Driving after a c-section?

[Shootingstar2289]

Ok, so I have a c-section booked for baby number two in a few weeks!

However, today I've had an appointment come through which I've been waiting months for! It's 3 weeks and a half weeks after my c-section date.

I cannot change the appointment, my partner cannot get the time off (he's tried already) and my family work and have other commitments..

So if I heal well, will I be ok to drive then?

I think I drove after 3-4 weeks after my first was born but it was quick trips to the supermarket or into town as it was a rather hilly walk!

The appointment is 40 minutes away..

Advice?

Well from what I have heard it's an insurance thing (not insured for 6 weeks) however I think that differs from company to company. For what it's worth I had a section 3 weeks and 2 days ago and I have driven. I feel fine to drive and I'm healing well,so if the possibility of an accident happened I intend to play dumb. I never even called my insurance consent to ask because then there is proof that "I knew". I don't intend on long journeys obviously, but I'm doing short ones xx

It's not an insurance thing-check with your insurance company but there's nothing that specifically prohibits driving before 6 weeks. I drove at 3 weeks (20 minutes or so) and felt fine-much easier than walking.
I think an emergency stop would probably have hurt but could have definitely performed one if i had to.

Halle, that's incredibly irresponsible. What if you caused an accident involving another car and your insurance didn't cover it?

OP, I felt fine to drive after a couple of weeks, but you need to check your insurance. Please don't drive if you aren't covered.

Thank you for your replies. It's worrying me so much as there was a 3 month waiting list for this appointment for my son! And no public transport here either! Will see how it goes..

I drove 3 weeks after both times, I was perfectly fine.

Physio told me it's about your ability to perform an emergency stop and you need to inform insurance company unless you can get an obstetrician to clear you to drive?? No idea how you can go about that. I didn't want to risk it so left it 6 weeks.
Don't forget your recovery could be slower this time. Sounds really annoying but you may not be well enough to go anyway. Hope not!

If my insurance didn't cover it, Id use some of my savings to pay for it. So not really irresponsible at all. If I have back up for worst case scenario then what's the problem???

halleberry - I think you are slightly naive. Worst case scenario you could be in an at fault accident, write off a £50,000 car and put someone in a wheelchair for life - do you have enough savings to cover the compensation for that???? Obviously unlikely but isn't that why we have insurance?

I do think personally that the whole C Section insurance thing is massively overplayed by insurance companies as there are so many individual cases of surgery (not C Sections but probably less common and not known about) where people drive well before six weeks and are probably less well recovered than with a C Section. However, they do seem to have the 6 week limit unless you've been signed off by a dr (GP was fine rather than obstetrician with my insurance all 3 times) - luckily enough my GP signed me off after 3 weeks with my first, second and third time they wanted me to wait for 4 weeks.

It's totally inconvenient. I know because I lived a driving distance away from school (in fact 2 different schools) when I had my third and didn't have family / close friends near enough to help. DH had real trouble getting time off work. However it is what it is... Don't risk driving without insurance, it's potentially cheaper to just take a taxi - not ideal for a 40 minute journey but not the end of the world.

Check with your insurance company, or check your T and C. Mine say nothing about C sections and when I phoned them to check they confirmed that they didn't have a specific view.

Well
Naive or not ... It was a risk
I was willing to take to be able to use my car. I depend on it. I have another Young child, and all family and friends work through the day. As soon as I felt well
Enough I drove

Halle, you might have been willing to take the risk, but you were putting others at risk too, and they had no choice in the matter.

I don't believe that you would have had the savings to cover the kind of scenario that mutley describes. If you didn't, then your actions were incredibly selfish.

"If my insurance didn't cover it, Id use some of my savings to pay for it. So not really irresponsible at all."

It is against the law to drive without insurance. And the police take this very seriously.

Details here

I called my insurers who were happy to allow the midwife to sign me off and I drove after 2 weeks. Rolled up a big scarf and tucked it under the seat belt over my tummy though just to cushion it a bit.

shooting, check your insurance. My doc said it was all to do with your ability to perform an emergency stop, so it's quite possible you could get signs off earlier than 6 weeks.

Can you take a cab? Or find a CM or daytime babysitter?

Felt so stupid at my 6 week check as I also discovered I could have been having baths instead of showers. Don't know how I came up with that.

My insurance company had no specific time limits, but advised I was insured to drive once GP had agreed it (mainly based on ability to perform an emergency stop)...straightforward recovery and driving from 3 weeks

I spoke to my insurers and they said you are fine to drive as soon as your gp says you are ok and didn't even require me to get back to them with what the doctor said! I only spoke to my gp on the phone who said the way to tell if you're ok is if you can jump down one step without being in pain.I drove short distances 2 weeks post section and about 35 minutes each way to my Mum's the following week.

My insurance just asked if I'd been told not to drive - I hadn't and so they were happy for me to drive as soon as I felt able to.