Natural / Gentle c-section - anyone had one?

[greynunu]

I'm booked in for a c-section in a couple of weeks time. I had an emergency c-section with DS so am familiar with the standard c-section procedure, albeit in a more dramatic form than a planned procedure.

Rather belatedly I came across the concept of a natural or gentle c-section. My hospital is supportive of it (the clinical consultant in particular is very pro) though ultimately it will come down to who performs the operation and which aspects they are comfortable with including.

I have a pre-op appointment next week where the lead midwife suggested we discuss this in more detail and in the meantime she is finding out who is currently scheduled to perform my op.

After researching, my main preferences are:

• Seeding (still undecided on this, am awaiting GBS results & researching further)
• Lowered drapes for delivery (DH is not comfortable with this but is much more squeamish than me)
• Pause after delivery of head to allow baby opportunity to wriggle out herself & regulate her breathing
• Delivery to my chest / as much skin to skin as possible
• Delayed cord clamping

Has anyone else had a natural cs? If so, any advice or suggestions you could share?

I haven't got any advice but this is what I am hoping for and am going to ask my obstetrician about it on Tuesday x

We don't do 'natural' CS where I work. However we routinely do delayed cord clamping (30secs as per guidelines), lowered drapes and skin to skin in theatre.
There's nothing natural (or gentle) about a Caesarean section! That's not to say it can't be a pleasant and enjoyable experience though.

Following with interest. Currently 16 weeks and have been looking into this. When did you bring it up with your midwife?

becci fingers crossed for you that your hospital are supportive.

nano I agree, gentle & natural are a bit of a misnomer when talking about cs! But it is great to see more and more hospitals trying to make the experience as pleasant as possible.

Cinderella ideally as soon as possible as the key person to discuss the options with is your consultant obstetrician. I have been fortunate that despite only recently raising the natural option with the hospital they are still very supportive. In an ideal world I would have discussed it much earlier though.

I will keep you all posted on how it goes. I got my group B strep result back and I tested positive so have decided to give seeding a miss.

Can I ask what seeding is please? Thanks

In short it is swabbing your c section newborn with your vaginal fluid to help colonise them with more beneficial bacteria. Kind of taking skin-to-skin to the next level!

My midwife introduced me to the concept and I was quite interested in it but won't be pursuing it now I know I am colonised with Group B strep.

I've linked two articles from The Guardian which give opposing views. The second article discusses the GSB issue.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/17/vaginal-seeding-c-section-babies-microbiome

www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/24/vaginal-seeding-babies-born-c-section-infection-risk

If it is something you are interested in then you can organise a private GBS test for £35 via mail order as it generally isn't offered as standard on NHS. The articles have some good links for further reading or a Google search will throw up links to reputable sources of info like NHS and RCOG.