C-section FAQ: What to expect for preparation and recovery
How common are C-sections?
At Upland Hills health, we have about 250 births a year, and about 75 to 100 of those are going to end up being C-sections. Somewhere in the order of about 15 to 20 percent of women having their first kid are going to end up with a C-section for a variety of reasons.
What are the most common reasons for a C-section?
- Labor progress stalls: for whatever reason… maybe the cervix doesn’t dilate, and the baby stops descending. Doctors have criteria [to meet] where we can make a decision that things are not progressing normally.
- The baby doesn’t tolerate labor: it comes to a point where we have to make a decision for the good outcome for the kid.
How does a C-section work?
We end up going to the operating room, and we always try to keep women awake for the C-section. We also always try to have a support person in the room with them. I think that’s really important to know that you’re not alone with strangers.
Our goal is to use the epidural. Otherwise, we use a spinal, which is an injection into the back to create numbness from about the chest down. You can still feel touch and pressure, but no pain.
Then we make an incision just above the underwear line, or right at the underwear line. That incision goes through the skin and through a little layer of fat. The muscles are not cut – they’re pulled to either side. It’s the same incision on the uterus to deliver the baby and the placenta.
The whole thing takes somewhere around 30 to 45 minutes, and then we then we transfer the mom back to the room where she was laboring in the first place.
In the perfect world, the goal is to make the experience not seem so traumatic. Me, personally, I like to lower the lights, keep the noise level to a minimum, and get the baby to the mom, skin to skin, even while we’re still operating.
How fast can mothers return to activities after a C-section?
- First check-in with doctor: with C-sections we usually see patients a week or 2 out, and I think that’s a good time to identify that we’re on the right path.
- Driving: you’re able to drive by 2 weeks out.
- Walking: roughly 2 weeks
- Exercise: It is probably is 4 to 6 weeks until they’re actually able to exercise, whatever that is for them. If they did it sooner, I would tell them, ‘you’re probably not going to hurt anything, but you’ll pay for it, because you’ll go backwards a little bit as far as discomfort.’
Do you have any advice for dealing with the emotions that may come after C-sections?
Personally, my wife ended up with 4 C-sections, and I remember the first one feeling like a ‘why us’ moment? It can be kind of traumatic, but it’s [important to know] it just happens. It’s not uncommon. I just think the more you know about how birth might go, the less anxiety you might have. People don’t always do the best job of talking about these things ahead of time. It would be completely legitimate for a patient to just say, ‘hey, what if I ended up with a C-section? How’s that going to go?’ If you have any questions in regards to your pregnancy or C-sections, please reach out to your provider.
After C-sections, you might have unresolved [emotions] about it. Moms can have a post-traumatic stress reaction to it, even months out. I think it’s really important to talk to your provider and have them go over next steps. ‘What does that mean for the next pregnancy? What are my options?’ [Here at Upland Hills Health,] even if you’re not one of our patients, we would be more than happy to meet with you and talk about how a previous birth went or what’s next. We’re always here for you.
