Clue me up on all things ELCS please!

[lsav2912]

I have to decide on Monday (36+4 scan) my method of delivery. Baby will need a op straight after birth and I won’t get skin to skin, we will just be shown him and then he will be transferred to a different hospital. I want an ELCS as I’m terrified of labour and I want to take away as more anxiety before/during the birth as possible because of what will be hellish spending time in the NICU :(

Can you please give me your recovery time for an ELCS? I know I’m a different case in that it’s just me waiting to be discharged not the baby too, So would they let me out earlier knowing I haven’t seen my baby? Also, I know my partner is allowed in to theatre, but how does it work with waiting around/the morning of? Is he allowed there?

Hope you can help!

It was a while ago but I think I was ready to go home about 36 hrs later. It will depend on how you recover, whether you're ok up and about, weeing etc. We stayed longer because DD had to be seen by a cardiologist but I could have left sooner. Recovery time was much quicker and easier than after my previous emergency caesarean, but bear in mind you won't be able to drive and travelling in a car will be uncomfortable at first.

DH was with me all day and the op was postponed a couple of times for emergencies. I think we were booked in for 10am and I had her at about 4pm in the end. So if that was Monday afternoon I would have gone home first thing Wednesday morning if it hadn't been for DD's heart issue.

Good luck!

They would have let me home 36-48 hours after but I pushed to stay because my babies were only downstairs in the NICU at the same hospital. They obviously can't make you stay, but bear in mind that once you leave you'll only have paracetamol for the pain and a c section is MAJOR surgery, so do make sure you're really ready.

By 4 or 5 days after I felt so much better, and after a week or so I felt like I could have done all my normal activities (I didn't!). I think not having to constantly lift the babies helped me heal quicker too.

Obviously no one wants a baby in NICU, but I just want to reassure you that it is far from hellish. There are obviously bad times depending on how poorly your baby is, but in my experience the staff are absolutely lovely and really do everything they can to help make your babies stay as good as it can be.

Due to covid, most hospitals are trying to get you out as quickly as possible. The situation is also a bit different with partners versus how it was before. I am booked in for a couple of weeks time and the info I've been given is:

• I have to go in by myself and husband wait outside until I'm called to theatre. We live an hour from the hospital so he will just have to hang around in the car, I think. Then he comes in and gowns up. He can be present for the birth itself and for an hour afterwards in recovery, plus limited visiting hours on the postnatal ward. No overnight stays for partners at the moment.

• Catheter should be out after 8 hours and they will aim to get me moving gently asap

• Assuming all is well with both me and baby, they will plan to discharge me the following day (24 hours ish).

• I will be prescribed dihydrocodeine to take home, alongside paracetamol and ibuprofen.

This may vary a bit from trust to trust. I'd also check whether your husband can stay over on NICU whilst you are in the post natal ward. I don't know what the situation is there with visitors.

I hope this helps and everything goes well with your baby.

Even ordinarily most NICUs don't allow you to stay there for the night. There simply isn't anywhere for parents to stay until your baby is ready to come home, then they usually allow you to 'room in' with the baby for a couple of nights