Refusing catheter with c section

[lollydrop]

I know this might sound silly but this is the bit I’m dreading the most with having a planned c section.

Can I refuse to have one? Is that even an option?

You won’t feel it and without it you’ll just piss yourself because you won’t feel your pee coming.

I'm bloody grateful I had a catheter. When I saw the waste tank after the feeling in my legs had come back I realised if I hadn't had it in I would have been pissing everywhere!
I don't think you can refuse it to be honest because you don't have control over your bladder at all for a long long time.

I've had to have a catheter in twice (non childbirth related) and had no problem with it whatsoever.

Canulas on the other hand, i absolutely hate and always end up with massively bruised , sore hands!

My question remains the same as OP's. Why can't I just go for a wee immediately beforehand so I have an empty bladder? Surely that will reduce the risks then? I don't care if I wet the bed after surgery and that'll be evidence enough I can wee as normal too?

I had catheters weekly and then monthly as part of some different treatment (which I only had to stop due to pregnancy), I would go to the toilet beforehand but the bladder would still be drained as it's never completely empty. Sometimes the catheter going in would be a tiny bit sore for a second but usually no issues, wouldn't really feel much. I don't think they can really let people just wet themselves instead

I had a chat with a consultant yesterday about booking an elcs, she mentioned the catheter helps protect your bladder from any accidental nicks/cuts during surgery. I assume that's by keeping it empty 🤷‍♀️

I don't even remember the catheter from my caesarean, there's so much going on it hasn't even registered enough to stick in my memory.

It is very difficult to sit up, get up and walk after a C-section. You'll be glad of the catheter!! I had one for about 30 hours after my first cs, and getting up then was bad enough, and 12 hours after my second. I thought I was going to split apart in the middle that time! Your body starts to get rid of a lot of fluid once the baby is born. If you can't get up (and you really won't be able to for a few hours), a catheter is essential. Of everything going on in a cs, the catheter was the least concern.

There's an active thread in the Childbirth section called "C Section Catheter". Lots of positive stories.

They need to measure your urine output post-surgery to make sure things are working as they should, it's one of the markers for a couple of different conditions that need acting on quickly. Plus while you're laid up recovering from surgery it's pretty grim to expect HCP to clean up your wee from under you, no?

I loved my catheter after my 2 c sections, desperately needed to rest in the case of the second. I asked if I could take it home 😂

Because you're immobile for up to 12 hours post section and your bladder needs to drain in the time. Secondly they need to accurately measure fluid input and output.

If I was an obstetrician I wouldn't be operating on you if you declined.

I don't make my decisions based on what is less hassle for medical professionals...but thanks for the explanations that going for a wee beforehand wouldn't be sufficient to completely empty the bladder. I'll look up the positive stories thread too. At lunch this week two mums said it was painful in/out and they've had complications from catheters so it really scared me!

Your bladder can fill up quite quickly intraoperatively so even if it’s empty at the start it may not be towards the end. It’s much more likely to be a cleaner process putting the catheter in at the beginning than deciding they need one mid way through and then the midwife having to crawl under the drapes to do it while they’re doing the operation.

The opioid in the spinal can also contribute to post op urinary retention so even if you don’t have one pre-op it doesn’t mean you won’t need one post op.

I can't imagine an anaesthetist or obstetrician would be happy to conduct a ELCS without a urinary catheter as the risks during surgery and post op of bladder nicks during surgery, and urinary retention which is a known complication of both spinal anaesthesia and abdominal surgery are too high. You will be asked to not eat or drink for a certain period of time before the procedure and therefore they will give you IV fluids intraoperatively to hydrate you and maintain your blood pressure. This will quickly fill up your bladder and also not many people fully empty their bladder when they pass urine.

When you have spinal anaesthesia often your muscles that allow you to empty your bladder do not work properly so you can go into urinary retention and this can cause permanent damage to your bladder so a catheter would be a far safer option.

And just wetting the bed afterwards would not be without its discomfort... if you can't get up and stand which most women will not want to do, then the only way to clean you up and change your sheets is to roll you from side to side to get dry sheets in and wet ones out... very uncomfortable post c section.

Ultimately I would say to discuss your specific concerns with midwife/obstetrician and they may be able to put your mind at rest. It shouldn't hurt going in as in planned cases they put it in after spinal anaesthesia (it hurts far less than a cervical smear going in without pain relief anyway), then coming out it just feels very strange but not painful.

It's put in at the begining when the spinal anaesthetic is starting to work so you won't feel it.
Your bladder needs to be empty to allow the surgeons to get to your uterus,there is still manual pushing going on to deliver your baby so a full bladder could be damaged.
Your urines colour canbe seen in a catheter,all that pushing an cause there to temporarily be a bit of blood in the urine.
You've had a spinal anaesthetic,you won't have bladder control or even realise you are sitting in a wet bed.
As for it coming out ,it's more of an ooo moment ,not exactly pain and lasts for the 2 seconds it takes to came out.
Hope that helps.

There is a decent chunk of time between your last opportunity to go to the toilet and then starting the surgery, they need to do your anaesthesia, safety checks, cleaning of your stomach. If your bladder isn't properly empty during the surgery then you are at a much higher risk of sustaining bladder damage. You might not care if you wet the bed after the c-section, but bladder damage could unfortunately be long lasting and you might loose bladder control indefinitely.

I honestly can't remember the catheter going in our coming out after my section 9 weeks ago!

Exactly this. I couldn't have said it any better.

There's so much fluid that goes into you during an operation as well. Your bladder is bound to fill and get in the way during the operation. Where the incision in your uterus is made is where a full bladder would be. Better not to risk a scalpel, scissors or needle injury to the bladder when it could be empty and tucked away.

Also to echo the poster who said that due to the spinal you won't know you're sitting in a wet bed. This is true. Urine is incredibly bad for your skin. Sitting in it when you have poor sensation and mobility can cause some serious skin damage if not caught and cleaned up quickly enough. Incontinence pads don't hold the fluid away from the skin before anyone mentions them. An adult nappy (they're not stocked in obstetrics, and you'd have to put it on yourself) could disguise a haemorrhage.

So yeah. Get the catheter.

I also had a catheter during a vaginal birth. I don't remember why - perhaps because I was being induced and was therefore tied to drip and monitoring equipment. I don't remember any discomfort in relation to it. Hopefully it will be fine once you're having pain relief OP.

Agree. It was the worst for me. Urethra took ages to recover. But, like everything else about childbirth it's an individual experience. No one can predict how it'll be for you.
It is a necessary part of a csection so get it over with. I was a long time sufferer of UTIs which was why I was dreading it.

The other think is that we say cesarean section so glibly but this is major abdominal surgery and in this case a catheter is a necessary part of it.