Planned Caesarean Birth

A caesarean section (c-section) birth is an operation which helps your baby come out by making a small cut in your tummy and womb. This cut is made just below your bikini line area. There are many reasons why you may need a planned caesarean birth like problems with the placenta or if your baby is in breech position but is usually done only when it’s the best choice for you and your baby.

If the consultant/doctor offers you a caesarean-section because of a medical reason, you can choose whether to have one or not. You don’t have to have one if you don’t want to. It’s your choice.

Some people want to have a caesarean-section even if they don’t have to. If you decide to have a planned caesarean-section, a special consultant/doctor will talk to you about the risks of a caesarean-section and other ways you can have your baby.

What happens during a c-section?

A planned caesarean-section is planned ahead of time and is usually done at 39 weeks of being pregnant, ideally before you go into labour on your own.

Before your surgery, you’ll be given some medicine to take the night before and again the next morning. Don’t eat after midnight, but you can have water until 6am in the morning.

On the day or surgery, you’ll go to the maternity unit early. If it’s a busy day, you might need to wait a bit before your turn. In the operating room your birth partner can stay with you during the whole surgery unless you need to be put fully asleep with a general anaesthetic.

You will be given an epidural in your back by an anaesthetist doctor. This will numb the nerves that carry the pain from your tummy down to your feet. The doctors will put a tube (catheter) in to help you wee but this will be taken out the next day.

The surgery is quick, and you baby will be born in about 10 minutes. If everything’s okay, you can hold your baby skin-to-skin while they finish the surgery.

After that, you’ll spend a few hours in the recovery room and your midwife will do your checks (blood pressure, pulse and temperature) often make sure you’re okay. The numb feeling will go away after a few hours.

This is a great time to start getting to know and feed your baby.

You will then be moved to the post-natal ward, and you will spend about 1-3 nights there. The midwives will give you pain medicine and help you get up and move around when the numb feeling is gone. This is good because moving can help you feel better faster and stop blood clots.

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/caesarean-section/what-happens/

http://www.nct.org.uk/birth/what-happens-during-elective-or-emergency-caesarean-section

http://www.rcog.org.uk/en/patients/patient-leaflets/choosing-to-have-a-caesarean-section/