weed, clean maternity pads and shallow baths with lavender and tea tree oil.... Oh, and drying my bits with the hair dryer...! What's best post cs...?

Thanks!

You don't need any of that stuff. Once the dressing is off and the MW says you can get it wet, just rinse it under the shower, no products. Pat dry then leave uncovered as much as possible. The stitches were removed on day 5 for both mine. A sanitary towel stuck across the front of your knickers helps pad the area and absorb any tissue fluid that drains. Get massive pants and stick to over bump clothes or dresses for as long as it takes to be comfy, probably a few weeks at least.

I made sure the wound was left to the air for as long as possible every day lying on the bed, with a fan blowing towards me.

Sryup of figs was far more useful to me than the dried fruit, i got laods but nothing happened, until the figs and it was dead cheap too.

I've just had my second section. This time I had a waterproof gel dressing that I could shower in. it was removed on day 5 by the midwife at home. No problems with the wound. I think c section is a lot easier to manage than an episiotomy as it is in a much 'cleaner' location.

Good luck and don 't stress too much about the section. I'm 11 days post op and pretty much back to normal. I haven't taken any pain killers for about 5 days.

I had dissolvable sutures this time too .

Agree with keeping it dry, clean and airing if you can (waterproof gel dressing sounds very modern! I had staples and a normal dressing)

I found that for the first couple of weeks though all I wanted was some kind of tight pants/biking shorts to stop the wobble pulling at it if I was moving around (but I have a lot of wobble)

I had soluble stitches and no dressing; instead they painted a thin layer of plasticky glue stuff that I had to peel off about a week later myself. This meant nothing could enter the wound.
In addition they whack you with antibiotics through the drip in theatre to prevent an infection, and the NICE guidelines say they expect it to reduce infections significantly.

I did take arnica tablets before and for a day or two after. I'm not sure if it was them or just plain luck but I've had an amazing recovery; was accidentally missing painkillers the day after elcs (DS in NICU so was away from ward), stopped taking them totally on day five and genuinely felt pretty normal a fortnight later.

Good luck!