Has anyone had an elected c section until general anaesthetic

[Annoymous3659]

I know it’s more common to have a c-section via a spinal block but I wanted to ask if there is anyone who has experienced a C-section under general anaesthetic?

How long did it take for you to wake up? Were you in loads of pain when you woke up or were you given other pain relief?

I have heard the spinal block offers better pain relief compared to GA where morphine is usually provided and can make you a bit out of it. I also understand with GA there are risks of this passing to the baby which could lead to breathing difficulties.

To be fair, I had a section with a spinal and wasn't allowed to hold my baby initially. Dad was thankfully there and had first cuddles, but I didn't hold him for an hour or so. It's not a guarantee.

@Difficultwill thanks for asking. I am really worried about having a C-section and it was one option mentioned by my obs. It’s obviously not the preferred option but I was just interested in others real life experience of this.

What exactly are you worried about?

I had one after my spinal failed , I woke up about an hour after birth but was too shakey and weak ( also lost a lot if blood ) to hold baby for about 3 hours after birth .
I woke up to my stomach feeling like it was on fire and the morphine didn't touch it but this eased after a few hours luckily , my throat was also extremely sore .
My bond with baby was completely unaffected luckily and we had cuddled literally all night long 😳
As I was too weak when waking up I wasn't able to breast feed for the first feed but I brought along some colostrum that I had pumped so my husband was able to give baby this which I would recommend doing or atleast trying to do however you end up having your baby !

most women are worried about having a c-section. The obstetrician may well not understand all the detail re the different modes of anaesthetic (just like the anaesthetist won't understand all the surgical detail of the operation) - I'd wait until you've chatted to an anaesthetists if you haven't already and see what they suggest.

I'm guessing you're not in the UK?

I've had two sections. I was with it and aware of the baby coming, and of immediate contact. It would be a shame to be asleep and miss this unless the GA was necessary. Also with one of mine there was a bit of an emergency about them so I was glad to be able to ask questions and input my feelings into what was happening.

Woke up and tried to sit up, felt like was on fire, passed out. They upped my morphine and came round a second time, thirsty as hell. Gave me baby and we went to our own room (NHS hospital) for a bit then to ward after. It was elective too not emergency. Pain was managed well after the first wake up.
Kid and I bonded super well and we are all still a tight knit family.

Any specific questions?

I had a similar experience to @Knitily - put under general due to labour complications. My partner couldn't be in the room either due to how quickly they had to get my daughter out. We both missed the chance to see her be born, obviously that was the best thing for a healthy baby but we do feel sad about this. It took me 2 hours to come around but honestly I didn't feel "with it" or awake fully for at least 24 hours after. I also found it hard to connect with my daughter straight away and not sure if that's related.