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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

C Section, 1h20 car journey home possible?

53 replies

bloodynewusernameagain · 28/08/2022 12:44

Wonder if anyone can tell me if they've done the same?

I'm due to have an elec CS in about 4 weeks time. Our main home is undergoing a massive renovation and is currently a bombsite, full of dust, builders and won't be anywhere near ready when the baby arrives (we're currently living in one attic room and it is miserable). It's about 45 mins from my hospital.

I own an apartment in another city. Clean, warm, small, much more suitable to CS recovery and dealing with a newborn (my first). this is about 1h15-1h25 (in heavy traffic, motorway mostly) from my hospital and is where I plan to spend at least the first 6 weeks, travelling there directly from the hospital.

I really like the hospital I have chosen, the trust is very supportive of my CS choice (non negotiable for me but not related to any serious physical health/pregnancy issue that might affect hospital stay duration). The hospital in the city my apartment is in is a complete unknown to me and not particularly supportive of Elec Cs in general as I understand.

The midwife knows about my plan and is planning to arrange healthcare visitors at the apartment.

But I've just been really shocked to read a couple of threads on here talking about the impossibility of a long drive after a CS because of a) post op pain/recovery and b) the baby travelling more than 30 mins in a car seat plus the feeding, changing, bathroom breaks en route etc).

Can anyone ease my mind a bit that this isn't the world's worst decision?

Is there anything I can do to make it easier?

No family or friends nearby the hospital or that I could break the journey up with. If I do a one night stop at my building renovation house that actually doubles the length of the journey to location b (the apartment)

Thank you!

OP posts:
Frazzled2207 · 28/08/2022 21:00

I would plan for a coffee stop half way but it will be fine as long as the midwife can arrange for her colleagues in that town to check in on you

I found sitting down very painful for a few days after my dc1
came (had to lie down or stand for two weeks!) but that wasn’t a c-section.

sit in the back with your baby

Frazzled2207 · 28/08/2022 21:03

Can I just check you’d be driven right?
please don’t say you would be driving yourself!!!!! As that would be a flat out no.

Hugasauras · 28/08/2022 21:03

We live rurally and wouldn't manage to get anywhere if we only did 30 mins at a time. But we have a very well-fitting and safe infant carrier that reclines so I'm happy DD2 is safe in it and well positioned. As @BertieBotts says, familiarise yourself with the seat and what a good fit looks like for a newborn and you'll be grand.

MotherOfCrocodiles · 28/08/2022 21:06

I did this twice. Totally fine.

choosername1234 · 28/08/2022 21:07

I had a slightly complicated C-section (needed to go back to theatre) and the 20 min drive home on day 3 was extremely painful, any longer would have been very difficult

Lunabun · 28/08/2022 21:08

Sorry if this has already been said, but I believe some companies (maybe Maxi Cozi?) make infant car seats that are totally lie-flat. Would this mitigate the usual 30 min rule?

BertieBotts · 28/08/2022 21:20

Yes, so, there is a difference between the actual car carrycots that are completely flat like a cot, those go sideways between two seats and honestly they are very expensive and impractical, plus you can only use them until about 6 months, so probably not worth it for this situation - they can be good if you have a premature baby or one with breathing difficulties. Those are exempt from the 30 min (before 4 weeks) / 2 hour (thereafter) recommendation because they are not angled like a car seat and don't compromise the airway. The baby really does lie flat.

Then you have the seats that recline in the car such as Joie i-Level or Maxi Cosi Marble or the old Kiddy Evoluna one that isn't made any more but was very popular. Those fit like a normal car seat on a base but they can be laid back to an angle of about 23 degrees on the ground, which is more like 33 degrees in a car (a normal infant car seat is about 40 degrees). Because they don't lie totally flat, they don't count as sleep safe, that needs to be an angle of less than 10 degrees. So they are still subject to the standard recommendation of 30 / 120 minutes, because there is no research specific to them which exempts them from it. But you can use common sense and your own judgement - it's only a recommendation after all. It stands to reason that a 33 degree angle is likely to be better than a 40 degree angle, and indeed, the original research that came up with the 2 hour figure was based on a standard car seat placed on the floor, so around 30 degrees.

Cantseethewindows · 28/08/2022 21:35

I've had two ELCS and although the journey times were much shorter I do not recall being in any discomfort/ pain. Check what pain relief your hospital provides as I had oramorph as well as paracetamol and ibuprofen. Take the pills at set intervals even if you feel you don't need them, to avoid breakthrough pain (which will take hours to get on top of again).

Hugasauras · 28/08/2022 21:36

We have a Kiddy Evoluna. It's been a brilliant seat for both DC. Shame they went bust Sad

Lunabun · 28/08/2022 21:50

@BertieBotts Yes it was the carrycot ones I was thinking of! I've just looked it up online and the Maxi cosi "Jade" is the one I was thinking of, they are £149 - £189 depending on the colour apparently - that doesn't seem too bad to me? But you obviously seem to know a lot more about car seats than I do so will take your word for it that they are more expensive!

A car seat that only lasts 6 months also doesn't sound so bad to me - but that's probably because I'm still irritated that my giant child outgrew the height limit on his "0-12 month" one at 4 months 🙃

BertieBotts · 29/08/2022 21:17

The problem is you can't use them without a base so it actually costs about £200 more on top of that. I think £350+ for something you can only use for 6 months (and would probably be 3-4 months if you have a tall child) is a lot of money.

Sounds like you had a Maxi Cosi as well - they put a ridiculous low limit on their infant carriers (but the limit has to be lower for carrycots as they aren't suitable once the child can sit up).

BertieBotts · 29/08/2022 21:20

And the RRP for the Jade is £230. So over £400 for the base and seat.

SharpLily · 29/08/2022 21:38

It's impossible to give you a definitive answer because everyone reacts differently to a C-section. I can tell you that I personally would have been fine doing that journey after both of mine but others have certainly had different experiences. As someone else mentioned, the getting in and out of the car is the hardest part and you have to do that wherever you go home to!

As you'll soon discover, it's hard to mard any real plans because babies have a terrible habit of not following the rules, so it's probably best to be flexible. Plan to go to your nice apartment but accept that the situation may unfold differently so make sure you're set up to go to the miserable apartment as a contingency.

welshweasel · 29/08/2022 21:47

It will be fine. Don’t rush the journey. Plan to stop at least twice to get baby out of the car and to give your legs a stretch as you’ll be at higher risk of blood clots. I wouldn’t buy a lie flat car seat, they are really bulky and heavy. Just pick a normal one that is supportive for small babies.

Flopisfatteningbingforchristmas · 29/08/2022 21:53

It’s a long journey for a newborn.

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/car-seats-and-sids/

SparkyBlue · 29/08/2022 22:08

Honestly OP everyone is different. I would have been absolutely fine and I was back driving after a week or two after my three CSections but I know others who were very sore afterwards and it would have been very uncomfortable for them.

bloodynewusernameagain · 30/08/2022 14:54

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has replied for all your helpful advice and experiences, depending on how everything goes, I'll aim for the apartment, taking it very easy on the way back and will make several stops as suggested (checking out service stations en route now!)

Thanks especially to you @BertieBotts for your advice - I had actually been trawling through old threads re. car seats and the insight that you've taken the time to share with everyone on so many of these threads is fantastic!

Now to take the plunge on the car seat....😬

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 30/08/2022 20:23

I'm happy to help if you want input on any decision. It's so confusing and it can feel like such a vitally important choice! I'm interested in all the differences so I can easily explain them which is not something that's easy to see when you're looking at the entire range at once with brand new eyes.

LemonSwan · 30/08/2022 20:27

You will be fine. I had a very painful c and was fine with the Oromorph. Just make sure no one makes you laugh on the ride home!

Goodluck 💕

AppleKatie · 30/08/2022 20:36

I would have found it very very uncomfortable and I wouldn’t have been able to walk into a service station.

If I had oramorph, a driver who would have done all the manoeuvring baby into and out of car seat/walking around for breaks AND I really really wanted to go to the apartment I expect I would have survived it. It wouldn’t have been pleasant though.

Also I only realised on that day that I didn’t have the first idea how to use the car seat properly (and to my shame did it wrong for the first couple of journeys….).

only you can know if it’s worth it for you. I’d consider a more local premier inn with a good lift for 24 hours though maybe? It was extraordinary how much better I felt another 24-36 hours later…

bloodynewusernameagain · 01/09/2022 14:05

@BertieBotts thanks so much!
I think I've whittled it down to this (eyewateringly expensive) one
www.pramworld.co.uk/britax-romer-baby-safe-isense-isize-flex-base-bundle/?gclid=CjwKCAjw6raYBhB7EiwABge5KhBeLuSJBklfv2NLuGYnICF1wnqknVFkZQgw7271RYePoGy2nKefcxoCMToQAvD_BwE#fo_c=743&fo_k=17cda1b96a5c0abfd1fa2d320877d18b&fo_s=gplauk
You mentioned Britax were really good in one of your other threads. I guess the downside is it is heavier than some of the other reclining ones but I liked that this one was adjustable reclining wise and the flex base thingy meant you could adjust that further for your car.

I will be having to do some journeys back and forth to the bombsite house over the next few months (if that proves possible) to check on progress/project manage a bit, about 1 hour each way so wanted to make this as comfy/safe for the baby as possible for that period.

It looks from this youtube vid that the chassis compatibility issue might be a bit less of a prob with the latest model:

But I haven't bought it yet as can't decide if this is a stupid price to pay for a car seat and if I'm missing something major in the Britax, or that I can get 90% of what I can here but for far cheaper ... your thoughts very welcome!

I am not flush on the cash front (see: bombsite house 🙄) so thinking of trying to find second hand pushchair on ebay/FB to try to ameliorate for the extra spent here.

Thanks to everyone else who has also posted re. the first journey home.

OP posts:
welshweasel · 01/09/2022 20:06

In the early weeks you’ll be stopping regularly in any case for feeding/checking on baby/changing nappies etc. Once they’re out of the newborn phase you’ll be able to do the journey in one go in any car seat, hopefully you’ll get a baby that likes to sleep in the car! I wouldn’t spend that amount of money on a car seat just because it lies flat (ish). You can also save money by not buying an isofix base if you go for a seat that can be belted in.

BertieBotts · 01/09/2022 21:35

OK so the Britax you're looking at is expensive because it's got a modular base and a spin function, both of those things are trendy at the moment but not really necessary IMO (Certainly not worth £480)

Britax are a great brand, but actually any infant carrier is good for safety, this one doesn't get significantly better values than Graco Snugessentials (for example) - Graco not being noted for getting especially good crash test results (they are usually average). This is probably because infant carriers are small and rear facing and one piece shell - so they tend to do really well whatever the brand.

You're looking at the iSense, which is the one that has lights built in. The BabySafe 3 i-size is exactly the same seat without the lights. It's the Babysafe 3 and i-Sense that have the new connectors which go on the Maxi Cosi type adapters (that most pushchairs are compatible with). Those are the two new Britax baby seats released this year, their older models have the Click & Go (Britax specific) adapters instead which don't go with as many prams.

You mentioned the internal recline - this is not really a recline as such, it's more of a flattening of the angle. If you look at the product page and scroll down to "Features" it's illustrated in "Lie-flat technology" - basically, when you have the straps on one of the lower settings, a flap comes into the car seat and lifts the baby's bum up.

www.britax-romer.co.uk/car-seats/baby/baby-safe-isense-bundle/3023.html

If this feature is what you're looking at mainly in the Britax, you could look at an older Britax model. Baby-Safe plus SHR II, Baby-safe i-size, Baby-safe 2 i-size all have this feature. The i-size and i-size 2 are also compatible with their own flex base (which I'll get to later!) which is cheaper than the i-sense flex base. The main issue with these older models is they use the old Britax-specific pushchair adapters, although you can still get those for a lot of pushchairs, especially if it's popular in the US or Scandanavia.

Other car seats do a similar thing with the use of inserts instead, for example Maxi Cosi infant seats have a wedge insert that lifts the baby's bum up in a very similar way, which works particularly well. Pebble Pro is my favourite, but Pebble 360 is more lightweight and Pebble Plus is an older model that is sometimes cheaper. Cabriofix i-size (same as the old Tinca) is cheaper as well. NB you should not add third party inserts to car seats, so it's best to choose one with inserts that you like.

Avionaut Pixel is well worth a look, this is a new brand in the UK, Polish brand, they have a very unusual insert in their infant seats. Most infant seats, the baby's bum stays in the same place for the use of the seat and the head support/shoulder belts move up as they grow. With this seat, the shoulders stay in the same place as they grow and you start off with almost a tiny booster seat to boost their bum up to meet the shoulder straps, with parts which are removed as they grow and this keeps them in a flat position. Unfortunately they have removed the very useful diagram from their website, but Venicci who also use their branded seats have got one on theirs:

www.venicci.co.uk/product/venicci-ultralite-carseat-black/

That insert is in the Venicci Ultralite, Avionaut Pixel, Pixel Pro, and Avionaut Cosmo seats at various price points. All of these seats are extremely lightweight.

There are other brands which have wedge inserts to flatten the angle for newborns as well BTW - I just don't know how good they are - you can get a sense literally by looking at them in shops. The Nuna one and the Joie ones (except the i-Level) seem to not be great at flattening the curve based on what people have said online. I have a Cybex and it's OK (the Maxi Cosi and Britax are better).

For car seats that actually recline in the car, Joie i-Level is the most economical. It's heavy, but it has an actual hinged recline and it comes with the base which makes it incredibly good value if you want a seat with a base - it's one of the cheapest seat + base combos on the market, even without taking the recline feature into account. (John Lewis seem to have it for under £200). The downside is that you can't use this seat without the base, it doesn't seatbelt fit.

The flex base with the Britax is not quite as flexible as it looks in that sales video. These bases are essentially designed to counteract a slope in your vehicle seat and aren't intended to provide extra recline, it's probably not recommended to use it that way. When you use an isofix base with angle adjustment, what you'll find is some kind of sensor inside the seat which measures the angle for you and helps you find the correct angle for the base by indicating green. You can then generally only use it on the green position. Over-reclining the seat would cause an issue because the seat is not designed or crash tested at that angle. This is a better demonstration of how the angle adjustment feature works (and you can see that even though that seat looks very angled, they didn't end up using one of the steeper positions to correct it.)

There are other flex base options; Graco have a flex base in their Snugessentials range, which is very cheap (Graco seats don't use the Maxi Cosi connectors; they only go on Graco prams) Joie have a flex base which fits most of their seats (not the i-Level), Cybex Aton and Aton 5 bases have a less technical function which is hinged isofix allowing insertion of a towel just below the isofix points to raise it up. And the low-tech solution to sloped seats is just to take the seat off the base and belt fit it, which allows you to tip the seat back to counteract the slope, that works with basically any brand unless it has a very flat bottom of the seat.

In general, I think new car seat + second hand buggy is a great idea anyway, but you absolutely don't need to spend £480. You could get a seat and base combo for about £200-250 or a seat by itself for under £100 or up to about £150, and it will do everything you want it to do.

gogohmm · 01/09/2022 21:36

Yes. New mums have to fly home to Shetland!

bloodynewusernameagain · 03/09/2022 18:10

Thanks for that @BertieBotts lots of info to digest there!
I found the Britax for £378 with the isofix base, but agreed, still pricey - however I thought the Joie i level hadn't tested as well as Britax/Pebble etc or did I misread that somewhere?
Basically I am after one of the safest options which can recline and not leave me stuck attaching it to one travel system. I definitely don't want to use just a seatbelt, so isofix was also what I thought I needed for maximum safety.
From what I can see,

Joie i-level plus isofix is about £300
www.buggybaby.co.uk/joie-i-level-2-0-signature-car-seat-i-base-lx-eclipse-p4906/s9741?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=joie-i-level-2-0-signature-car-seat-amp-i-base-lx-eclipse-5056080611105&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&gclid=CjwKCAjw9suYBhBIEiwA7iMhNEibHWfEbPxU68g_XVhX5hRTdudE8PFwklYscSyBK-YGeESKEAnH-xoCVFcQAvD_BwE
Pebble Pro about £360
www.pramworld.co.uk/maxi-cosi-pebble-pro-familyfix-3-base-bundle?gclid=CjwKCAjw9suYBhBIEiwA7iMhNPMU7OazBCnbjctExWSuUj0mO-OEll0mVB-05tPjjw96vb1ZthQ-GRoCSVYQAvD_BwE#fo_c=743&fo_k=ad948c3107589791c0859708bbf61daa&fo_s=gplauk
Britax £378 (in grey or blue not black with 5% code)
www.pramworld.co.uk/britax-romer-baby-safe-isense-isize-flex-base-bundle/?gclid=CjwKCAjw6raYBhB7EiwABge5KhBeLuSJBklfv2NLuGYnICF1wnqknVFkZQgw7271RYePoGy2nKefcxoCMToQAvD_BwE#fo_c=743&fo_k=17cda1b96a5c0abfd1fa2d320877d18b&fo_s=gplauk
Or is my pregno brain missing something? 😅
Thanks!

OP posts: