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Original poster

back to work 5 days after c-section

162 replies

Gorionine · 07/01/2009 09:27

She IS back at work today!

It was comfirmed in the French news this morning (RTL Radio) that she was indeed due back to work this afternoon.

Anyone thinking that it is not really serving the cause of women (asside from not being a very good idea medically) or am I out of order? I am not quite sure what she is trying to achieve as her reasons is not likely to be "because she needs the money" which I could probably undertand better, although it would still sadden me thad she'd have to.

OP posts:
joyfuleyes · 07/01/2009 12:00

I was perfectly fit to sit at a desk or computer/make phone calls etc five days after my sections, I assume she isn't lugging heavy boxes around?

CoteDAzur · 07/01/2009 12:05

She is the Justice Minister of France. "What she is trying to achieve" might simply be that it is important for the whole country that she be back at work as soon as possible.

It's not like you can easily get a temp for her post

Those of you slagging her off just because she does not fit into your idea of a "mum" should learn about her life a bit. You might find yourself admiring her.

fondant4000 · 07/01/2009 12:06

I would have agreed after my first cs 5 years ago. But after my second two years ago, I was out and about and doing usual household routine, and attending dd1's xmas concert etc. the day after coming out of hospital (Day 4).

I don't think there's a lot of difference in capability these days between cs and vaginal birth (unless there are cs complications).

But being apart from your baby 5 days after birth is not good, IMO. No-one should feel they have to go back to work so early. It makes me sad that US workers have to return to work when their babies are so small and they should be snuggled up next to them.

HeadFairy · 07/01/2009 12:09

god I'm such a dolt, I thought she'd had the cs in her office ....

Ok back to actually reading the article rather than skimming it!

FioFio · 07/01/2009 12:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

HeadFairy · 07/01/2009 12:14

I guess it depends if it was a planned cs or an emergency after an attempted labour. My planned cs was very slick and I was pretty capable of doing all those things listed 5 days after. Whether I wanted to or not is another matter. I just wanted to stay at home and cuddle my baby.

I'm sure she'll have masses of support, she'll have a nanny to look after the baby in between engagements, all of which sound like they're likely to be pretty short, an hour or so at tops.

If she was Prime Minister she couldn't take an extended maternity leave could she? I agree it's not something that should happen to all women, but her position is a little different from most women. I really wasn't missed when I was on mat leave, but when you're a minister in a government, it's not so easy to get someone to cover you for 6 months is it?

BonsoirAnna · 07/01/2009 12:15

She's historically been a protégée of Nicolas Sarkozy but is currently under attack for being impossibly difficult to work with and under (many resignations in her team/Ministry) and is likely to be demoted at next reshuffle. I expect she is just trying to hang on to her job.

Cannot abide her though, and certainly do not admire her.

Sycamoretree · 07/01/2009 12:25

Whether your a SAHM or a working mum, you are in the same situation coming home to a toddler and a new baby post a c-section.

Not many working mums can afford to continue to pay childcare whilst they are on maternity leave (just in reponse to sitdownpleasegeorge on Wed 07-Jan-09 10:23:02).

So, in a way, she's not facing anything more physically demanding than the majority of us do, and she obviously has got the nanny/childcare sorted.

I think the bigger questions is whether she has made the right decision for herself. Only she can answer that, and only time will tell. I had a friend who went back super early as was also running her own business, and it was only when she went away for her first proper holiday with her baby at about 10 months old that she suddenly realised the quality bonding time she'd missed out on. She was a bit grief stricken for a while it has to be said, and will do things differently with her second child. But, you know, she felt she didn't have a choice at the time, and maybe she didn't.

This woman is clearly feeling her job and career is under threat (shocking, but tis so it seems) and so has made this decision to forge on as though not much major has happened. I don't agree, and I hate the implications for us all (worse even that the time frame for getting one's figure back), but it's her decision and she's free to make it.

Original poster
Gorionine · 07/01/2009 12:32

HeadFairy, She might as well have...

It was an emergency cs.

OP posts:
HeadFairy · 07/01/2009 12:37

Oh I see, gosh, she must be feeling a bit battered then. I'm not sure if I admire her or think she's mad. Perhaps it's just that one day and then she'll work from home with the odd trip to the office for meetings. I can see how that's do-able if you've got a driver/nanny/housekeeper etc to help. Still not something I'd like to do, and I don't think legislation should ever be changed to make women do this sort of thing. If anything I'd like to see a move to the Scandinavian model of mat leave; a year to 18 months is much more appropriate.

BonsoirAnna · 07/01/2009 12:39

In France, salary is maintained during maternity leave so there is technically no problem about paying for a nanny - in fact, many women I know employ a nanny before giving birth to their first child so that the nanny will be around when they return from the hospital.

LittleBella · 07/01/2009 12:41

What she's doing is dangerous. She's risking her life.

It's her life I suppose, she's got the right to take risks with it.

Sycamoretree · 07/01/2009 12:44

Little Bella - do you really think what she's required to do physically in her job is any more demanding that what most women do with two kids at home on maternity leave?

I was hulking a buggy into the boot of a car 7 days after my section.

Ill advised, I might add

At least she is going to have a lot of help around her.

I'm not saying I would do what she did - I stayed off work for as long as I financially possibly could.

beforesunrise · 07/01/2009 12:48

where's Xenia when you need her

well my first instinct is... she's crazy, and she is indeed not serving the cause of women blah blah blah.

however... i doubt she has much choice. it's either that- or probably give up her position. i am sure she has not taken her decision lightly. and i am sure she'll be sad, on some level, to be missing those precious moments with her baby etc etc. and i am also sure she would never advocate that every woman should be doing that.

plus wasn't Sarah Palin still delivering speeches while her waters were leaking??? RD a total lightweight by comparison

LittleBella · 07/01/2009 12:49

No I don't.

But I think women who iron after a c-section are risking their lives as well.

LittleBella · 07/01/2009 12:50

I hasten to add I never ironed within 6 weeks of a caesarean

Just to be really sure, I extended the non-ironing rule to about... ooh... three years or so.

Original poster
Gorionine · 07/01/2009 13:21

My pile of ironing is LOL at this thinking " as long as Gorionine is on MN I am safe!"

OP posts:
HeadFairy · 07/01/2009 13:22

Crikey, is that true littlebella? If it is I was never in any danger, it's been so long I've forgotten where our iron is

LittleBella · 07/01/2009 13:34

Yes I am surprised that she is allowed to insurance-wise.

In the UK, if you have major surgery (and a caesarean is major surgery) then most employer's insurance will not cover an employee being at work, unless a doctor has specifically said (in writing) that that employee is allowed to be there.

And many doctors just won't sign anyone off if they've had major surgery. Even with keyhole surgery for gall-bladder removal, my GP refused to let me go back to work for 6 weeks.

You're certainly not covered for driving.

FromGirders · 07/01/2009 13:38

For Heaven's sake, are women not adults to make their own decisions? I was "back at work" when my first child was about six days old. I managed a business and wanted to stay involved. I didn't do the twelve hour days I'd done previously, but I had meetings round my breakfast table, and oversaw the work of the day. Not so physically involved, but definately mentally there.
And yes, my baby was an em cs as well, and yes I was breastfeeding (with difficulty at that stage), and no, I didn't have a nanny, home help, or anything else like that.
I WANTED to get back to work, I WANTED to be involved and I WANTED something to do. Have you all forgotten how much babies can sleep at that age? Once he was a week or two older, he came in the pram to the office and round the fields, and then into a sling for much of the time. Actually, I think going back to work was good for me, mentally. I coped with having a new baby much better than many friends who complained about the length of the day, and feeling isolated.
Maybe Ms Dati is taking phonecalls from her bed, or meeting with people while she nurses her child. Stop with the "poor baby" comments you don't know her position and have no more right to judge her than you have to judge anyone else.

rosbif · 07/01/2009 13:56

I gave birth in France by c-section twice. On both occasions the medical staff looked at me as quite mad when I asked them when I could drive etc. There is not the same problem with insurance, not sure this is very wise but it is not even considered IME.

LittleBella · 07/01/2009 13:56

Come off it Girders your work set up is totally different from most women's. There's no way I'd have been allowed to bring my baby into work. It would not have been covered by my employer's insurance for a start.

Sycamoretree · 07/01/2009 14:00

i'm in the Uk and my insurers allowed me to drive after 5 days. It was also my 2nd section. They just said as long as I felt comfortable and confident, so were they.

FromGirders · 07/01/2009 14:00

I didn't say it would suit everybody. But I can't imagine that a Cabinet Minister's job is the same as working in an office or a shop either. There are lots of type of work, and some of them you can "go back to" without either leaving your baby behind, or getting tied up in bureaucracy like employer's insurance. But your responsibiities and workload don't just disappear, and not all jobs can be covered by someone else.

Sycamoretree · 07/01/2009 14:04

She is trying to hang onto her job, and as a single mother, therefore the financial security of her new born child.

I can understand that, alongside her desire not to thrown her hard won polictical career into the gutter because of an unexpected (or for that matter, expected) pregnancy.

Who knows what these "complications" are that she alludes to...