Anyone had a planned c-section, Any advice for me? ;o)

[JayneyG]

After an bad labour and horrid emergency c-section last time, have seen consultant who says I can choose a C-section or VBAC, have done lots of reading / thinking and have finally decided (pretty sure) I,m going to go for the planned c-section.

As I don't intend to have any more children, and my husband has left me, so I wont have that support, but do have loads of family support for the c-section recovery etc.

Anyway, has anyone had a planned c-section, can you please tell me how it works, any good positive stories? any bad experiences? and is it worse recovering from a second c-section? or is it easier when you've had a planned one and haven't been through hours of gruelling labour first?

Would really love to hear some c-section birth stories.

Thanks

Jayney

Hiya, the only tip I'd have is not to make assumptions as to what the hospital can offer for planned C section. Each hospital has a different policy - i.e. when I asked the consultant if the screen could be lowered to see the baby born, she looked at me with blanked eyes and said 'we never do this' whereas many Mumsnetters have told me that it is possible to request that in other hospitals.

So make sure you discuss things in detail so you don't have any surprises.

Another example is that with my first C sec (emergency) the baby was cleaned/dressed/weighed in theatre right next to me so I could see/hear what was going on. I assumed it was going to be the same for second C sec, in different hospital, but it wasn't. The baby was taken to another room, and was there for almost 30 minutes as they couldn't find scales for him, which I found very VERY distressing.

So ask as many questions as possible! In my case, recovery was much easier second time round.

HI
I had an emergecy cs. So with my second child I was given the choice of aplanned one - which I took.

it was wonderful. So much more calm. I even got to take a tape of my music into the theatre. We were also able to plan child care - whci ws an added bonus, particulalry as teh grandparents live 3 hours away. I felt fine afterwards and took as long to recover as teh previous one. No complaints at all.

Now if you get me on the subject of breast feeding, that's quite a differnt matter and not related to omy CS in anyway so I'll ditch it for now!

My 3rd was a planned section, told everyone my planned date - a week before EDC - planned a lot of things round that....childcare issues especially, for my other 2..........then my waters broke 3 weeks early! Still had a section a few hours later, all well. Just don't plan your life round THE date!!!
Recovery same as my 1st section, maybe better as I knew it was to be our final babe and wanted to enjoy every second.
Good luck!
x

I had a planned section after an emergency one two years earlier. It was definately the right choice.

But so sorry that your husband has left you. That must be very hard.

What hospital are you going to? How old is your older child?

Planned sections are SOOOOOOOO much nicer than emergancy ones.

Good luck.

I had a planned section with DS. It was fine - nice clean scar, quick recovery. But I felt completely disassociated from the whole thing. DS was removed to another room to be bathed & weighed. It was quite a while before I felt in my heart that he was mine. Think that was just the epidural though.

Get mobile as soon as possible, drink lots and lots of water, stand upright rather than hunched over, and keep the scar dry. That all helped me get over it quicker than I would ever have believed possible.

I second Ele. Planned is much better than emergency and, while you might be able to have a lovely VBAC, you might not.

In your case, and with childcare to sort out, I would go for the planned CS.

I recovered a lot quicker from the planned CS than I did from the emergency, too.

I had a planned c-section for dd after a shitty labour with DS (he was natural, but ventouse with plenty of cutting and tearing going on) and it was a brilliant experiance.

It was much more relaxed than DS's birth and i remember it all, as opposed to DS where I can hardly remember everything as I was so groggy and exhausted. BF was fine as well, I fed her for 11 months (it's supposed to take longer for milk to come in I believe, but it wasn't the case for me at all).

I also found it was better having it planned for DS's sake as well as I had arranged for my mum to take him and there was no rushing out of the house in the middle of the night to disrupt him. It's hard for the first few weeks with regards to your older child (my ds was 11 month old when dd was born and I couldn't lift him for a couple of weeks) but as long as you have a support network, you will be fine

Good Luck

I also think that a planned CS is safer in our overstretched NHS than a VBAC.

A VBAC starting precisely at 9am Monday to Friday, when there are lots of senior clinical staff around (available to be called upon for clinical advice, even if not actively present) would be worth a try.

A VBAC at 4am in the no-man's land of an understaffed maternity unit is a different matter.

I had an emergency c-section for ds and a planned c-section for dd. The planned c-section was very calm, very positive. I think I recovered faster after the second c-section - or maybe it was just I had more to do having a 2 year old already! Good luck.

Jayney - I have had 2 planned sections both lovely and very calm. Found I recovered much faster after second section and was driving again after 2 weeks. Both my DS and DD were handed to DH once they were weighed and checked whilst they were stiching me up, do ask them about the logistics of the process and ask for what you want. It is your birth at the end of the day. Happy mothers = happy babies Best of luck.

Thanks, helps me a lot, good to hear people who've had good planned c-section experiences.

Will def prepare a list of questions for the consultant, just always worried about being a pain and annoying them, but really do want to try to be on top of the situation so to speak, and I think being in control as best I can and understanding what's going on is probably key to that.

Am hoping I'll bond sooner with the baby, last time, after I heard her cry when she was born, I really wasn't interested as I was sooo tired and Ill, I wasn't too bothered in looking at her, so I really do want to try to have apositive experience this time and bond with my son sooner. Will bear in mind the idea of them taking him out of the room then, would like to spend time with him before they do that if I can.

Thanks am feelikng more positive having heard some postive stories.

Jayney