GA Sections?

[heartcurrent1]

Just a quick one expecting 3rd and last baby & will more than likely be sterilised in theatre, I've been awake both times previously and I'm wondering how women found it coming round and being given the baby I'm trying to envision a pleasant transition of me waking up and OH passing the baby to me and me being capable of holding her etc but am I being unrealistic? What were your experiences of coming round, Thankyou. X

Is there a particular reason you have to be asleep this time?

Why do you need a GA? We do sterilisations during sections under a spinal or combined spinal epidural (so we can top up the epidural if the operation is long or complicated). Never had a GA purely because of a sterilisation at section in my experience.

I'm choosing GA as I've had 2 previous awake sections and personally I can't go through it again they were both quite traumatic and I find myself feeling more relaxed about a GA I've discussed it at length with my midwife and she also agrees it would probably be better for my recovery, I'm feeling calm about the surgery & the recovery I'm just curious about what the procedure is for the mum & baby when I come around I want as much bonding time as possible but I want to be realistic about what I will have going on at the time to prepare as much as possible. I also have requested to be sterilised after 3 high risk pregnancies I'm totally sure I don't want any more children. Sorry for any mix up there this is all by choice, I just have no idea what to expect when I come round if that makes sense.

I don't personally have experience of this, but I have had recent surgery and I was very drowsy on waking up and I wasn't really with it for 3-4 hours after coming out of recovery.

Hopefully someone with more direct experience will be along soon

My experience is that whenever I have had a GA I have come out of it in the same emotional state as I went in. If I was upset / crying when put under I woke up that way and when I had a crash section for a birth I both went in and came out very worried - although this was fine as soon as I saw my baby. It's like a pause button is pressed for a bit. Other people have told me it was the same for them, so I guess that means if you go under calm and happy that should be how you wake up.

I was able to hold my baby quite quickly, although I was dozy. I'd say less than an hour after she was born she was in my arms, and until then she was tucked into my DH's top (the MW took her to him when she had been checked over).

I was quite sore afterwards, more than if I'd had a spinal (and my throat hurt, and my body forgot how to pee for a few days etc) so recovery was quite hard. No problems bonding though and although I was in pain I was still up and in the shower later on the day she was born.

It's very individual it depends on how long you end up under GA and how your body reacts to anethestic.
When I come round I sleep for ages and so does dc1, Dc2 wakes up as if he's just had a nap and dc3 thrashes around.
Another option that may be possible is an epidural plus sedation (I've had major abdominal surgery this way) you'll not know anything about what's happening but tend to come round quicker. Alot will depend on the individual doctors and what drugs they prefer to give. I'd advise you request a discussion with the anesthetist pre admission.

@Polly99

My experience is that whenever I have had a GA I have come out of it in the same emotional state as I went in. If I was upset / crying when put under I woke up that way and when I had a crash section for a birth I both went in and came out very worried - although this was fine as soon as I saw my baby. It's like a pause button is pressed for a bit. Other people have told me it was the same for them, so I guess that means if you go under calm and happy that should be how you wake up.

I was able to hold my baby quite quickly, although I was dozy. I'd say less than an hour after she was born she was in my arms, and until then she was tucked into my DH's top (the MW took her to him when she had been checked over).

I was quite sore afterwards, more than if I'd had a spinal (and my throat hurt, and my body forgot how to pee for a few days etc) so recovery was quite hard. No problems bonding though and although I was in pain I was still up and in the shower later on the day she was born.

Thankyou so much for this as a child I had surgery and would come round very distressed so I'm guessing the calmer the state I get myself into before the op the better chance I'll be calm when I come round, I'll keep in mind the sore throat to have bottles of water in my hospital bag, and I've had 2 catheters the re-learning to wee is so weird took long after my second baby so I'm assuming even longer after the 3rd. I want as long as possible to mentally prepare myself your info is so helpful for my anxious thoughts thanks again.

@Maybemay123

It's very individual it depends on how long you end up under GA and how your body reacts to anethestic. When I come round I sleep for ages and so does dc1, Dc2 wakes up as if he's just had a nap and dc3 thrashes around. Another option that may be possible is an epidural plus sedation (I've had major abdominal surgery this way) you'll not know anything about what's happening but tend to come round quicker. Alot will depend on the individual doctors and what drugs they prefer to give. I'd advise you request a discussion with the anesthetist pre admission.

I've written this down as I'd like to talk over every option, epidural with sedation I haven't heard of will 100% speak to my consultant about this and the varying ways this can be done with minimum trauma Thankyou!

I had a c-section under GA and didn't really wake up for about 12 hours. I wasn't capable of holding my baby.

I had a CS under GA (by choice) and I don't think I would have able to hold her for about 12 hours. My dd went to scibu so I didn't get to try out holding her (she's a strapping healthy 10 year old now!).
I hallucinate badly coming out of GAs and then sleep for hours so I always knew I wouldn't see her straight away.
Hasn't had an effect on our bond whatsoever.
Good luck with your cs x

Having had two emergency CSs, one with a GA and one with a spinal/epidural (car l can't remember which), the immediate aftermath and recovery was much harder with the GA. I was very groggy and out of it on morphine for an hour or so after the op, meanwhile DC was screaming for milk and DH was pretty helpless to do anything (I breastfed but obviously couldn't while I was out of it). I felt a lot of irrational guilt about that for a long time afterwards. After I'd actually woken up, I found pain control was much more difficult than my second CS where I was awake - according to the anaesthetist, this is common and due to the different combination of drugs they give you. I felt in a fog for quite a while after the birth, but how much of that was the shock of the experience that led up to the GA (which hopefully you won't have if it's a planned section!), or the GA itself I'll never know.

Honestly not trying to scare you OP, just trying to be honest about how the GA experience compared. The circumstances around both deliveries were remarkably similar in the lead-up to the section, but I honestly found the aftermath of the GA much harder to deal with emotionally and physically. Best of luck with whatever you decide

Honestly thank you so so much ladies this has really helped after talking over with OH and the concerns over my 2 previous csections also like a previous comment ended with my little boy in SCBU he's also fine and healthy almost 8, it's a closed op too with GA I'm just really struggling with the needle in my back again I don't think I can go through it I don't know what to do for best at this point I think I'm going to have another talk with my midwife about all options available. I'm struggling with the pros and cons of each surgery but eventually I need to have one so I'm just trying to get in the best frame of mind before all of this as possible, Thankyou for telling me your experiences it's very eye opening hearing first hand GA stories. Xx

I’d echo pp’s in suggesting you talk things through with an anaesthetist in the department you’ll be delivering in if you haven’t already. Midwives know an awful lot about obstetrics but often not so much about the finer details of anaesthetics and speaking to the right person may be more reassuring. Sections are done awake when possible because for most women (and their babies) there are advantages in terms of safety and quality of the immediate post op period. With an understanding of what it was specifically that was traumatising for you the team looking after you may be able to adjust things to make an awake procedure feel more acceptable. (Sedation would be most unusual though due mainly to the risk of acid reflux in advanced pregnancy). If there is no way to make awake surgery feel acceptable then the anaesthetist will be able to make a plan for post-op pain relief etc so you know what to expect. Hope it all goes well.

Hi @heartcurrent1 sorry to pick up this thread after a few days, I’ve just seen this and thought I’d share my experience.

I had a csection under GA which was an emergency rather than planned.

In all honesty, the GA for me was fine. DD was about 3 hours old when I came round post surgery and she was dressed and being held by my DH. I didn’t know who she was as I had no recollection of being in theatre/having her which was upsetting, but it was only afterwards when I thought about it once home that it was upsetting iyswim, it wasn’t upsetting in the moment.

They undressed her and placed her on my chest for skin to skin and she did the crawl and latched immediately. Feeding wasn’t an issue until a few weeks later when I developed an infection.

DD was full of drugs from the GA and very drowsy for the first few days but nobody had told me to expect that so I was worried something was wrong as she wasn’t screaming all the time.

No issues with bonding. My DH found it hard as he was prepped in scrubs to come with me but was then kicked out when it changed to GA so he knew there was a problem. He was taken back to the room to wait. He had to wait to hear DD was ok and born, and then that I was ok much later as it’s riskier with a GA. They bought DD out and gave her to him after they’d checked her over but long before he heard about how I was. He didn’t know what to do with her and was very worried about me, but the staff were great at helping him, although I think this was because they had a student and were showing her the ropes.

I’m a huge needle and hospital phobe. I was terrified of a section and all things related to it but it was fine, i had to have fragmin injections daily afterwards for 10 days as I’d been immobile longer because of the GA which were not pleasant. The catheter was a bit grim but manageable, as were the IVs (one in each arm for me), you will need to stay in hospital longer too. They told me to ring the bell every time I needed DD to feed as I couldn’t move but thankfully they let DH stay over (on the floor) to help as they were short staffed and I imagine it would have been a problem to have her for feeds etc and I’d (rightly) have had to wait for others first while she cried.

If I have DC2 it’ll be a planned section and despite my fears I’d be hoping for a successful epidural/spinal as I’d need to be more mobile sooner so DH could be with DD at home and get some sleep rather than sleeping on the floor.

They did let me use gas and air for the epidural before I went to theatre which may help you if you decided against a GA.

Overall my experience was positive but it’s not without its downsides. I hope this helps

I had a crash C-section under GA and a planned C-section with epidural or spinal (I forget which). My recovery from the second was significantly quicker than the first, but it is so hard to know how much of that related to the GA and how much to the fact that an emergency c section is by its nature stressful and takes place because there are problems anyway.

Both DD and I were very groggy after the GA for some time, DD didn't really feed (because I wasn't producing milk properly) and I didn't realise because she didn't really complain but she was, in fact, seriously dehydrated as a result.

Again, this isn't to scare you but it is worth being aware that issues may arise with both you and the baby as a result of how much a GA can take out of you both, and just to keep your eyes open especially for the baby (or ask DH to, in case you are too groggy).

I’ve had 3 planned c-sections under GA.

All 3 times I've woken in a lot of pain. They do pump you full of painkillers but for whatever reason mine weren’t doing the job. A doctor was called quickly to prescribe more so that was sorted out asap.

I was waaay too groggy to hold my babies until hours after. I tried holding them all 3 times but my DH had to quickly rescue baby each time. I didn’t enjoy any of the first cuddles as I was freaking out that I was going to drop them. I would fall asleep sitting up for just a matter of seconds (this lasted most of the day) then would jolt awake so holding a baby was out of the question.

Get the antiemetic! I didn’t with my DS2 and exorcist style vomited everywhere.

I say all that but really I think they all went well. DH got all the first cuddles so no baby was left un-snuggled. After a big sleep I felt loads better and was able to go for a shower and hold my baby and feed him.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

It’s likely you’ll be very groggy and sleepy for a good few hours after and unable to hold/ feed the baby. You’ll also be in considerably more pain than if you’d had a spinal (plus extra pain on top of that due to the sterilisation) and on a morphine pump with a button to press for pain relief. In my experience the morphine doesn’t do much for the pain unfortunately! With a spinal you’re numb, with a GA you wake up really sore. I would never choose a GA over a spinal for the above reasons

GA affects baby. With a GA you will be fully prepped on the table and with surgeons scrubbed and ready to operate before they put you to sleep. They will be seconds from operating before you go to sleep. It won't be like a normal surgery where they put you to sleep in a different room.
This is because the quicker the baby is out once the anaesthetic is in, the less goes to the baby.
With an epidural the baby isn't affected. With a GA the baby is, it also means a higher chance of the baby needing resuscitation.
Plus dad won't be at the birth.
Talk it through with an anaesthetist who knows far more then the midwives about anaesthetic complications and possibly the paediatricians re baby before you make plans.