C Sections: do they really do this?

[HollyRose6]

Hi all, I'm 33 weeks pregnant with second DC. I was sexually abused as a child and have huge issues around vaginal examinations etc. For DS1' s birth I went out of my way (hypnobirthing, home birth) to ensure I had a natural delivery without much intervention. Ended up having a lovely birth with only one midwife down the business end (if you get what I mean) and had a really positive experience. I had to fight hard for my home birth because the doctors decided DS1 was a giant baby who wouldn't fit it off my pelvis, the midwives thought this was a load of rubbish funnily enough. Doctors tried to push me into induction at 35wks and then placed c section at 37wks. I ended up insisting on a home birth so they would leave me alone. I'm so glad I did because DS1 turned up without any issues at home weighing only 7lb5.

Anyway I'm expecting DS2 and once again the baby is supposedly huge and I am really being pushed to have a c section and the idea of a c section terrifies me.

To make matters worse my friend has just had a c section and has been left feeling pretty traumatised by it. Firstly she said she was left completely bare below in front of all the people in the operating room and was shaved with a blunt razor (she had been told that she couldn't shave herself) and then had a catheter inserted, she found this all very undignified. She then found the sensation of the c section itself rather frightening and was left distraught when she was only allowed to barely glimpse her baby before he was taken off and cleaned, I pretty much delivered DS1 myself and had him in my arms and straight away and I would have hated someone other than me cleaning him. She then said after they had finished stitching her she realised they were lifting and spreading her legs so her bits were on display. When she got upset they said they were cleaning her out and given her pain meds but she claims no one had warned her of this. Then she was left exposed again whilst they cleaned her up. She then said whilst she was in recovery they left her bleeding on a pad and a midwife kept coming in and washing out her vagina.

Do they really do all this or is she exaggerating slightly? To me get c section sounds way more undignified than a natural birth but I'm sure not every mum feels like this.

[coppertop]

I had an emergency CS (after 3 previous VBs).

The midwife shaved a small area with a disposable razor. I was already under instructions to move as little as possible (transverse baby and my waters had already gone), so don't know whether I would normally have been expected to do it myself.

There was a cover put up so that I wouldn't see what was happening, but the only people standing at that end were those who needed to be.

There was a pulling sensation but nothing uncomfortable or frightening.

Dd was taken away quite quickly but it was explained that this was due to the need to check for mucous, which is more likely to be a problem with a CS birth. Once checked and weighed, she was brought back very quickly.

A catheter was necessary because you have no sensation below the waist so can't tell whether or not you have a full bladder.

The whole experience was actually very relaxed and far more dignified than my previous births. Everything was explained at every stage, so there were no surprises.

[SchnitzelVonKrumm]

Btw I was dreading my first CS (planned, baby was breach). It was such a pleasant experience I chose to do twice more .

My SIL had to have a CS with her second child after a straightforward VB first time round. A helpful 'friend' told her she wouldn't be able to bend down to put a cup in the dishwasher for six weeks and made her really anxious - she also found it a very positive experience and said when she had DC3 that she was completely indifferent to which way baby came out!

[maggiethemagpie]

I have absolutely no idea what they did in mine, I was completely numb so apart from feeling vague tugging in my tummy area when they actually got the baby out, I felt completely disembodied.
I think they did shave the hair on my tummy where the incision went in but nowhere else.
I didn't even feel them put in the catheter and when I had an EMCS with my son (my daughter was ELCS) they went down there to put the probe thing on his head before delivery and I couldn't feel a thing.
I had no compunction about dr's seeing my bits etc as they do it all the time so for them it's probably like me looking at a spreadsheet or something, but I do sympathise if you've been abused in the past and find the idea difficult.

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

Did your friend have a fairly Emergency CS? A fair bit of what she's said tallies with my experience, but mine was a pretty dramatic 'immediate risk to life in the next 10 minutes' kind of CS, so dignity had gone out of the window.

Totally understandable that if she's processing other elements of the traumatic birth experience she may be focussing on the lack of dignity, but it really doesn't sound representative of 90% of CSs.

[EverythingCounts]

Doesn't sound at all like my ELCS experience. No shaving required at all (this definitely varies from hospital to hospital), screen to help shield me and bits other than the incision covered. No discomfort once epidural done. Baby was weighed, cleaned by medical staff but right in front of me, then given to DH to hold right next to me. I was encouraged to cuddle and put baby to breast immediately in recovery room. I can't compare it with other types of birth but I have had quite a few other hospital procedures including involved surgery and the CS was by far the best of those experiences and the one where I felt most calm and in control.

[eurochick]

I suspect the lifting sensation was the insertion of painkilling suppositories.

[Annarose2014]

It would have been a Difene suppository. Standard in my hospital.

As is the vigorous washing out of the vagina. It may not be the case in every hospital, but I've certainly witnessed it enough. Certainly it may well have happened to your friend.

[Bluetroublethree]

Your mate is a divvy.

Both my sections were fine, and I had a normal gown on, which was then raised and then I was covered in drapes for the actual OP, with a little hole in for the surgeon to do the business.

My sections are the happy place I go to in my head.