Elective Caesarians only - has anyone had any problems afterwards?

[chaufleur]

I am currently considering having a CS. I have heard lots of good and bad experiences of CS, it seems to be that the majority of good experiences were from elective CS, whereas the majority of bad were from emergency CS.

Therefore I am trying to get a balanced picture of elective caesareans only, because (obviously) I am not planning on having an emergency caesarean! . When I have read CS threads, there are plenty who say "I had a CS, don't do it" then it turns out to have been an emergency CS which obviously a person wouldn't choose to do IYSWIM. I view elective CS and emergency CS as two quite different operations/experiences.

Did anyone have an elective caesarean, that led to physical problems and if so, what were they? I don't mean things such as: having to avoid driving; the baby not being ready; breastfeeding issues; a longer stay in hospital etc etc.

I am referring to things like incontinence, nicked bladders, stitches infected ie personal, physical issues. I am genuinely curious to seperate out what bad physical experiences come out of an elective caesarean.

By all means post with your good elective caesarean stories too!! (in case I do have one! )

TIA!

Lulumama - have cat-ted you.

Feel like I've been called in to see one of the prefects.... (insert anxious face emoticon here)

not at all, far from it, i think you are interesting and also wondering if i know you from DUK or NB?

I think you know me from NB........

To add.... have done my first two births: one precipitate vb, one crash c-section (got card from crash c-section client saying 'thank you for saving our birth' - just shows that even a crash section for fetal distress can be a better experience with a doula in tow!).

Going to have to stop doula-ing before when I've hardly started, boo hoo, as have just got job as maternity support worker and can't commit to be at a birth any more. Am gutted... but need regular NHS salary....

Just wanted to add my experience

em c/s with DD for fetal distress & my BP rising, physically fine, recovered very quickly, established breastfeeding relatively easily. Mentally recovery was harder than I expected as wasn't really prepared for the eventuality of a c/s (in hind sight stupid I know and had issues as to how my labour was handled by m/w)

Had wanted a VBAC with DS, but he had other ideas & disengaged & went into an oblique lie at 40+8 & my BP had started to rise, so ended up with an el c/s @ 40+10. (With hind sight probably a good choice as DS was 10lb 10.5oz ) Anaethsetist took 15 attempts to site spinal (and trust me I'm NOT exagewrating...) - I almost ended up with a GA, and had a huge bruise on my back for 2wks, which was b100dy sore. Had a severe PPH a few hours after the c/s & lost 2.4L of blood over 3hrs and was a whisker away from been whipped back into theatre (consultant still hanging about until 8:30pm on a Friday night "just in case" when you don't normally see then for dust after 5pm, so I knew it was bad ) Again established breast feeding relatively easily. Mental recovery was fine & helped me lay to rest the "ghosts" from the first c/s. Physical recovery was bloody awful, much worse than my em c/s. Also had a bit of "something" left, which I eventually passed on day 10, so ended up with an infection & on ABs, which on top of the anaemia & looking after a 2yo + baby didn't help...

So I buck the normal trend in terms of physical recovery, em c/s ok, el c/s bloody awful...

I wouldn't knock anyone's choice of delivery method, horses for courses & each to their own & all that. However I do think women need to understand all the risks of VB vs c/s vs VBAC etc. I'm with gabygirl, they make a huge fuss about the fact as a VBAC you are a walking rupture, but no mention of the increased risk of infertility, PPH, hysterectomy & still birth from muntiple c/s's, which I only found out about through my own research.

Just to add - I think the sort of information you get about VB / c-section/VBAC is so dependent on the hospital you give birth at and / or the healthcare professionals you come into contact with. I had a great, pro-VBAC consultant in the end with my second baby (had to see two useless scaremongers before I got to see her, though..), who gave me loads of fantastic info and supported my decision no end. When I had to have a section in the end, the hospital were great - supportive and sensitive in the way they dealt with me, but very honest about the risks. I was lucky, I realise that. (I was also pretty well informed myself, it being my second birth and having done loads of research on VBAC vs c-section myself). During my first birth at a different hospital I had a very different experience, with a woeful lack of information and choice. That's one of the things that stinks about maternity care in this country. It is so hit and miss.

I have had three.

First was emergency, I had already had an epidural so they just topped it up and got on with it. It was fine and a big relief after all the pain of labour and worrying about the birth (knew I was having a big baby with a biiig head and was worried sick). Recovery fine.

Second was elective. It all felt very artificial as I wasn't in labour. I felt sorry for my baby who was quite cosy and then going to be yanked out. I was very very nervous. You hardly notice an epidural when you are in agony during labour but you bloody well feel it when you are in no pain at all. Took a long time to get the spinal doodah actually effective and I was getting quite worked up. Then DD had breathing difficulties due to being an elective CS (quite common, apparently), not too serious but in SCBU which was upsetting. Fine in the end though. My recovery fine.

Third section. In same room as my second but much better experience - perhaps as I expected to be nervous I wasn't too bad. Had fab anaesthetist. Everything wonderful. Baby fine. Recovery fine.

I'd say that my recoveries have been easier each time. I would put that down to experience (my sister told me with hers that she felt 100% better every day and I also found that to be true), learning to take every painkiller offered and not trying to be brave as there are no prizes, and getting moving asap.

I sometimes wonder whether the amount of fat one has on ones tummy makes a difference? I am quite skinny and I wonder whether, if there is less weight pressing on the operation scar, you get less pain in the post-operative period.

Having said that the only other person I know who also says she has had no problems with recovery has a lot of fat round her tummy.

"You hardly notice an epidural when you are in agony during labour but you bloody well feel it when you are in no pain at all"

Agree. Had one epidural in labour, and two while having cerclage when pregnant with ds1 and 2. Found it very scary having it done with a clear head!

Balloonslayer: "You hardly notice an epidural when you are in agony during labour but you bloody well feel it when you are in no pain at all."

Did you not get a local anesthetic before the anesthetist put in the spinal for your elective? . I remember being asked to hunch over the operating table at this point. I am a huge chicken when it comes to needles. But honestly, I have completely forgotton that my elective required a needle at the base of my spine. It was a non-event.

I had an elective caesarean with my second and have ended up with bladder problems which are still there ten months later, permanent (so far) pain around the right side on my incision and have been advised not to risk any more surgery that involves the bladder, so no more children.

people ahve such different experience,s don't thye? Blimey!

I didn't feel any pain with the epidural either time, just the weird hot / cold sensation when the fluid went into my spinal cord.

Blueshoes, yes I did but that's what really hurt, plus the pressure of the epidural going in was ewwww. It felt like having a nail hammered in, without the pain of course but just the feeling was alarming.

It was better for DS2's birth but for DD's, although the anaesthetist was really nice, I am not sure he did the job all that well to start with.

The pain was exacerbated by being so nervous, and shivering with that and cold and the bloody hunger (having not eaten for 18 hours or drunk anything but water for 6, while my still-pregnant body needed food and drink, unlike when I had the emergency CS I was in labour so my body was doing quite a different thing).

Still I would rather put up with that than labour

I had an elective c-section, due to baby being in a transvers lie and I hated it!

The epidural hurt when the put it in, they were faffing about, stabbing about for ages before they got it in.

They took the epidural out in the recovery room some hospitals leave it in for top up pain relief, and even with the morphine injections, it HURT!

Got an infection in my wound, 7 weeks and three lots of strong antibiotics, the infection has gone but the wound still hasn't closed completely...

Awful!!

chaufler, you cant account for human error, or your body, or complications, you need to give up control once you lay down for the cs, its out of your hands. If you heard 10 great stories and 2 bad stories, they are not you so mean nothing.

either way you do it, the dc is coming out, and either way carries a multitude of risks, so sorry, but whatever you hear on here will make not one bit of difference.

You have to give up control, its out of your hands, all you can do is prepare yourself mentally and physically, which it doesnt sound like you are at the moment. Good luck.

i had an elective c-section with DS2 and apart from the 1st six hours after it (had an allergy in theatre and the adrenaline floored me totally) we did really well. DS2 was born at 9.40am and i was in the shower at 5pm. Walking slowly around the room that night and catheter out at 9am the next morning.

felt really good although a bit tender and went home at 9pm that night 36hrs after DS2 was born.

the scariest moment was when i had the spinal and couldnt feel my legs. Everything else that happened to me was due to allergies rather than the actual c-section.

having said that, recovery from a vaginal birth was a lot quicker than the section and i was in the shower within 30mins of them finishing the stitching and home 12hrs later.