Help !! Major anxiety around planned section ...any tips ?

[moggylover]

Ok.. I am booked in for a section in two days time (unavoidable - medical reasons). I have a major fear around hospital procedures in general but am absolutely terrified about the op. I tend to suffer from anxiety attacks and although i have had a previous section (emergency)with dd1 this was sudden so i didnt really have time to get stressed about it as i was drugged up to the eyeballs and it was a blessed relief to see the end in sight by that time , by whatever means possible. I am really terrified this time and am obsessing about it ...and am worried that i will have panic attacks during the op etc ... is there anyone else on here who has had the same fears and who has managed their fear /anxiety positively - if so how as i am desperate for help and time is running out !

Can you write a list of all the things that make you anxious, then we can work on them one by one.

I doubt this would appeal, but I can't stand not knowing what is going on or being done to me, so I had it in my birth plan that if having a c/s then I want no screen. If this is not allowed I have packed a mirror for my DH to hold up so I can view it.

I had a natural birth in the end but some of the stitching was viewed in this way

Also, - read up as much as possible so that the unexpected doesn't frighten you.

Thanks Snowlight - I think that it is probably a combination of 1)having had the risks run by me and them freaking me out (although i know that you have to be told what the risks are)and 2)the spinal ,as stupid as it may sound i am worried that i will totally freak out with that loss of sensation... just thinking about the whole thing is actually making me feel nauseous and i can't focus on what i should be focusing on (meeting my gorgeous baby) as this fear is clouding everything. I feel like a cornered rabbit as i know that d day is looming yet i feel so terrified ... i think that is suffered with post traumatic stress after the birth experience that i had with dd1 and that this has made me have irrational fears this time around...

I had the same problem but saw the specialist midwife for vulnerable groups (not that I was particularly vulnerable but apparently she was the right person). Know you've not got much time but she wrote a care plan explaining my anxieties that went on the front of my maternity notes including things specific to having the spinal, breastfeeding in theatre and it just made sure everyone know that my previous experience had not been good so to treat me delicately!

I also had a tour of the theatre beforehand which really helped, seeing it and being able to have a look round in my own time made me feel much better going in on the day.

I thought that I would have a panic attack during the procedure. It actually turned out fine, I was very nervous but the medical staff were really friendly and put me at ease. Once I realised that I couldn't feel a thing I relaxed a little and was just anxious to get it over with and meet my little boy.

Pick a calming CD and pracise slow deap breathing to it. Have it playing during the scary bits and do the same.

I was really scared about having to have a CS because I have a needle phobia. You meet with the anaethetist the day before and I told him how worried I was.

When I got to theatre they were aware of my phobia and the staff were lovely. They made sure they kept the needles out of sight, gave me warning about what was happening and kept checking with me that I was OK.

It was a fantastically positive experience.

Just make sure you tell them what your concerns are and make sure you remind each new person. It's in their interest for you to be calm, so they should go out of their way to relax you.

I've had two both with fear....plus 2 emergency...I'll come back to this.

Moggylover, don't laught but take a bottle of lavender oil into theatre with you and keep sniffing it on a hankerchief... honestly it works!

I usually get myself so worked up over going to the doctors/dentist even so when I had to have an elective c-section because my dd3 was breach I panicked too.

I sniffed the lavender oil for the whole morning prior to the op and I was so calm,my husband couldn't believe how calm I was. The theatre staff were lovely and kept reassuring me, I didn't even feel the spinal at all!. I admit it was very strange not to be able to have any feeling past my chest and I did not even know that the operation had started until I heard my baby cry .

I have had an emergency c-section too (for the birth of my first baby), the elective was so calm and so fast, it was lovely not to have to go through all the waiting/pain of a vaginal birth (I have had three vaginal births too). I wish you a lovely birth, just like mine . Please let us know how you get on, good luck!!

erm, I must use the preview function!

I should have said, "don't laugh" .

Listen to radio 2 at 6.20 they're doing the tapping technique that you could try.... very successful.

I was very scared of both my electives, the knowledge of the risks doesn't help does it??
The great thing is that theatre staff love an elective, it is very calm and orderly. The team reassured me every moment. I compiled a lovely CD to listen to. First one (my thrid section) I was told that when I felt a weight pushing on my abdomen then to expect the baby, second one knife to skin to baby out was 80 seconds....then my baby cried and I saw him for the first time.
I bfed in recovery.

Thankyou so much everybody, i feel very reassured that it isn't just me that gets really worked up .... i've been feeling like such a wimp and that i am being selfish getting so stressed over it when i should be focusing on my gorgeous baby getting out safe and sound ...and as for my poor ever patient husband , i just feel so sorry for the man as even he is getting frustrated with how much i am struggling with this...

I do use lavender but hadn't strangely i hadn't thought of taking that or a cd into theatre - think i thought that they wouldn't let me or that they'd think i was a crazy woman - having read all of this thread i can see that i need to be really open with the midwives and anaesthetist and doctors about my fears...

It's true , when they tell you all the risk it just doesn't help - infact it puts the fear of God in me tbh , but i keep telling myself that a planned section has to be that bit lesss risky than an emergency, and that the risks of c's in any case are there and i can't do anything about them anyway...i think i feel abit guilty about having the section in view of the risks as i already havea four and a hald year old, and my mind goes of on one thinking 'if something (bad)happens then i've willingly put myself in a situation of risk'(and therefore let my daughter down)(if that makes sense to people?!) -Ever wished you could switch your head off ?!

I am trying to focus on the positive now as the section is tomorrow. I have found a registered hypnotherapist local to where i live and she has said that she is going to see me to day to do some breathing techniques / visualisations etc to help...

Thankyou for the good wishes too, i will report back asap with how i got on ...

A planned section can be a lovely experience. Seriously. I was very nervous before my emergency and my elective (thought I was going to faint when I walked into the theatre for my elective), but in actual fact the elective turned out to be a very relaxed, serene affair and I would do it again tomorrow if I could .

I don't have any magic advice to offer, but all I can say is that it won't be anything like your emergency and may even surprise you by being lovely...and some time tomorrow (?) you will have your baby in your arms .

Best wishes xx