C-section infection advice

[Owlette123]

I had a c-section last week, obviously you're told to air the scar as much as possible but as a bigger lady it's different unless I literally lay flat down.

I'm fairly sure one side of my scar has become infected, it feels warm to the touch and I can smell it. I have the midwifes coming out for a check on Sunday but obviously it's now Friday PM.

Is there anything I can do in the meantime to try and make it better?

Difficult not different*!

Call district nurses, they will come out!

I'd phone 111 and try to get an out of hours appointment ASAP. It's a big wound and you don't want to mess around with an infection in it.

I got a bit of an infection in mine and found it a nightmare airing it so to prevent it getting infected again I would just carefully clean it with cotton wool and then thoroughly dry with a clean flannel (changed each time)

I feel for you, I was in a similar situation after mine and it was awful!
I got some great advice on here to use cooled boiled water with a couple of drops of tea tree oil in there, dip a cotton pad in and gently clean the area, then pat dry with another cotton pad.
This was in addition to antibiotics prescribed by GP too.
In hindsight, I was doing far too much after major surgery, as I wasn’t in very much pain, so assumed I was fine!
Good luck!

Definitely get the nurses to come out, I got an infection after mine and a lot of stuff came out and I ended up needing it packing and dressing daily for three months. Don’t leave it to get worse.

Call 111 and get it sorted - it sounds like you need antibiotics, so the sooner you get on top of it the better.

Not much use now OP but,once you’ve recovered,my midwife told me to attach a sanitary towel to my knickers across my scar so that I could watch for any bleeding/pus. Most helpful tip I ever had.

@Hillbillyhotel

Not much use now OP but,once you’ve recovered,my midwife told me to attach a sanitary towel to my knickers across my scar so that I could watch for any bleeding/pus. Most helpful tip I ever had.

Just be careful as so many sanitary pads now are scented which you don't really want around a wound. A maternity pad would be fine though :)

I’m bigger too. Once the infection has gone, use a hairdryer on a low setting and lay back on the bed with a fan x

Hey I got a nasty infection in my scar so I really had to care for it extra carefully.. I’m a bigger person too so the skin kind of folds over on itself and I guess gives the perfect environment for bacteria to grow..
I made sure I washed it using warm water and soap.. not scrubbed but just made sure it ran over the skin, rinsed, and then patted dry.. I’m not sure if it’s strictly medical advice but what I found really helped (and I think healed) my scar was blowing it with cool air with my hairdryer after a shower to make sure it was properly dry as I couldn’t see it and it was a bit sensitive to wipe and keep patting it dry. The cool air ensured that it was fully dried. I did this before bed so I was then lay flat and it gave chance for the wound to keep dry and heal properly. This on repeat every day worked.
I’ve said dry about a million times in this post but it really is the key haha..
Also I had anti biotics which cleared the infection.. I felt like it was looking after two babies lol,, the actually newborn and the wound baby
xxx