knickers during c section

[milz2014]

Are they on or off? Funny how certain things freak you out isn't it?

1944... 2.5 years a go I was told to stop at 3 and they must be at least two years apart...

I was never told not to have more or to leave a certain time between pregnancies. There is 6yrs 10 months between my oldest and youngest and they were all single births. I think I was just lucky that I had no major scar tissue issues. However I did have 2 consultants present at the 5th one!

milz do wax or cream the top one or two inches of your pubic hair as that's where they make the cut. When I had DS I wasn't expecting a section so they did it for me with a dry razor.

OMG the itching as it grew back.....

The pain relief is Diclofenac (Voltarol) and they often infiltrate the scar with LA too - they did with mine and also after two Laparotomies. Means you don't wake up with so much pain if you have a GA.

I had the incision infiltrated after my Epi too.

My urinary bladder and uterine scar ruptured during my second labour. No more babies for me.

The consent thing is quite an issue because if you think of the pain relief as part of the over all surgery- a stage- then gaining discreet consent to insert a suppository would be no different to soliciting consent to stitch up your uterus, check the vagina for clots, apply diathermy, stitch up your omentum, administer the various BP affecting drugs of anaesthesia etc.

A surgeon wouldn't ask your permission to do any of those because it is considered part of the surgery just as pain relief is. However a good surgeon explains what will happen and why they do certain things.

No they don't ask permission although it probably is somewhere of the consent form. It wasn't pointed out to me. I only realised when I saw my foot in the air and the anaesthetist saw me notice and apologised for the lack of dignity. It might have been a little better if it had not been in the middle of a roomful of people clearing up

Christ on a bloody bike!!!
Of course they should ask permission before shoving something up your arse. And you should not be left exposed like that. I'm a nurse and I would never allow that.
FFS, [angry}.

At my hospital they did ask consent, it was on the consent forms that I signed beforehand and was all explained to me. It was very much legs in the air though, there was lot of swabbing, and it was so weird how even though I could sort of see them doing it, and they were telling me what they were doing, it didn't feel like it was my body, because I couldn't feel it.

I never signed a consent form... I remember the doctor coming round to the hdu ward after asking me to sign but they were moving me to the maternity ward as she came. She said she'd come back later but she didn't

my first emcs was very emergency and I remember I was so delerious with the pain and exhaustion that I couldn't hold the pen as I was drifting in and out of being aware of my surroundings. I remember asking if dh could consent on my behalf, but it had to be me and they couldn't start until I signed. It felt like it took me half an hour to actually connect the pen to the paper, although I'm sure it was only five mins. My 2nd one was much calmer!

My ivf clinic also used suppositories (volterol) after egg collection and specifically sought consent for this as well as consent for the procedure itself. (I refused it as I was already fucked off with the drugs and indignities of ivf and felt absolutely fine but I might feel differently if I end up with a section.)

Yes mine was also very emergency. Would that not be consent under duress though? You had no choice but to consent really! That's why I think it was ok they didn't ask me before?!

hmm, never thought of it being under duress. They could have wanted to chainsaw me in two and I'd have consented at that point.

They should surely ask in case of allergies? I can't have diclofenac, and didn't have a suppository, I had morphine.

As I said earlier, a decent HCP explains the why as well as the how, when and what. However the consent form covers the surgical procedure of which drug admin is a part. Would you expect a surgeon to solicit consent from the patient each time he put his hand/fingers inside her uterus and vagina during the CS? Or is this covered as part of the consent of procedure? If a drug admin is part of the surgical procedure then the patient has consented and what is more necessary is the continued discourse between HCP and patient as to what is happening and why.

Would you seek discreet consent for each surgical manoeuvre because none of us HCPs are equipped with the ability to determine what one person finds more invasive or embarrassing than another? We can assume that PR meds might be more embarrassing than having PO meds. But why would that be worse then having a hand inside the abdo and another inside the Vagina during the actual CS?

Where do you draw the line? You'd be asking permission for every little thing otherwise even after soliciting informed consent. What appears to be more of an issue is that patients are not told before hand that part of the surgical proceedings will involve PR meds administration. Understandable in an emergency, but still.

But why would that be worse then having a hand inside the abdo and another inside the Vagina during the actual CS?

I had no idea they had done this either.

If you have signed a consent form before you have a GA and been stripped and scrubbed, you will have no clue as to how you are pushed and pulled, or what embarrassing positions you may be put on or how invasive any hands might have been.

If you are awake but have a spinal block or epidural, I would expect any HCP to fully explain what will happen and what drugs will be used (and how they are administered).

It can happen if the baby has started to come down the birth canal and become arrested Gold. They can't just hoik the baby out. Sometimes there can be quite a range of quite um creative movements. My exH watched my second ECSCS and saw them do this. They didn't put up a screen - no time and he saw places where the sun don't shine .

I have also witnessed a fair few Gynae/OB procedures where they do this because they need to check that everything is 'in place' and patent.

They will be off as you will have a catheter put in.

No knickers here. No suppositories either!

It can happen if the baby has started to come down the birth canal and become arrested Gold.

It perhaps didn't happen to me then as it turned out that DD1 hadn't made any progress in that direction because my pelvis is ridiculously small and DD2's ELCS was all calm and planned weeks ahead.

DH was present but firmly looking the other way. He nearly passed out when he saw the blood all over the floor the first time round, never mind looking at actual holes in me

I remember asking the midwife before my second cs if I needed to take my knickers off and she laughed (good natured, not sneering) and gently explained that they would be needing access up there just the same as in a normal birth. I had been so out of it first time that I'd been totally oblivious!

My first they didn't warn me about the suppository and only told me once I freaked out at having white poo.

My second my god they laboured the point that they were going to do it. I just wanted the baby out, but they went on, and on it seemed over a simple suppository (and they really work - I totally noticed both times after I'd pooped them out!)

I didn't get a wash though - not sure I'm jealous - with both I was up and moving around myself (with big bag of pee.. you can walk with a catheter) as soon as the epidural (first - took a couple of hours) or spinal block (second - as soon as they'd parked the bed).. I'm not brave, I can't imagine I'm that abnormal.