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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

baby to be delivered at 37 weeks by c section. .....what to expect?

16 replies

weeblewobbling · 03/08/2013 14:54

My dc will be delivered at 37 weeks by c section due to major placenta previa (low lying placenta)

I'm gutted baby will be so early and worried babywill have problems at birth or later

Does anyone have experience of delivery at 37w!?

Will I be allowed to hold baby straight away?
What difficulties have your babies encountered at 37w?
Any mums with stories of their sections at similar stage and with a low lying placenta?

I've had two bleeds during 3rrd trimestr

Im hoping for spinal after dural tap from ds who was emcs

Thanks x

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Twinklestarstwinklestars · 03/08/2013 16:53

I have a 5 week old who I was induced at 37+1 with due to low fluid and intermittent Doppler on the scan, he was fine he was 5lb 3 but we we went home the next day, he was 40g under scbu weight limit but they said he could stay on the ward if blood sugars/feeding and temp were all ok, which they were.

Good luck!

bruffin · 03/08/2013 16:58

My.DD was born naturally at 37 weeks and she wasn't classed as early and treated exactly like a full term. Her only problems was she caught a cold from me on day 2 and she was born with positional tailors which was sorted out in a couple of weeks of manipulation.

Wheresmycaffeinedrip · 03/08/2013 17:00

My dd was born a day shy of 37 weeks.

She didn't require any oxygen or intervention . She did however have a slight blip with temperature and blood sugar. She also had very little suck reflex. A dummy solved that.

There's every chance that your baby will be fine,37 weeks is considered term. The one thing I will say is, that if baby is on the small side or does have trouble maintaining temp or blood sugars then that does mean that s/he could be handled by staff at the hospital more (they did countless heel pricks) this unfortunately is a big risk in the way of infection control. So just be very vigilant with your baby. Dd was very poorly within a few days and I believe the extra attention is why, if that makes any sense.

There is every chance your 37 weeker will be just fine though. Most are.

YoniFoolsAndHorses · 03/08/2013 17:02

37 weeks is full term. I wouldn't expect any problems. It certainly is not "very early"!!!

Honestly, I wish you all the best and I hope the c section is as easy and painless as m

YoniFoolsAndHorses · 03/08/2013 17:02

Mine to recover from. That should have said.

Fairylea · 03/08/2013 17:05

Both mine were delivered at 36 weeks, one for the same reasons as you. The c section itself was fine and I stayed 3 days and went home as normal. Neither of my dc needed any special care and were both treated as full term (ds is 14 months, dd is 10 years).

nannyl · 03/08/2013 22:54

I wouldnt expect any problems, after all baby is considered term and a normal time for them to come naturally, should they choose too

NHS fully support homebirth at this gestation, (and there are people who choose to homebirth a bit earlier too)

I hope all goes well. at least you get to meet your baby soon and dont have to endure those last exhausting uncomfortable weeks of pregnancy and can plan a bit more

Floralnomad · 03/08/2013 23:00

When I had my elective section 14 years ago they were always done at 37/38 weeks its really no problem at all .

SneakyBiscuitEater · 03/08/2013 23:14

Two of my DCs were only a few days older than yours will be. They were both fine. The only clues to their gestational age were they were a bit skinny looking, like they had too much skin. They soon plumped up after a few days though. The other thing was the fuzzy hair on shoulders, ears etc that took a while to go bit was super cute.

Your baby will be considered full term.

Fwiw one of mine was a spontaneous delivery I.e. Baby decided to come early and the other was an induction for medical reasons. There was no difference in the two at all. I was worried that the one that wasn't ready would be 'worse' for want of a better word, but that wasn't the case. They even weighed the same down to the ounce.

Best of luck op.

Original poster

weeblewobbling · 05/08/2013 13:49

Thanks all, looks like I won't even reach 37wks now...

It's difficult not to worry when baby is arriving early

OP posts:

Kelly1814 · 05/08/2013 20:48

I thought 36 was full term? I've had scares since 24 weeks when baby's head was engaged and we thought it was coming. Also have a cerclage.

Am now 31. We are aiming for 34 but every week is a bonus.

I would say 37 would be great! How far along are you now OP?

Original poster

weeblewobbling · 05/08/2013 23:00

I'm 35 weeks but I've always been dubious about dates as the hospital is 10 days ahead of my guessed dates and taking into account my activities at the time but I guess we can only trust the scans...

I always thought 36 weeks was term too...maybe information has changed. ..

Sat in hospital bed now following yet another bleed!

OP posts:

Kelly1814 · 06/08/2013 04:40

Oh weeble sorry to hear that, hope you are ok. 35 weeks is great though and if your little one comes their lungs are developed by now.

Friends had their baby two weeks ago at 32 weeks, he is a tiny thing but perfect and getting stronger every day.

Thinking of you, and sending lots of positive, fat, full term baby thoughts to you....let us know how you get on?

MisselthwaiteManor · 06/08/2013 15:15

My baby was born by induction and EMCS at 36 + 5 although I too suspect she was slightly younger because her scan date was off compared to my ovulation date. She was born over 7lbs, perfectly normal and well apart from ever so slight jaundice which corrected itself within a few days. She is now 8 weeks and a lovely, chubby, healthy baby. She is a screamer and has reflux but afaik it's nothing to do with being born slightly early.

I was worried about her being induced, in that she wasn't coming out of her own accord so may not be ready, until someone said to me it's my body doing it however it happens, the baby doesn't crawl out when it feels up to it, it will know no difference.

Good luck and try not to worry (easier said than done!), even 35 weeks is a good amount of time.

Shootingstarsandcomets · 06/08/2013 20:02

Ds was delivered by emcs at 36 weeks. No problems at all and even had a full head of hair! He's never been slow developmentally and had no problems feeding other than my milk being slow to come in.
My friend had a 34 weeker and she needed a bit of help to breathe but is now a super happy wonderful 18 month old.
Good luck and try not to worry too much.

CrispyFB · 07/08/2013 13:16

DC2 was EMCS at 35+5 - she had apgars of 10 and 10 and came home with me from the hospital. There were a few blood sugar issues (donor milk helped here, luckily for me and my feeding choices the hospital had a milk bank) and she had borderline jaundice. But otherwise no different to a 40 week baby and often full term babies have those issues too.

DC1 was 36w6d and came home the next morning, would have been six hours were it not for me having her late at night!

So sorry you're having this stress though. I hope things go really well!

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