Planned caesarean at Tommy’s - recent experience?

[begoniagal3]

Wondering if anyones recently had a planned caesarean at St Thomas’? Can you tell me what the day was like and whether you were rescheduled? Any other information or advice much appreciated xx

Can’t help OP, but bumping for you because I’m interested in this too.

You might get more responses if you ask MN to move this to the childbirth topic?

Would info about a planned c sec not at Tommys be ok?

I had a c section at Tommy's in late 2020. It wasn't planned, but not full emergency. So I can't comment on delays etc. However, the team were absolutely fantastic and the c section a brilliant experience. I am having one there with my next baby early next year and have no concerns about the c section (didn't love the ward after though!)

Yes, @Kfjsjdbd , happy to hear any recent experiences! Though I’m also wondering about how the scheduling works-if I’m on the diary for a 9:00 am appointment does my operation take place then or will it be hours of waiting? Is it a matter of how many emergencies are happening and I may have to wait a few days? (A friend had a planned caesarean there a couple years ago but it was during covid so I’m not sure how relevant that experience is).

thanks @QueenOfWeeds , will ask that this be moved to childbirth discussion.

Just bumping for traffic…

The waiting will always be dependent on emergencies, wherever you are (unless it's the Lindo wing I guess). The day is often a bit of unknown, as hard as that is it's just part of the process.

@YomAsalYomBasal , thank you. Yes, I’m sure we’ll have some delays but wondering how much they can push it back. My mum is travelling from the other side of the country to help with our toddler and trying to get an idea of how long she should stay (as she can only come for a few days at a go as her DH is unwell.) I’m having a caesarean because of my age, prior caesarean, and potential placenta issues, so still classed as elective but with medical indications.

It is very likely to be that day, they rarely move it more than a few hours.

@YomAsalYomBasal thats fab to hear, thank you! My friend who had a planned caesar during Covid was moved back three days, which would defeat the purpose of mum coming down to be with toddler! (Though I reckon it was likely related to covid and staffing issues generally at the time…)

I had an elective c section at St T's earlier this year. They invite ladies in in groups of 4 and then prioritise the order across those 4. I was in the first batch of the day due to medical issues. The other 3 ladies in my time slot were late so I went in first! Can you ask to be included in the first group of the day?

@Q2C4 , thank you! My appt is 7:30, i imagine that is the first group? Do you mean there are four elective ladies throughout the day, or four per each time group?

@Q2C4 and how was your experience (if you don’t mind sharing?)

@begoniagal3 4 per time slot I think. I'd suggest getting there bang on 7:30am as no one else in our group did so I went first by default!

@begoniagal3 all the surgical team, especially the anesthetist and the surgeon, were amazing. They came round to introduce themselves & answer any questions I had, then whisked me off. The anesthetist will be by your head throughout the procedure so it's good to know who they are and have a bit of a chat first. At one point I started to feel quite sick - apparently this is common as the spinal block / epidural can lower your blood pressure. I mentioned this to the nurse and they instantly gave me medication which made me feel better. The whole procedure was very smooth and the staff were very reassuring. The post natal ward is chaotic & you have to advocate for yourself but I think that's standard sadly. I found the night staff generally nicer than the day staff. You can't get chocolate for love nor money in there so if you like chocolate take some in with you!

@Q2C4 : thank you so much! Really reassuring to hear that you’ve had such a good experience! And we will definitely plan to be there on time (I’m kind of shocked that others weren’t??) Thanks again and congratulations as well!