Page 2 | For election section, how long?

BiscuitLover3678 · 2023-12-05T21:46:40+00:00

I’ve just done another very similar thread on induction (weighing up my options). If you decided to go for an elective section second time round instead of a vbac, how long did the whole thing take? Like once you were given your date, how long after you arrived were you all done and home? Also when did you get your date? I’m talking about if I’m overdue as an alternative to induction.

MummyJ36 · 06/12/2023 22:07

Given a date at 38 weeks, section at 39+4.

I wasn’t originally planning a c-section (DC1 was natural so always assumed I’d go the same route second time around). DC2 was big and after some discussion it was decided c-section was the best route.

I arrived at 7am and was told I was third on the list that morning. The two ladies ahead of me both had medical conditions (or their baby did) and as my baby was big but no other risk factors I was last on the list. No emergencies came through so I was taken down just before 11am and baby out by 11.40am. Having experienced natural birth I couldn’t believe how quickly a baby could be born. All in all from arriving in theatre, baby arriving, getting stitched up and into recovery it must have only been about an hour at most.

I stayed for 2 nights on the postnatal ward. They were happy to discharge me after 24 hours but having been kicked out early with DC1 and suffering quite badly I pushed for another night with DC2 and they were fine. My advice is not to be persuaded to go home if you don’t feel you are ready. I really benefited from that second night!

MummyJ36 · 06/12/2023 22:14

Also recovery wise - recovery was ok but please don’t push yourself. There are some lucky ladies (and you may be one of them) who bounce back incredibly quickly but if you don’t bounce back don’t be too hard on yourself. I couldn’t walk to the end of the street for 3 weeks. I came on Mumsnet looking for some support and got ripped into for not being able to do more. It was heartbreaking and not what I needed to hear. DC2 is now a year old and I’m fully back to health, can walk miles, lift heavy weights etc. but I needed to take things slow initially and there is no shame in that (and not an indicator of how well you will recover long term).

Original poster

BiscuitLover3678 · 07/12/2023 07:33

MummyJ36 · 06/12/2023 22:07

Given a date at 38 weeks, section at 39+4.

I wasn’t originally planning a c-section (DC1 was natural so always assumed I’d go the same route second time around). DC2 was big and after some discussion it was decided c-section was the best route.

I arrived at 7am and was told I was third on the list that morning. The two ladies ahead of me both had medical conditions (or their baby did) and as my baby was big but no other risk factors I was last on the list. No emergencies came through so I was taken down just before 11am and baby out by 11.40am. Having experienced natural birth I couldn’t believe how quickly a baby could be born. All in all from arriving in theatre, baby arriving, getting stitched up and into recovery it must have only been about an hour at most.

I stayed for 2 nights on the postnatal ward. They were happy to discharge me after 24 hours but having been kicked out early with DC1 and suffering quite badly I pushed for another night with DC2 and they were fine. My advice is not to be persuaded to go home if you don’t feel you are ready. I really benefited from that second night!

I was the opposite - absolutely desperate to go home and hated being in hospital so much! Was begging them to let me go

OP posts:

Original poster

BiscuitLover3678 · 07/12/2023 07:34

MummyJ36 · 06/12/2023 22:14

Also recovery wise - recovery was ok but please don’t push yourself. There are some lucky ladies (and you may be one of them) who bounce back incredibly quickly but if you don’t bounce back don’t be too hard on yourself. I couldn’t walk to the end of the street for 3 weeks. I came on Mumsnet looking for some support and got ripped into for not being able to do more. It was heartbreaking and not what I needed to hear. DC2 is now a year old and I’m fully back to health, can walk miles, lift heavy weights etc. but I needed to take things slow initially and there is no shame in that (and not an indicator of how well you will recover long term).

That’s understandable, last time I was up and about down the street after a week but I think I was very lucky.

OP posts:

rainbowtea23 · 11/12/2023 20:28

I got my date around 33/34 weeks. They let me go further than my first pregnancy which was an emergency section due to preeclampsia but this time I didn’t have it luckily.

I’m a type 2 diabetic so I stayed in hospital the night before. Our hospital also runs two theatres and lists one for emergency and one for electives but recently it had been so busy with emergencies that electives had been cancelled a lot. I was first on the list and went down to theatre just after 9 am, in recovery by 11:30 am had a few hours on postop ward then to postnatal in the evening and home the following day. I think it varies so much from hospital to hospital and if you have any issues

mrssunshinexxx · 11/12/2023 20:40

You'll be told to come in at 7am and if elective you'll be last on the list could be as late as 4/5pm

mrssunshinexxx · 11/12/2023 20:41

I had 2 emc's OP and only stayed one night with both of them they don't keep you in long

BigBoysDontCry · 11/12/2023 20:48

My elective was because I'd had an emergency section 13 months previously and the circumstances were likely to be the same (large baby lying back to back who got stuck) with the added complication of a scar that would potentially not hold for labour.

I think I got the date a couple of weeks before, they only did electives on Wednesdays so it was pretty easy to predict anyway.

Did pre op the night before, arrived at 7am, DS was born at 9.25 Wednesday morning and I went home Thursday late afternoon. I could have stayed longer but wanted home to be with my older baby too.

ThomasinaLivesHere · 12/12/2023 19:50

Can you ask what position you’re in the queue for elective sections? Obviously you can’t predict what emergencies etc will happen but if there are a few of you in for electives in the morning slot will they tell you the order?

BigBoysDontCry · 12/12/2023 20:12

I think they do tell you but not until the day or the night before if in for pre op. Mine was over 20 years ago but pretty sure they told me when I went in the night before that I was first in the queue. My niece was in for a section about 4 years later and was 3rd or 4th so it was late afternoon before she had hers.

It might depend on how the hospital runs. As I say, ours only did electives on Wednesdays when they had a dedicated team in. The normal team would be dealing with unscheduled sections. When I had my first, I was bumped for theatre twice as my baby was stable, albeit stuck, and I'd had my spinal by then so was also settled. So, the liklihood of being bumped from your spot as an elective by an emergency was less but not zero.