C-Sections: What to Expect and Your Aftercare
Possible trigger warnings/ some graphic content about operations.
Another blog on this fantastically sunny afternoon here in South Yorkshire. My boyfriend has taken the baby out for a walk and I have the house to myself. Iâve been busy buidling my business page up on Facebook and creating an event for families in my area, called Love Creates Love - lots going on!
I want to touch upon c-sections within this blog. Prior to having my baby, I knew absolutely nothing about sections apart from the fact that the baby is taken out of the uterus as an operation.
By no means are c-sections easy or a âposhâ way out.Â
Firstly, the doctor will adminster a spinal block by first inserting an injection into your spine, much like an epidural. I had already had an epidural (I still experienced established labour pains - pester your midwife to have the epidural topped up regularly!), so I didnât need to go to through the procedure again. I am certain that thereâs about 4 types of anaestesia administered but the details are rather fuzzy to say the least!
After the medication has started to work through, the doctor will then apply some incredibly cold gel to areas of your body that should be starting to go numb. I had already felt the gel before the numbing occurred, and after, so I knew that I could not feel the coldness after a time. I then had a catheter inserted.
After the doctors have prepped you for surgery, you will be wheeled into theatre and lifted onto the operating table. A screen is placed in front of your face. Your birthing partner is brought into the room in scrubs and is allowed to sit near your head.
Soon youâll feel odd sensations and tugging around your abdomen. The doctor should talk you through the sensations and can I just note (**TRIGGER WARNING**) that the surgeons use their hands to tear your tissue and muscles apart. This is because they will knit back together more successfully. This should last for 5+ minutes before you are told that the baby will be lifted out and to prepare to feel immense pressure. The pressure well and truly took my breath away. I have been since told that it takes two people to basically pull open your incision wide enough for the baby to come out. This will place some force on your diaphragm and lungs, thus pushing out a lot of air involuntarily. I hear you gasp!
This could be the point where you hear your baby cry for the first time. I heard my Wren before I saw her. I think I remember saying to my partner, âItâs a baby!â, as she was taken off to be checked and cleaned (unfortunately I was not able to have the skin-to-skin first contact nor was my partner allowed to snip the cord). Be aware that your birthing plan may change unexpectedly!
Soon after checks were made, my baby was brought over to my partner so he was able announce the sex of our baby - âWe have a beautiful, baby girlâ, he whispered, proudly into my ear. I felt fantastic! A Baby Girl.
Before I could think, baby Wren was all wrapped up and held next to my head by her daddy. He then took her off to be weighed with the midwife, while I was stitched up. I met them all in the recovery room afterwards, for my long-awaited skin-to-skin and nursing time I so desperately anticipated.
Honestly, the section was a major shock to me. For hours after surgery, I wasnât able to walk or tend to my baby the way I had imagined I would. When my partner went to have some much needed shut-eye at home (he didnât get much - Iâm so sorry!), I had to call for the midwife to change my babyâs nappy and have her handed to me. I felt so distant from my Wren and inadequate. I knew it wasnât my fault nor did I feel guilty but I wasnât prepared for not being able to do the normal, new-mum things.
After about 5 or 6 hours, the midwife will recommend you get up and walk around. I was very stiff, sore and heavy. However, walking really helped. My partner cuddled our baby while I stumbled around the communal ward, trying to retrain my legs to do what they do best. I canât remember how long after but I was eventually whisked off to the shower room by a midwife, before being moved into a private room. I remember wandering around the maternity unit in an absolute daze. A fellow, new-mum took one look at my swollen, tired and hobbling self and said, âhorrible, isnât it?â
The question took me by surpise. How bad did I look? What was horrible? The lady was also very swollen in the abdomen. Was she pregant? Had she just had a section too? Should I have told her I wasnât pregnant anymore? I later remembered I was in Maternity 1, where you go after youâve had a baby.
The shower was okay. I didnât majorly enjoy it because I was too sore and fragile-feeling to move. I was worried about the incision area. It felt numb, yet painful and bumpy. I knew I had a long way to go to feel a lot better in myself.
For a few days after a section, a midwife will inject you once a day with some anti-clotting liquid. You may be required to wear surgery socks for 6 weeks after. I actually wore them for that entire time because my legs ballooned for about 2 weeks post-surgery. In fact, my legs were so ridiculously swollen, I couldnât even bend them. I had Hobbit feet too - not the Yummy Mummy look I was going for.
Expectations: Expect to walk very slowly. Expect to need help climbing into bed. Expect to need help dressing and undressing. Expect to need to have your baby handed to you in bed. Expect to maybe struggle to produce milk (mine took 6 weeks to âlet downâ). Expect your recovery time to be long. Expect not to drive for 6 weeks or hoover for 8 (thatâs totally fine, right?! Chores should be the last thing on your mind, to be honest)
After all of the scary stuff mentioned above, Iâd like to talk about aftercare:
Take things easy but try to walk often, as it totally helps with recovery. Try to practise your core/ pelvic floor exercises in order to keep them engaged and strengthened. You are fine to take showers and baths, so try to, unless you develop an infection in the scar which I did, so maybe avoid baths (I went on two courses of antibiotics).
You will be asked to remove your dressing, although the time frame post-section escapes me. I did this in the shower. It wasnât as bad as I thought it would be because the area remains numb, so there should be no pain. When I removed the dressing, I felt odd, little balls at either end of the scar. I had NO idea what this was but decided not to worry, as Iâm sure they were there for a reason. I later learned that my stitching consisted of a long wire and two screw-on âpearlsâ at either end. The midwife removed it for me. This was completely fine and pain-free. I keep the pieces in my baby memory box.
Big pants will be your friend! You can buy a range of c-section underwear or invest in some very large knickers! You will be advised to push a cushion in to your stomach whenever you laugh, cough or sneeze. I donât know anyone who can find the time to grab a cushion before laughing or sneezing but I am yet to be surprised! Basically, I didnât bother. If laughing hurt too much, I would just cry! It gets easier. I promise you that.
Iâd like to sign off by saying to my fellow section mummies: well done. It is not easy and can be so traumatic. You are not a failure but have been so successful in carrying your baby and birthing your baby, albeit with medical intervention. You are amazing and can handle surgery and the aftercare. You will be (or are) successful in caring for your beautiful baby.
About the author: Mama Wren has a PGCE specialising in Early Years, is an Early Years Professional and has a Level 3 Diploma in Child Care. Mama Wren has worked extensively with children in schools, nurseries and as a Gymboree teacher in North London. Mama Wren is also fully qualified in Makaton.
