C section recovery

[Avondale91]

Hi all,

I’m soon-to-be first time mum and considering an elective c section for versions reasons.

The bit I’m finding hard to get good information on is the recovery and what to expect there, and I’m conscious of the impact it may have on early days of motherhood. That said, I’m very fortunate and my other half is taking a significant amount of time off work too, so there will be a lot he’ll be able to support with / we’ll be able to do together.

From others experiences of c sections (particularly elective), how limiting was the recovery and for how long? How long was pain relief necessary? From when could you manage gentle walks with the pushchair? How long before you were able to exercise normally?

And were there any day-to-day activities that you found impacted recovery? For example, I’m wondering if I plan to sleep downstairs for a while to avoid stairs whether it would help.

Really keen to hear your recovery experiences! Xx

I found recovery quite easy. Hospital for 3 nights, they take the catheter out after 24 hours and encourage you to start walking. I was able to walk out of the hospital fine, stairs at home were fine. For me the most painful bit was changing from lying down to sitting up position, but I didn't need any painkillers. Was moving pretty normally within a week. The trickiest bit is picking up baby for the first week or so, it helps if someone can help pick them up and hand them to you. It's recommended not to start running till 12 weeks post section but I did some gentle walk/jobs at around 9 weeks.

Following as due for one soon and want to prepare for the recovery!

Hi, it’s the strangest thing because it is major abdominal surgery yet I was home from hospital in less than 24 hours and with careful timing of painkillers carried on albeit slower than usual normal activities quickly.
It is vital that you move to prevent complications so I showered every day, went up & down stairs (one bathroom and loo in our house, upstairs) breast fed and cared for the baby as needed.

You are in a very fortunate position having your partner able to be with you afterwards as many don’t.

For me I had another child I needed to feed, care for and walk to school and back every day so I was pushing my pram through the snow by day 10 getting my child to school.
I was driving at about 3 weeks. Stopped taking painkillers by the end of about a week other than paracetamol here and there.

So pretty much back to normal after about 10 days.
It depends on the individual I would say. If you have a second pair of hands to help then great, if not, then you have to just crack on. No choice.

Good luck! Exciting times!

Hi.

Congrats on your baby.

I had a C-section with baby1.

Id say by 3/4 weeks I felt ok, but it took until 6 for my wound to fully heal and for me to drive ( I think you can get signed off earlier by the doctor if you feel up to it)

Im sure I was out walking at the end of week 2/3.

Main tips:

Stand up straight (it'll hurt but take your time and make yourself do it) it'll prevent back issues later on.

Get up off the bed/settee often - this will aid healing.

Just be careful when lifting etc. Doing all stuff with the baby is fine but go easy.

The pain is intense the first week but keep on top of your meds. I took them a day or two longer than needed just to be sure! Set alarms on your phone

You'll have blood thinner injections to do yourself at home

Milk - if you intend to BF It takes a bit longer for your milk to come in. I expressed ALOT in the first week to get my supply up. It was a slog but worth it because I had a good flow when it came. I just put baby on me a few times a day until she drank. That was the best feeling.

We set up baby changing stations in our bedroom and downstairs to make it easier at nappy change. Table too height.

No need to avoid the stairs. We live in a 3 story house and we are up top!

Good luck and happy Motherhood :(

Sorry that was meant to be :)

Mine was awful. It was classed as elective, but I wasn’t given a choice by the hospital as my baby was breech. I had searing nerve pain in one spot for 5 weeks, which felt like a knife had slashed me. I’ve given birth naturally and had kidney stones, but that pain was something else. I could barely walk for the first few weeks, couldn’t care for my baby alone and spent a lot of time crying in pain.
My husband is from a different country and we had his family come to meet the baby. They booked a lovely restaurant, but it was quite a big place, so a fair walk from table to outside. My pain got so bad that I couldn’t walk, had a panic attack and had to be helped outside.
My next baby was a ‘natural’ birth and was an absolute walk in the park.

It’s serious surgery and usually causes internal adhesions afterwards. I think it’s often downplayed, because it saves lives (and I would do it again to save my baby’s life) but I would never choose it.

I didn’t exercise again for a long time and I still can’t do things like sneeze lying down as it will pull everything around the scar (internally). It was 11 years ago now!

On the other hand, my recovery seems particularly bad and one of my friends was out walking around ASDA 3 days after hers.

I’ve had 3 and will be having my 4th next year.

Paracetamol for 4-5 days after with each. My last one; we went to the zoo when baby was 8 days old so I pushed the double pram round there all day no problem. Drove after about 2 weeks ish I think.

Back to the gym after 6 weeks no problems. No lasting problems or effects whatsoever.

No need to sleep downstairs, you may need help getting up out of the bath but that’s all I can remember needing help with. Or maybe getting out of bed if you have a low bed? I found rolling onto my side, then sitting up, then standing was the easiest way initially.

The worst thing straight away is the trapped wind so get lots of peppermint tea ( they offer you this once you’re back in bed in my hospital) and it really helps.

I breastfed all 3 of my children with absolutely no issues.

The worst thing for me was the blood thinning injections into my stomach but that’s because I don’t really like needles. I’m fine if I don’t have to see them but you obviously need to be watching when doing it yourself 😂

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Not to scare you but worth mentioning an elective section isn't an easy option.. Ive had one emergency c section with my first and an elective with my 2nd. I recovered fine after the emergency one, was in very bad pain for first few days but after day 5 it was more of a full ache and I could do stuff. With the elective I got a hospital superbug during surgery causing an infected haematoma which quite literally meant my wound burst on day 3.. Queue worst pain I've ever been in (worse than labour) and a 2 week hospital stay being pumped full of antibiotics. Make sure you keep an eye on your wound. The pain should be getting better not worse. If it's worsening get it checked (by an expert, the midwife who checked me on day 3 said it 'looked a bit bruised'.. Turns out it was seriously infected.

I've had two sections, one emergency, one elective. With the elective I was home after 24 hours. Recovery for both was fine, but easier with the first than second, probably because I already had a child to care for. You'll be able to pick up baby, go for walks, walk up stairs etc straight away. Just don't do any heavy lifting, e.g. washing basket, shopping bags, etc and no driving. You'll be fine. I took pain relief regularly for a few days then as I needed it. I found that I recovered quicker than some of my friends who had vaginal deliveries with forceps and an episiotomy, and which were quite traumatic.

Recovery after birth is very dependant on your current state of health.

My friend snapped back after hers, BUT she'd ridden dressage at international competitive level. Girl has abs of steel.

Other friends have all had worse recoveries than I did following vaginal birth.

I've had 2 elective sections. I found the first 3 days painful but after that was fine. Managed a walk to the pub for lunch within 4 days with both of them. Was driving at 2 weeks with the first and after a week with the second. Was able to do everything, just a bit slower than usual!

As you’re already seeing in this thread, if it goes well it’s easy, but there’s a small risk that if something goes wrong it can be very difficult. Not unlike vaginal birth!

I found it a fairly easy recovery (twice), much easier than friends with difficult vaginal births, but harder than those with easy vaginal births. I’m unfit and overweight, perhaps it would have been even easier if I wasn’t, but I didn’t feel like that made it harder. Having a partner at home is a huge help.

Gentle walks - day 3. Stairs - you’ll be slow, but as soon as you get out of hospital. It’s important to keep moving, that really helps your recovery. What I found was that for the first couple of weeks the difficult bit was getting up/down, but once I was up I happily pottered around for a while. Probably around 3-4 weeks for me to get back to full speed.

Pain relief - you’ll probably need it for 1-2 weeks. My top tip is to set recurring alarms in your phone before you leave the hospital. Don’t rely on remembering, don’t wait until you hurt. Take paracetamol and ibuprofen religiously for the first week, then see how you feel. Look after your wound, to prevent any infection. I did get a surface infection, because I didn’t look after it properly because my baby was readmitted to hospital and I didn’t think about myself properly. An antibiotic cream cleared it.

The one thing you really must not do for the first few weeks is lift anything heavy. Do not carry anything other than the baby! That’s how you can hurt yourself.

Had an emergency section after failed forceps so my entire body was broken! Home two days later, DH had to help me up and down the stairs and into the shower on the first day or two at home and that was it. Just took it steady but no problems getting round the house or carrying baby. Walk round the park on day 5 and then increased from there. Didn't drive for 6 weeks though which was the worst bit!

I increased my walking distance and started back exercising at 5 mo pp. A friend was back at 7 weeks post section!

I was home after 24 hours. I took pain relief for first week as a preventative measure but didn't feel I needed it. Tightness along would made standing straight and taking stairs feel a little uncomfortable but was fortunate to have support to lift baby, help me out of bed etc to avoid causing any setbacks. Worst bit was the injections afterwards as hate needles and DH administered those for me whilst I pretended it wasn't happening 😬. Have some numbness in scar area which doesn't bother me but might to some.

I had a C section Tuesday 9am and was discharged 5pm Wednesday, Things no one tells you - when you first stand up, the worlds smelliest blood will GUSH out of you.
Its very odd to not be able to use your core.
Your whole belly feels like someone is doing the washing up when you laugh.

For me, i found putting sanitary towels over the wound to wick away moisture and a couple of times a day I would lay on the bed with a fan pointed at me to keep it try.

Keep on top of painkillers - even if you feel ok - for at least a few days.

You may start to feel a bit trapped under baby but do not push yourself.

Keep your feet up as much as you can to stop swelling - mine ended up looking like monster munch.

Never sit down without checking you have phone, charger, remote, drink, snacks and muslins. I had a little basket i kept on the sofa!

I was given a list what not to do for how long by physio so it’s worth asking if your hospital has one.

Stairs were fine.

sleep propped up because the hardest part is getting up and down because you’re using your abs to do so. If you’re breastfeeding personally I’d ignore advice to do laid back feeding as I only found that more painful.

walked 3 miles after 3 weeks, walking is okay because you aren’t so much using your core.

a belly support band really helps.

worst part is the injections you have to give yourself

This was literally me to. 'elective' because baby was footling breech but I did not want a C-Section. My recovery was also awful - had my son one year ago and things still aren't 100%!!

Both of mine have been fine. The elective was a breeze. I didn't need any painkillers after discharge and was back driving 10 days later and at a soft play party with both DC 5 days PP! My midwife told me off for doing too much but I genuinely felt absolutely fine and better than I had the last month of pregnancy anyway.

It's impossible to say though as everyone is different but I've never had issues with either of mine in getting up and down stairs. With my first emergency one I struggled getting up and down off the floor for a little while but not with the elective particularly.

Fingers crossed you have a smooth ride like I did!

Sorry to hear that- mine was also footling breech! Was he your first? I went on to have have another 2.5 years later. Thankfully not breech, so was able to have a VBAC. I did worry the entire pregnancy about her being breech, though! Hope you improve soon 😊

I took painkillers for about a week as I wanted to keep on top of any potential pain, but was honestly never 'in pain' as such. Certain movements were sore but normal walking and sitting was all fine.
The only thing I found hard was lying down and sitting back up again as that was very sore. I couldn't sleep on my side either so had to sleep on my back with a pillow under my knees.
I was pushing the pram at about two weeks, but could have managed sooner. Stairs were absolutely fine from day one.
The recovery in general really wasn't limiting at all, but then I wasn't driving and didn't have other children to look after which might make things a bit harder for some people.

First one was EMCS and bad recovery with long hospital stay . Second was not elective exactly, i was in labour and agreed to one. Second section recovery was so much easier. I was out of hospital after 24 hours. By 2 weeks I felt really good and at 6 weeks back in the gym with physio support, it was excruciating waiting for 6 weeks as I felt great. I'd say in terms of getting back to peak gym fitness that was more like 3-6 months, I started with dumbells and gradually worked my way back. On physio advice I waited a year to run as she showed me some recent studies on how harmful it can be running earlier postpartum.
I think the most important 3 things the second time were spinal instead of GA, being really physically fit and working out until 42 weeks and having a baby that slept easily.
Gentle walks after a week were fine. I definitely didn't have to sleep downstairs. I'd say that getting out of bed the first week is the hardest thing.

I think I'm one of the lucky ones. Planned section. All went well. Catheter out 12 hours later and home within 48 hours.
Walking around and getting up was no problem. I cleaned out the rabbit hutch 72 hours later but looking back, I probably shouldn't have done this.
Pain relief wise, ibuprofen and paracetamol for 1 week. No wound problems or pain. I totally appreciate that I had an easy ride compared to others.

Thank you

Thank you!