C-Section under GA

[hereistopositiveenergy]

Please, I'm looking for positive stories or any words of advise to make this more of a positive experience as I'm currently at breaking point.

I am pregnant with a very much wanted baby after struggling to conceive. After working flat out doing two jobs to fund private IVF as I've already an amazing stepdaughter, we found out we had conceived naturally three months before our booked first IVF appointment.

Unfortunately my health wasn't great anyway - I have a blood clotting disorder, lupus and POTs - but all my medical team were on board with the pregnancy. After falling pregnant I've had HG sickness which finally settled down 3 weeks ago at 23 weeks and also preeclampsia indicators so I've been monitored closely on that front. As part of this monitoring, one of the consultants sent me for a CT then an MRI where it's been confirmed I have something wrong with my brain - chiari malformation type 2? In essence, from what they've explained so far, is there's swelling at the back which is causing the brain to 'droop' down hence my headaches and a shooting pain when I cough or laugh too much.

I had initially been booked for an induction at 38 weeks so we could plan coming off my blood thinning medication whilst delivering naturally as this is the safest option for my blood clotting element. Today however, my consultant has let me know neuro are strongly recommending a section under GA (although awaiting re confirmation from anaesthetist I can have a spinal or epidural again because of the blood clotting factors).

I really did not want a birth like this. In fact, I really do not want a birth like this as it feels so transactional but I do not have a choice. From the discussions today, to labour naturally will cause too much pressure in my head and there's a ridiculous high chance of catastrophic harm to me.

Everything I've read so far says DP will not be allowed in the theatre and I will not be allowed to see baby until I come round and safe to hold. This means no first cry, first look, skin to skin, first feed, cutting of the cord, the golden hour that everything tells you is a 'must' because it's so important and crucial. I will miss out on all of those experiences and seeing/holding your baby once they come out.

We are to go back in 3 weeks to agree a date and allow me time to digest & come to terms with the news today.

I already now feel so disconnected and have done nothing but cry all afternoon so please, if anyone can shed any light on what happens with a section under GA, the positives they experienced and any tips on how to deal with this mentally and emotionally I would be very grateful.

I had a highly medicalised C-section and ds was taken away to NICU the second he was born. So I missed out on these things too. The thing to keep in mind is that they're doing this to ensure that you and baby stay healthy through the birth so that you can have millions of these "moments" together throughout your life.
Yes you will miss out on those first moments and that's a shame but try to keep in mind that:
You have an excellent medical team who are on the ball with your complex medical needs.
And
You got pregnant naturally and will soo have your healthy baby.
Try to focus on the positives because yes it's disappointing to miss those "firsts" but you have so much more to look forward to.

Oh OP, I’m sorry it’s so complicated and not what you wanted. You’re totally allowed to be scared and upset and it would be odd if you weren’t.

Both my babies spent about a month on NICU for completely separate reasons including both kids being nil by mouth at various points. I remember thinking I’d done the opposite of all the advice about responsive parenting, golden hour etc whilst my friends were stressing about really minor deviations from that. You can’t tell
looking at my kids!

Even when mine were in ICU they clearly recognised my voice when I did come to see them, it was amazing to see. They’ve also both breastfed longer than average.

Think about if you want to and the medical team
are happy for you to express milk before baby is born. I brought it in in a freezer bag and they can have a little taste when they’re ready.

Also - that little hat. Pop it in your bra for a bit before baby comes then it will really smell of you.

I’m sorry it’s such a lot. You’re being very strong.

I had an elective section under GA as I had a brain haemorrhage at 15 weeks. Although I had recovered by delivery time it was still considered inadvisable for me to have to push the baby out due to the increase in blood pressure it can cause. Some women will burst blood vessels in their eyes when pushing!The obstetric anaesthetist didn't want me to have a spinal as they can cause a large drop in blood pressure and she wanted to avoid that.

It was a lovely experience, very calm, the surgical team came in and introduced themselves & came to see us afterwards. They were very pleased as I had been having contractions since early morning. I have photos of baby just born, being weighed and lying on my skin. They pulled the gown down slightly and untaped the closest eye. It's a bit odd but they made an effort for us.

This means no first cry, first look, skin to skin, first feed, cutting of the cord, the golden hour that everything tells you is a 'must' because it's so important and crucial

What. A. Load. Of. Rot.
Maybe start by not listening to such nonsense. I’ve had several kids and have experienced everything from what you refer to as being ‘necessary’, through to not seeing the baby for nearly a day (no idea which baby was mine went I went into an ICU ward full of them), not being able to hold them for weeks, tube fed yadda yadda. I’ve had others on various places on these two opposite ends of the spectrum. It makes absolutely no difference. Zilch. No one would have known which kids had which type of birth/first hours/weeks. Hilariously, the one who had everything you describe is the only one with mental health/emotional issues, so …….. All of this is stuff for bored people to write in books to make money for gullible people to read. There will be nothing wrong with the birth you are suggesting and no ramifications for your child, if anything only a positive in ending up with a functional mum that’s still alive.

The golden hour? I didnt know it was called this and i would never have guessed as mine had swallowed his own poo and had to be suctioned and i couldnt hold him for ages. Then whisked off to be given an injection (vitamin k i think?) When i did get to hold him, i was being stitched up and examined by 3+ people and told of by nurses as i assume they thought i was super young (was 23 but looked 16) My mum was moaning she was hungry and i had no milk come in at all to feed him and hospital back then didnt offer bottles or milk. One of the worst hours of my life and i try to block it out. Id much rather wake up with it all done, we dont all get a golden hour. Good luck 🤍

Sorry that you had some difficult experiences birthing your babies, but this post has a horrible, dismissive tone to it. The OP is just expressing her disappointment at missing out on these moments, which is more than entitled to do. In her update she states this and acknowledges that in the bigger picture it won't have an impact.
Not helpful to use such a tone with a scared mum to be.

I had one emergency section under GA and one amazing non medicated Vbac. Same relationship with both kids! Both healthy teens. I know it all feels overwhelming now but eyes on the prize, you’ll have a gorgeous baby. Just make sure your partner knows your preference about feeding etc and where all the clothes etc are. Dads tend to be a little ignored but he can do skin to skin etc which will be a lovely calming experience for them both. And a few hours later you’ll have your baby and it’ll be worth every stitch

I had a section under GA last week - I’ll be completely honest I cried for days beforehand at the thought of missing my babies birth, the first cry etc but being under GA was safer health wise for me so it unfortunately made sense. I asked the midwife’s if they’d be able to take photos for me & thankfully they did, before I went down i turned ‘live mode’ on, on my camera & they captured them precious memories for me. I was quite unstable when I came around so didn’t hold my baby for around 3 hours afterwards, however baby was with dad & feeding perfectly (formula fed). He was a little sleepy when born due to the GA but that didn’t last long at all. Even though I missed his birth, I haven’t struggled to bond with him etc, I love him more than life himself & as awful as it is knowing I missed his birth, a happy healthy mamma and baby outweighs the GA 🙂

^^ I forgot to add my GA was also due to neuro related conditions & it was the neurosurgeons who suggested GA also, they said the spinal sends pressure to the brain & they’re not sure what that could do to my head so better safe than sorry, as much as it sucks 🙂

@J21x Thank you so much for sharing & congratulations!!! It's the neuro team for me too who have said it categorically needs to be GA and the other consultants in my care have now all agreed.

I'll be sure to make sure live is turned on for the photos and hopefully some of those early moments can be captured so if I am still out of it when first brought round, I have something later on to look back on. Any recovery tips welcome!

@hereistopositiveenergy thank you! the same happened to me, my consultant & anaesthetist went off my Neuro’s advice & they also had him on standby should they have needed him (thankfully they didn’t).

when I came round my stats was all over the place & it took around 3 hours before I was fully stable, I’d recommend telling your partner where things are in your bag just in case, so it’s easily available for baby etc. I would 100% ask about photos and would recommend live, even though I’ve missed his birth, I can look at it back through the live pictures and that softens the blow a little bit.

just keep moving the best you can, soon as they get you up, stay mobile. When I was discharged they gave me some pain relief but upon reading the leaflet it says cannot be used if conditions risk increased pressure to the brain (even though they gave me them anyway 🙄) so check that any meds are suitable for your condition etc 🙂

Recovery tips. Be easy on yourself. Coughing laughing hurts, sitting up is a no until a day passes. I passed out when I tried to get up and walk so don't do it if not feeling ready. But equally, after 1, 1.5 days try to have a little walk if feeling ready. Trip to the loo is a winner. Lots of water, lots of painkillers. It takes a while for your intestine to work again, so no solid food for a day, ish if I remember correctly. If milk doesn't come don't worry too much, baby will survive with formula and you'll have time to try bf later. Some people recommend feeding formula very carefully with a teeny cup (they only drink like max 30 ml at a time in those first days) rather than bottle so baby doesn't get used to it until you try bf. But equally for bf my biggest advice is don't feel pressured, holding baby in bf position may hurt, you'll both be fine op 💐

Of course all the painkiller etc depends on your particular condition! In my case I maxed out on ibuprofen and paracetamol.

I had a semi elective C secution under GA (I have EDS so locals/ spinals don't really work and I'm allergic to many types of them)
It was fine. There was a part of me that felt quirky not seeing my son be born but that soon went I woke up was recovered went back to delivery suite and was given immediate skin to skin. The team were amazing and I really trusted my consultant

IVF baby here. Due to complications in pregnancy I had am emergency C section with a GA. I have blood clotting issues also.

Baby was poorly and went straight to medical treatment.

thankfully we have a health baby, I recovered and all home.

no, it was not the birth I would have liked. Not everyone does. But we are well and got good treatment thankfully.

I thought I would update in case anyone else ends up having to have a section under GA and was overwhelmed like I was.

My section is now all booked. They initially wanted a time from 37 weeks but we agreed on a date 38+3 because I wanted to ensure I have some control over baby being here when we can have support from family who need to travel up to us and my hospital midwife being on shift for the delivery (she has annual leave when I am 37 weeks and I've such a great rapport with her, I'd rather her than anyone else to advocate for me whilst I am KO)

The procedure has been explained by all involved throughly as I work best with facts and process understanding. I'll be prepped and awake right until they are ready to put me under and this will be once the surgeon/consultant is ready to do the incision. Baby will be then out within 6-8 minutes - they try to do this as quick as possible so baby isn't under much GA affect. Unfortunately DP cannot cut the cord and delayed cord clamping won't be able to happen but once baby has been checked over, DP will be ushered into the room to take baby. Until this point he will be in the sub room attached to the theatre. I've also opted for local anaesthetic up the sides of my stomach just before they wake me up to help me be somewhat pain free in those first moments cuddling baby so I can enjoy every second!

My midwife is going to record baby being born (lifted up etc) and take lots of photos of baby once checks have been done. She's going to do some skin to skin on me too depending on if it's possible with the gown etc before handing baby to him and as we've decided DP & I want to know baby's weight together, so we can have something shared rather than everything experienced separately, she's going to ensure no one tells him until I'm awake. As soon as I'm awake, with support, baby will be placed in my arms and weight/little details about baby told together.

I definitely feel less anxious now than I did when I created this post. At the time, I was given a lot of medical causes into my health preventing a natural birth and then felt like I had already failed as a mother to not even be able to be awake for a section. I know this is the safest for both me and baby as those first few hours are nothing compared to long term enjoyment, love and experiences we will have as a family.

6 months after my section I'll have to go for decompression surgery on my skull to release some of the pressure from the Chiari. It transpires it's not Type 2 but actually Type 1 and is dropping down by 14mm on the right and 12mm on the left. Hopefully the decompression surgery will help long term!

I only have a few week's remaining and currently in the uncomfortable, feeling heavy, dealing with insomnia and unable to walk much stage. I'll update once baby is here in terms of if everything we've agreed with the team goes as planned in case it helps anyone else.

Well done op, it sounds like you’ve worked really hard to find a plan that works for everyone. Good luck, I hope you have the best possible experience you can.

I had a placental abruption 13 years ago with my beautiful DS and C section under general anaesthetic. It was traumatic and frightening as both our lives at risk but it in no way affected my bonding with him. They brought him out to my husband who held him until I woke and they definitely bonded in that time. You have your whole and their whole life together and nothing is more important than safety. My son is a beautiful, intelligent, kind young man and of course remembers nothing. None of these things in the first hour are essential - honestly don’t over think them. The will be there to do and enjoy everything.

I wanted to share I've had our beautiful baby girl at 9.34AM yesterday (01 Sept - 38+3) and she weighted 8lbs 14oz!

I really struggled during my pregnancy with having a section under GA with lots of fears which now, just seem irrational but at the time was very very really.

We created a 'wishes' list for things both DP and I would like to happen following reading everyone's experience and this included things like DP staying with me until last minute, video & photos taken throughout, no skin2skin with me however, a meet mummy with a cheek to cheek whilst I was KO before taking baby to her daddy. We also asked for delayed cord clamping where possible (given the GA exposure) and in the end they done what was called cord milking? They also left the cord longer for DP to cut when we were ready and did not weight her until I was fully with it so we could have a moment together for our daughters birth.

Near the end of pregnancy, despite many many attempts, I could not harvest any colostrum. The days leading up to my section I felt so disheartened because I knew then her first feed would be formula and worried subsequent feeds would be too. I was so wrong! She's managed to latch amazingly although this last feed, as my milk hasn't come in, nothing was coming out even with hand expressing/encouragement so she's just guzzled 30ml and is now in a lovely deep sleep!

A midwife I formed such a strong rapport with in the Day Unit due to all my visits did come in with me even though it was her day off! She held my hand firmly as I was put to sleep and was the one to capture every moment we 'missed' but also she stayed until I was fully awake and with it. I honestly do not think I could have been so calm and relaxed when I come round if it wasn't for her support.

In terms of my section, I am surprisingly recovering really well. I was mobile within a few hours, I don't have any pain but more mild discomfort although I am keeping up paracetamol every 4 hours in case this is more adrenaline which is yet to worn off.

Thank you to everyone who reassured me, talked me through an alternate mindset, gave tips and advice. It really has been appreciated. Anyone due to have a section under GA and feel overwhelmed, as easy as it is to say don't be worried, honestly, waking up and seeing your baby is just as much of a positive experience and worth it like any other birth is.

Heres a two pictures of our wonderful little girl, Scarlett Elsie

I’ve had one section under GA and one without and to be honest each has their pros and cons. With the GA section I was also upset that I didn’t remember meeting baby etc but I do remember her first feeds and being in the recovery room with her. I went on to breastfeed her for 20 months!

Something I really did NOT like with the “normal” section was the prep beforehand. I didn’t like the medication, the feeling of going numb, the doctors asking me if I could feel XYZ or whether it still hurt. I was terrified that I was going to suddenly be in pain as they were doing the operation. I also have a clotting disorder and was scared about something going wrong while I was awake on the operating table. I didn’t like the feeling of them getting her out of me, the pulling and pushing, or just the general experience of having god knows how many people crowded round my bare arse. I didn’t like waiting for them to stitch me up and felt quite vulnerable in general. For the GA section they literally just used gas to knock me out and then the next thing I remember, I’m in a recovery room with my baby!

So in many ways I did actually prefer the GA section. It got all the unpleasant bits over without me having any knowledge or memory of them and I just got to remember having my lovely baby.

Congratulations, she’s beautiful! It’s wonderful to hear how you managed a good birth in spite of everything, it’s a real achievement to have been able to talk yourself round from what you had originally imagined!

My milk didn’t come in until day 4, don’t lose heart about feeding, just put her to the breast whenever you can and it’ll come.

Congratulations! Glad all went well, and Scarlett is beautiful. It's still very early for milk to come in, so try not to worry about that. Hope your recovery continues well too.

Cord milking is pretty much how you might imagine it. The cord is squeezed like an icy pop, so all the good stuff is pushed towards/into baby. It's done to a lesser extent with regular delayed cord clamping, it just expedites things so they could get Scarlett to the paediatrician faster.

What a beautiful baby 😊 many many congratulations 👏🏻 and blessings to you and your family 💐