Driving after ELCS?

[ChocolateBiscuitCake]

Am considering an ELCS for DC4 (all other DC were supersized, late, loooong labours and resulted in vontuse in theatre). To preserve my damaged fanjo and to help with some planning (DH works away from home), we are considering an ELCS (private).

Whilst I am nervous about the idea of surgery, I am tempted by the calm delivery and the ability to have help in place and DH present .

But my biggest concern is who the hell is going to do the school run once DH has taken paternity (realistically a week)?! I can hopefully get some help in place with lots of advanced notice, but realistically, when were you driving?

Is it really 6 full weeks or can it be sooner?

Would love to hear what you did (school run is 1 hour in the am and 1 hour in the pm, including the dropping off!)

Drove after 4 weeks with dc1 (emergency c/s with post-op infection)
Drove after 13 days with dc2 (ELCS)

No problems driving. Lifting pram out of boot harder. Drs and insurance company happy for me to drive whenever I felt up to it.

ooooo - that sounds positive. Perhaps if I take (poor) au pair with me for the first week or so of driving, then she can wrestle the children in and out of the car seats and stay with the baby in the car so I don't need to lug the baby into school with me?

That sounds like a great plan.

I drove after 11 days as that was the earliest I could get a GP appointment. I checked I could operate the car (on my driveway only) at 6 or 7 days and could but my insurer wanted GP sign off. I had a baby in NICU and a non-driving husband so good motivation to be behind the wheel! I wouldn't have done it unless I had felt ready and safe though. Experience seems to really vary though, so you can't bank on being ok to drive quickly.

I was driving 2 weeks after each of my two sections, despite an infection in the wound after the second section. Insurance said I could drive whenever I felt ready.

Lifting a heavy pram in and out of the boot would have been a struggle, but an umbrella fold would have been fine. I managed with a loola and deprecate carrycot from the two week point, but wouldn't have lifted anything heavier.

My biggest struggle was helping four-year-old DD out of her ERF seat in the centre of the back seat, and leaning over to strap kids into seats. If you can get them trained to either do up the straps themselves or at least get arms in and find the buckles, that'd help! Alternatively, an au pair to do it for you would work brilliantly!

For the first month or so, the school run will exhaust you and you'll need a nap when you get home ;) But I think it's doable after two weeks.

I don't personally think I could have driven or done a school run after a week. I stayed in hospital 2 nights first time and 3 nights second time, so would only have been home a few days by a week. I would still have been walking gingerly at that point.

My insurance says "when your doctor says you can" and my consultant has said 3 weeks.

I'd start by checking with your insurance what they say and if necessary follow that up with your consultant.

the 6 week thing is a myth. Most insurance companies will say that you can't drive against medical advice. Some insurers will prefer you to actually get positive confirmation from a doctor that you are fit to drive, others won't require that and will be happy for you to drive if you feel that you are fit to do so.
Based on my own experience, I would have thought that if all goes OK and you don't have any complications you should be able to drive after a fortnight.
You should check with your insurer before you start driving to make sure you are definitely covered.