been knocked out for section?

[melissa75]

I have just returned from my MW appt, and have been told that I may be given the option to be put to sleep for a CS. I was a disaster for my last one with the spinal, it was an emerg CS, so I was distraught anyway, but they could not get the spinal in properly, and there was a lot of fiddling about, so it made it very difficult, and a high stress situation, so although I like the idea of being knocked out for it, there are so many cons, like obviously it affects the baby, and also I will have to recover from the anasthetic before I get to see the baby.
Just wondering if anyone else has been in this situ??

Hi, my first was em section and i had an epidural which they struggled to get in, this time round i opted for an elective section and the whole thing was a breeze, so controlled, spinal went in fine...didnt even know they had done it, and everything was so calm and under control...not like first time round at all...... only you can decide tho, hope it all goes ok, i got home 2 weeks ago and feeling fine...good luck!

Hi my first was an em section under GA and I am due with number 2 in about 7 wks and although I am terrified about the thought of being awake for the section I would rather be awake than put to sleep again. My situation could be rather different to yours because of the reason for the section, but the GA and the speed with which the baby had to be delivered was a big shock for the baby and she ended up in ICU for just over a day. Also because I had been given a GA I "missed out" on the birth completely and had big gaps in my memory the first day after the birth which took me a little time to get my head round. Anyway that is my experience, just thought I would share it with you.

I had a general but was actually fine! Ok. so very sleepy on and off the next day, but so was the baby(ds1) so we were both on the same wavelength iyswim! It was an emergency section, and had to be done under general due to both epidural and spinal failing to numb me, but I recovered quite quickly . It was a shame I didnt get to see the baby being born (and neither did dh) but dh cuddled him soon after, and I was awake within 90 minutes. (I awoke to find a baby cuddled in next to me all swaddled up, and to hear a nurse say "you've had a little boy" - not the way you imagine it....)

I think one reason I was ok is that I told them I didnt react v well to anaesthetic (it makes me very sick, and normal anti sickness drugs dont work) so they gave me these super duper anti sickness drugs and only 5 hours later I was up eating breakfast! This was in contrast to ds2 who was a natural birth and I threw up after delivery!

I had a v.emergency c-sect under GA first time, then spinal c-sect 2nd time. I felt recovery was much easier 2nd time but that could also be because 1st time I'd had a prolonged labour to recover from.

Its a tough decision to make but its so calm with elective c section maybe u could try spinal and if it doesn't work they can still give you a GA whereas if u opt for GA you'll never know whether the spinal would've just been straight-forward.

Good luck with your decision but don't tie yourself up in knots over it -in 5 years time it won't seem like a big deal at all its just now I know it feels like the most important thing in the world.

You need to speak to the anaesthetists NOT the midwife about this....

Difficult spinals for emergency sections are not uncommon. For elective LSCS there is loads of time to get you positioned, you aren't contracting etc. etc. Someone who knows your history/ can read you anaesthetic notes from last time is in a much better position to advise you.

Regional anaesthesia has lots of advantages - bonding, less nausea & vomiting, no need to intubate you (and possibly fail) etc.

Provided there aren't any reasons why you can't have another spinal I would give it a go (I did a lady recently who had had a failed spinal for an emergency LSCS previously and was very very anxious - for us it was very straightforward and she told me later how good it was to be awake, calm and to cuddle her baby afterwards)

I am actually ok from the physcial perpective from GA's. I have had 13 of them in my life so far, and recover very easily from them (am one of the "lucky" ones there) so I am not worried about how the GA would affect me. I also have had the spinal I mentioned for my first emergency section, but I also have had many LP's, and many of them were extremely painful and difficult, one of which I had to have the LP with the needle in for two and three quarter hours so I am a very difficult spinal candidate as a result of those. So besically I am screwed either way! I just feel so unsure of what would be best.
Thanks for all your stories and advice though, they are all food for thought to be taken into consideration in what is turning out to be a VERY difficult decision.

I'll say it again - you need to speak to an anaesthetist.

The risks of GA in pregnancy are much higher than when you aren't pregnant.

Anaesthetists (experienced ones) are bloody good at spinals (LPs) they usually do several in a week. Neurologists don't do so many or so regularly normally. We also use much smaller needles and more local anaesthetic. The medics/ neurologists ask the anaesthetic department when they get stuck.

I know of no reason why having multiple LPs would make it more difficult to site a spinal.

gasman, I think my biggest fear is that I had 5 LP attempts by different people when I was in hospital (not pregnant at the time), and they could not get it properly, so they decided to do it in a more controlled area so took me to theatre to do it, and it was an anaesthetist that did it, and it was a complete disaster...the biggest concern was that they did not seem to think I needed to lay down for it, so had my sitting for the whole thing and could not understand why my reading of SF was so high...well because of the force of gravity...and to me thats a pretty obvious concept, so I would think a specialist should know that without question, and this guy was obviously a complete idiot.

Hi, I had a GA when spinal/other drugs failed to work for me too - it was all very traumatic, mainly for my husband, who was bundled out of the room and left waiting thee for 40 mins with no news, thinking the worst, but I just wanted to say that I don't think it affected my bonding with my daughter at all. I came round to the sound of her crying, and she was put immediately on my chest for skin-on-skin. Yes, I was v. groggy (and look very grey in the photos!) but once my blood transfusion had been set up and I was over the worst of it we were thankfully left on our own in a recovery room all night, with regular checks from nurses, so I spent all night just looking at her, talking to her, etc. She took to the breast much quicker than her older brother, who'd been born naturally with no drugs. If anything I felt even more protective of her - rather than going on a journey together, this thing had just 'happened' to both of us, and I just wanted to make it up to her. She has always been very chilled out, happy, bright and loving (OK, little biased here), so in summary, no discernible short OR long-term effects to either of us from the experience! Good luck with whatever you decide, hope all goes well for you.