How much help should I expect overnight in hospital after a C-Section?

[NoseyHelen]

I'm due my second c-section soon. My memory of the night in hospital with DS is awful. It was 35 degrees, I had a drip in one side and a catheter in the other so I could not reach out to my child. It took forever for the midwives (2 for 23 mothers) to answer the call button and I don't remember my baby's nappy being changed. I do remember one mw wedging lo in a blanket next to me so that I wouldn't press the call button again.

So, what help have other people had - perhaps I'm expecting too much?

How often was your baby changed over night?
How long did it take midwives to come when you called?
Did they insist on putting the strip lighting on everytime they popped in?
Was baby in bed with you or in it's own crib? Is it safe to have baby in bed with you after surgery?
Did they help you have a shower or bath (28 hrs after op, I gave up waiting and did it myself against orders)?

Any other tips would be gratefully received.

[Jackstini]

I had emcs at 10.30, was in recovery until dd latched on then back on labour suite til 5ish when I went up to ward. While dh was with me no probs as he passed dd to me to feed but he had to leave at 8pm so used call button all night. dd was in a standard 'fishbowl' crib at the side of me. Can't remember ever waiting more than a few minutes.
No strip lighting used - just bedside. Was quite quiet as the other bed in my room was vacant.
Don't recall re changing nappies at all until next morning.
Nurse took catheter out about 9ish (after realising bag had been hung higher than my bladder!) then told me to go for a shower on my own and peel the dressing off.
Did first 'meconium nappy' about 9.30 ish when I got back.
I went home the following day (dd born Tues am, I was home by Sat pm - would have been Sat am but we had to go down to NICU due to heart murmur)
Hope you have a better time this time NH - get your assertive MN head on!

[IlanaK]

Just had third section two weeks ago. The first was 7 years ago and things were very different then so I won't bore you with the details. The second was 4 years ago at St Mary's in London. Postnatal care was appalling. I remember trying to get a midwife in the night to help with a nappy change as I was bed bound - she dumped ds2 on my lap and left me to change him there. I checked myself out of hospital against medical advice after 2 nights (in those days they liked you in for three).

The one I just had was at UCLH. At this hospital, they seperate the csection patients onto a different postnatal ward so they are all together. They also have the rule mentioned previously about not allowing curtains to be closed. I hated this. I did not end up having my baby with me as he went to the neonatal unit due to breathing problems, but if I had, bf would have been a nightmare as the beds had no siderails and also there were no clipon cots. When I questioned what you were meant to do if bf in bed, they fobbed me off. I ended up getting out of bed within 4 hours of the op as I had to prove I could sit up before they would take me to see my baby. So, by the nighttime, I had managed to get out of bed a few times. The midwife on duty took this to mean I could look after myself so when I asked for my catheter bag to be emptied, she showed me where the valve was and told me to do it myself in the bathroom. Quite shocking really. I got myself discharged the next morning less than 24 hours after the op. Oh, and they did not feed me anything. Dinner was during the period after the op when you can't eat. Then I went to visit my baby. And when I came back, they offered nothing. So I had no food for a day and a half.

[MrsMattie]

Oh you're scaring me now!@IlanaK. I'm booked into UCH this time around after hideous experience last time at the Royal Free. Seems like you can't expect much care anywhere these days :-(

[expatinscotland]

I'm curious to know if any of you have filed official complaints about your awful 'treatment' in these places?

[callandermum]

After a similarly bad experience in the same Hospital as me, my friend did file an official complaint to which she got a short letter apologising for any 'perceived' lack in patient care. She wrote back to say that she was less than impressed with fob off letter and was then fobbed of again! The joys.

I suppose that all you can be glad for is that all our babies made it out ok and were too young to be offended by the generally poor way that their mothers' were treated ;0). It would seem that the moral here is not to have any kind of complications either before or during birth as the NHS aren't up to it.

[IlanaK]

We are planning to put in an official complaint as there were some really bad medical issues too (like no-one giving me the anti-d injection despite me being rhesus negative and baby being positive. It wasn't until I noticed on day 7 and chased up three different midwives at the hospital that I got it. And it can only be given up to day 10 so if I had not noticed, any furture baby I might have would have been put at risk).

[kitstwins]

Some of these stories are absolutely appalling and a damning indictment of the impact of understaffing in maternity units. At what point will they actually wake up and see the impact that this is having on new mothers and babies? What needs to happen before they wake up to this?

I was lucky because I threw money at the problem and went private - purely because I spent a month in hospital before the birth of my twins and saw the writing clearly on the wall - they were overcrowded, underfunded and even with the best intentions and the kindest and most caring of midwives, there just weren't enough hands to the pump. However, a friend (also having twins but at a different hospital) spent her first night alone in a side room, bed-bound and incapacitated from her epidural and afternoon caesarean with her newborns in cribs either side of her. The buzzer was ignored although she pressed it constantly, and then it dropped off the bed. She couldn't move, couldn't reach her phone and couldn't even reach a drink of water (the bedside table was out of reach). The babies screamed all night as she wasn't able to feed them so she spent her first night as a mother singing nursery rhymes to them to try to calm them and then got a bollocking from the midwives who marched in at 7am to take her bloodpressure. God forbid if she or the babies had become ill in the night.

My advice is to be loud and vocal and don't worry about the midwives liking you or being your friend. The chances are your ward will be manically busy, there won't be enough staff and the new mother who asks the loudest and makes a pest of herself is likely to be the one who is dealt with. Tears help as does threatening to self-discharge. And don't let them fob you off either - if they're understaffed, keep your husband/friend/relative there until you've had the care that you need. But push and ask and nag. It's appalling that this needs to be done and it's very possible that your experience will be okay (you may be lucky enough to get a quiet night - it happens) but go in feeling strong and bear in mind that as soon as you are out of the door they'll forget about you so be a nuisance if you need to be.

Good luck.

Kx

[IlanaK]

MrsMattie - I chose UCLH this time after previous horrible experience at St Mary's. It was not better postnatally I'm afraid. Chronic over crowding and understaffing in London hospitals. However, if it makes you feel any better, in hindsight I am so glad I was at UCLH as baby needed neonatal care and it is the best there.

[purplejennyrose]

expat - it's not just postnatal wards...i was on a general surgical ward in another hosp when dd1 was 4 weeks old - i had severe infection requiring emergency surgery - i was left in a room on my own, catheter bag bursting full, missed a dose of iv antibiotics cos no-one checked on me, and i could see the call button - but it was about 2meters away....through the half-closed door i could see the nurses chatting and laughing at their station. no support re being separated from my 4 week old (who i was b/feeding) either. still traumatised now...
Some of these c-section experiences very
It is pot luck isn't it.

[mybabywakesupsinging]

not had a c-section but it seems normal at my local to dump you at 2 am post-delivery, not having eaten for days, and not enquire about pain relief, then forget you exist the next morning so that you have to politely go and ask at 5pm if they would care to discharge you (why bother staying there if no-one sees you/does any obs, anyway?) At least with ds2 I knew to bring my own food/drink/paracetamol. I still regret not formally complaining that in my post natal notes someone had claimed my stiches were "clean and dry" how would they know? And that's before I even start on the crap poor breastfeeding advice...
I suspect it is all down to luck of who is meant to be looking after you, but would advise taking someone who will be in a fit state to advocate for you.

[gladders]

v bad experience at st thomas london first time round.

midwives ignored buzzer completely. second night i was told off for ringing as was now mobile (!) - even though ds was choking on mucus at the time...

don't think strip lighting was put on but background lighting was already quite high?

don't remember him being changed overnight.

he was in a crib - until they got fed up with him screaming/choling at which point he was wedged in next to me... and to be honest that was the only time either of us slept.

had no help in shower.

lots of other things went badly too so saved up and used the private postnatal rooms with dd - heaven.

[Jes33]

Both my children were born by c-section at Forth Park Maternity in Scotland late at night. First night was spent in recovery where I was lucky on both occasions to get one to one care. Midwife pretty much did everything and encouraged me to rest. I was given tea and toast and bed bathed before I was taken to a ward at 9.00am in morning in a wheelchair.

CS patients as much as poss at FP get a private room and an electric(?) bed that you can control to go up and down.

Was encouraged to get up and walk on first day which is the best thing after a c-section and was told to shower also and take off my dressing in shower if I could. If not someone would help.

Re night time - 2nd night we fed at 11 and midwife had to come and waken both of us at 5am!!

I know I have been very lucky. First time was a bit of shock but second time round I knew what to expect so was better prepared.

Hope everything goes OK

[Thatsnotmyfairy]

It's horrible reading these. It still makes me cry sometimes thinking about the postnatal 'care' I received.

DD was born by emergency cs at 7am Friday after labouring all Thursday night. DH looked after her most of Friday but was asked to leave at 8pm. From then on, DD kept crying, every time she cried I buzzed for a midwife who sometimes arrived, sometimes not. When they did come, they'd give DD to me, she'd calm down, I was terrified of falling asleep and having her fall out of the bed so would buzz again to have her put back in her crib at which point the cycle would start all over again. It wasn't until nearly 5am that a midwife said actually it wasn't a problem to set up the cot with extra pillows so that DD could sleep in with me but she was just about to knock off so would send someone else in to do it. By 6am no-one had arrived so had to buzz again to get someone to come and arrange the bed and finally got a bit of sleep.

DD's nappy wasn't changed all night.

I was sent home on the Saturday lunchtime, around 30 hours after my cs. I could barely walk but was it was left to DH to get me and a newborn down 7 floors and across the car park - no wheelchair or assistance.

Got no help on the Saturday morning with showering. Was told to take the dressing off myself. Too squeamish to look at what I was doing I accidentally got hold of one of the beads on the end of the stitches and gave it a good yank and nearly fainted.

DH had to ask 3 times at one point for my full catheter bag to be changed and I was kept waiting nearly 2 hours for painkillers on the morning of the op.

All in all a hideous experience, I'm hoping for a VBAC and a swift discharge next time

[ThePenguinProject]

I haven't had a chance to read the other posts, but sorry to say my experience was awful:

How often was your baby changed over night?
Not at all. Only changed when DH came in at 10am thanks to the very strict visiting hours...strict enough to kick him out at 3am in the morning after his wife had been through a 4 day labour (ok 4 days of contractions, cervix didn't open a cm until the last 24 hours when I was induced!) and emergency c section. Unfortunately not strict enough to kick everyone else's visitors out until 10pm that night (should have been 8pm).

How long did it take midwives to come when you called? 10 - 15mins.

Was baby in bed with you or in it's own crib?
Own crib

Did they help you have a shower or bath (28 hrs after op, I gave up waiting and did it myself against orders)?
No.

First night was hell. Arrived on ward at about 3am and was put in room with 3 other Mums and LO's. I was completely drugged up though, so don't remember arriving much. I do remember sobbing my heart out that DH was forced to leave and once he was gone was told I was being overly emotional . Woke up when my LO cried and pressed call button as I still could hardly move at that point. Waited a heart breaking 10mins or so and pressed button again (BIG MISTAKE!). A very stroppy MW told me that I should only ever press the button once and then went to walk away - LO still crying. I asked her to help and she said "he must be hungry, I'll take him and feed him". I said no, I wanted to BF, could she put him on my chest? She initially said no (It would take too long and she was busy..) then agreed but unsuprisingly LO wouldn't latch within the 10 secs she allowed. She again said she would FF him and when I said I didn't want that, she put him back in his cot and walked away saying "he'll just have to cry then won't he?". Somehow LO stopped crying, but started again about 30ms later. This time when she said very patronizingly "Are you ready for me to give him formula now?". I was so exhausted and terrified of starving my baby I said yes. Still really upsets me now.

I did not realise, because it wasn't explained, that she would cup feed him formula rather than bottle feed him. However my experience was so awful that I haven't written my birth story yet because that night and the following days I spent in hosp were so horrible I get too upset every time I do so. (Tears are still running down my cheeks as I type this over 6 weeks later).

I will never step foot in that hospital again unless my LO's life depends on it. If my life depends on it, I may not bother...

[MsMuffet]

Had DS by emergency c-section 3 years ago at Chelsea & Westminster in London. a pretty negative experience on the whole & v. similar to many of the other posts. Harried staff and not enough of them etc

Don't remember anyone else changing the baby, no strip lighting at night though, and I had the choice of having DS in with me or in the wheelie crib by the bed. No help to shower but I do remember getting myself up day after the op and once up and about, really made a big difference in terms of recovery. Food wasn't a problem - it was all beige but came regularly.

Most of the midwives were great, but two were real bullies - There was also a bit of
medical negligence during (failed) induction. Took me a year to get my act together and write a letter of complaint but to the hospital's credit they seemed to take it very seriously. Got a detailed, 4 page reply. Midwives in question were spoken to and one was sent for additional training re breastfeeding support. Writing a letter really helped me draw a line under the whole experience. Am now pregnant, due in Feb and going back to same hospital. figure it's pot luck as to who you get - as many others have said.

Good luck - Nosey Helen - 2nd time round must surely be easier, because at least you know what to expect & there's always the chance that it'll be a much better experience!

[meglet]

Can this thread be sent to the NHS director of maternity services or something? It's a terrible situation that mums & newborns are not cared for after a cs. The majority on here have had a crap time . Its no way to start motherhood.

Only 4 weeks to go 'til my second one, I must get my assertive head on.

[meglet]

Can this thread be sent to the NHS director of maternity services or something? It's a terrible situation that mums & newborns are not cared for after a cs. The majority on here have had a crap time . Its no way to start motherhood.

Only 4 weeks to go 'til my second one, I must get my assertive head on.

[LadySanders]

my experience with ds2 nearly 6 months ago - though bear in mind this is in a very overstretched east london hospital:

at no point in 2 days did a midwife change his nappy - i had to instruct dp (his 1st baby) how to do it while i was flat on my back still unable to move from spinal. baby just stayed in a dirty nappy all night the first night.

i couldn't reach the call button so had to just keep shouting if i needed anyone and hope someone might hear me (was in single room). on first night i asked for a blanket cos was freezing in my room and was told "there aren't any, patients keep stealing them"

on 2nd night i got woken up twice by m/w turning on strip lighting and shaking me awake to take my blood pressure which seemed a bit ridiculous (maybe let new mum and baby sleep while they can?)

baby was in bed with me the whole 48 hours i was in hosp, various m/ws told me i had to put him in his crib, i refused, he was very happy and warm snuggled up with me and i could feed him easily.

i was lucky enough to be right next to shower so took myself on after 24 hours to get washed while dp looked after baby - mws wouldn't have had time to look after him.

not a great experience, but luckily i persuaded them (by being very annoying) to let me out after only 2 nights which was more than enough!

[callandermum]

What annoys me when reading these stories is that I am actually reassured and a bit relieved to have people who understand how terrible my birth 'experience' was. I have spent the past 4 and 1/2 years telling this story to people whose faces look as though they think that I am over egging the pudding. No I am not. Unfortunately it would seem that many people have had a really crappy time. No wonder so many people have such a low opinion of Maternity Services. And I haven't even started on my ante-natal 'care'!! Ok I'll go and have a coffee and calm down! (wink)

[Scarletibis]

How often was your baby changed over night? Can't honestly remember
How long did it take midwives to come when you called? a few minutes
Did they insist on putting the strip lighting on everytime they popped in? No
Was baby in bed with you or in it's own crib? Ist night in crib, then in the bed with me

Did they help you have a shower or bath? Yes, the first time

The MW were helpful when i was on the 'post-op' ward, but after 2 days I was moved wards they more or less told me to get on on with things - even though I still had a catheter in. Not easy (or dignified!).

[voiceoffriesian]

I can't believe that others had a horrible experience too - I had a em cs at 10.30pm after being induced during the day. I had a lvely midwife with me during the op and did have help bf in the night albeit unpatient (made me feel like I was hopeless for baby not latching on quickly as they were busy). Had catheter out in the morning and they had a tug on my wound drain, got a dr to have a look as it wouldn't come out who had a tug and said oh well shes not my patient you will need to speak with the person who did this. They had another go at getting it out whilst I had gas and air to no avail. I was then told that my consultant would come and see me that night when she was next on duty. No one came so I complained, she came 2 days later - ended up having the drain in for 3 days which was horrible! I had to go
into surgery - no one apologised. I had no help with showering etc bu did receive some help re breastfeeding. To be honest the aux nurses were lovely and helpful, some of the mw's were absolute witches! It has felt quite good writing this, not put everything in obv but it I found the whole experience scary and traumatic and you are supposed to just get on with it.

[kitstwins]

Just wanted to say to ThePenguinProject that your experience sounds absolutely horrific and very traumatic - I'm not surprised you were in tears typing that; it brought tears to my eyes reading about your first night as a mother. Awful.

I really hope you manage to come to terms with things - have you spoken to your Birth Afterthoughts service at your hospital or perhaps the Birth Trauma Association? I found both of these really helpful.

Kx

[NoseyHelen]

VictorianSqualor - I did leave after 1 night last time and have made it clear I intend to again - consultant has said that is fine by her but would need paediatrician's sign off.

My hospital (Mayday) needs the beds!

[MummyAnnabella]

reading these stories i am upset but for slightly differnt reasons to most.

this may be controversial but i think some people are expecting too much.

after v traumatic emerg section at 33 weeks my baby ended up in intensive care. so baby was taken care of there - at other end of hospital - and all i had was 1 photo of him. i only got to see him twice on 1st day for about half hour max each time.

while i didnt have to feed him myself due to tube feeding i did express every 3 hours day and night setting my alarm to do so. 1st night they brought me expressing stuff but from 2nd night i had to get it myself.

i was helped to bath the day after c/s but was left to wash and dress self and make my own way back to bed. but why wouldnt i? it really is better to be up and about.

i used to cry during the night when i saw all the other mothers sending their babies out to the mw station to be fed and changed as i couldnt believe they didnt want their babies with them all night.