Is the recovery from an elective c section easier than an emergency?

[GiveMeVegemite]

I had an emergency section with my son, who is now 11 months old, and a due to have an elective section in August with my second and was hoping someone could tell me the recovery will be easier?

I had a horrible recovery after the emergency and can't imagine being bed-bound with a 14 month old for 2 weeks.

Also, I was told not to bother putting antiseptic on the wound and I got an infection, only then did then tell me to put it on (as well as taking antibiotics). Did anyone else use detol or something similar on their scar?

Any advice would be great.

I'm listening with interest for answers, but I'll say that I also didn't put antiseptic on, just kept it dry, and had no troubles with infection - I think it's just the luck of the draw.

About the same. I've had 2 emergencies and 1 elective.

To add to that, my recovery from the elective was probably a tad slower but I'd put that down to needing to get back in to an active routine of walking back and forth to school and preschool.

yes, it's much easier I found. WIth the emergency, there was however many hours of hideous labouring through the night to get through first adn then a good old yank and rummage to get the baby out. With the ELCS, it was booked for a civilised mid day with a proper night's sleep before and 2 weeks early so no yanking around. Up on feet quite happily by the end of the day, whereas had been bent over double for a while after the emergency. Didn't put anything on wound for either, no infection, neat scar.

Oh lord, the yanking... like someone jumping up and down on my stomach - I'm glad to hear that it might not be so bad with an ELCS!

Great, this gives me a bit of hope! My DH has 2 weeks paternity so hopefully he can do most of the running around straight away and give me a while to recover.

Thanks ladies :)

I had an emergency c-section and I felt like I was dying for ages, then I had an elective and I was up and walking about the next morning (c-section 5.00pm) it was so much easier. Everyone thought I had natural birth because of how quick I recovered.

I don't know wether it was because I knew what pain to expect and how to deal with it or because it wasn't rushed (emergency scar is a mess) but it was a lot easier.

Everything was easier for me, right down to the surgery itself. I was standing by evening, walking next morning and driving three weeks after.

My EMCS otoh was stressful, was knackered aready and then had a very difficult recovery.

My ELCS was unbelievably easy to recover from. Very civilised, relaxing day then decent nights sleep the day before, then the OP, again very relaxed really, no stress. Much easier to deal with a newborn and a toddler and stitches when fully rested than it was dealing with a newborn while feeling like I'd been hit by a bus after 4 days of labour and a nightmare natural delivery with DS1.

Don't be tempted to forget you are still recovering at about 3 or 4 weeks post op...it'll set you back, believe me!

I had emc in 2010. Felt awful for 2 wks. Felt human at 4mths.

Had elective in jan. Felt blooming marvellous the same day. Have been steadily amazed at how much better its been in every way. No rel sense as to why that should be.

I didn't put anything on it.

Actually worse in some respects. The emcs was because of PE so obviously my body was fucked. However, the elcs had complications and was a harder physical recovery.

I don't think it makes a difference whether elective or emergency, as I had an emergency section and recovery was no problem, but it sounds like what went wrong for you was related to infection, which would not necessarily happen again.
I wouldn't think dettol or anything else applied to the wound was a good idea though. Best to just keep the wound clean and dry I think.

Cool,thanks for all your advice. It seems that the majority of you think that an elective is easier to recover from so that is music to my ears! I do agree my infection made it a lot harder last time though so if that doesn't happen again it will be a much easier recovery anyway.

I asked the mw this at my booking appt as I'm planning an elective section, and she said that women seem to recover better as well rested and a lot less stressful, so it makes for a more pleasant experience and that helps you recover better. Makes sense, I was fucked after a 30hr labour then a crash section last time and tool weeks to be able to do anything other than get dressed - and even that was a struggle most of the time! Plus my scar is massive - hip to hip - she thinks they were panicking about getting my ds out, so next time should be a lot neater! (I hope!!)