C-section is a surgical procedure performed for your own and your baby’s safety and may be performed using local or general anesthesia administered by your healthcare provider.
C-section may be necessary if your fetus is in an awkward or transverse position, labor does not progress normally or your baby shows signs of distress during gestation.
Preparation
Even when planning for a vaginal birth, C-section may become necessary. Professionals’ ultimate aim is to assist mothers in giving birth vaginally whenever possible; however if that doesn’t happen for any reason whatsoever, you still may have an enjoyable and positive birthing experience with one.
Your doctor and anesthesiologist will greet you and ask that you change into a hospital gown before discussing your case with them. Monitors such as blood pressure, heart rate and breath will be placed on you while foley catheter insertion occurs within your bladder. Finally, an anesthesiologist will give you medication which numbs from waist down as well as possible relaxation sedatives prior to beginning procedures.
Most C-sections are performed using regional anesthesia such as epidural or spinal anesthesia; you’ll feel no pain but might become numb and experience shortness of breath during delivery.
Once your baby has arrived, experts will clean and swab the area before performing an APGAR test to evaluate their health. Your obstetrician will come back later to stitch up muscles and tissues of both uterus and abdomen as well as close skin incisions with sutures or surgical staples.
Procedure
C-sections may be performed when there are complications during gestation or when vaginal birth would not be safe for mother and/or baby. You can opt for either a scheduled (planned) or emergency (unexpected) cesarean section.
Anesthesia for planned cesarean sections includes regional anesthesia – an injection that blocks sensation in a localized area such as your abdomen – while your labor coach or partner stays by your side throughout the procedure in wearing mask and gown. Should an emergency c-section become necessary, general anesthesia will likely be administered instead.
Once anesthetized, your obstetrician will make an incision into your abdomen and another into your uterus before using these incisions to deliver your baby and cut its umbilical cord. In addition, they’ll stitch up the uterus afterward.
Unplanned cesarean sections can occur during labor if your baby is not in an optimal position for delivery. Babies sometimes turn breech (feet first in the uterus). Some babies experience an abnormal heartbeat during labor; this condition known as “fetal distress” could even prove life-threatening.
C-section may be necessary due to complications with your placenta, for instance if it becomes stuck within your cervix and cannot pass through the birth canal, or breaks away from its attachment and enters your bloodstream (pulmonary embolism). Your doctor might suggest C-section if your baby’s heart rate decreases during labor or upon starting stage two of labor.
Recovery
Women having C-sections often opt for regional anesthesia, which blocks pain in specific parts of the body. If an emergency C-section becomes necessary, however, general anesthesia might be administered instead – either way you won’t remember anything about either delivery or surgery!
Planned cesarean sections typically last 10-15 minutes. An obstetrician will make a 3- to 4-inch incision into your uterus before inserting an umbilical cord cutter through this incision and extracting your baby through another incision in your abdominal wall, all before closing up this incision with sutures or surgical staples.
Your need for a C-section could vary. Some health conditions, like an excessively large uterine fibroid or pelvic fracture, might make vaginal birth too dangerous; other reasons include breech presentation (when your baby comes down feet-first into your uterus) and complications in labor such as an abnormal fetal heart rate.
After your C-section, you will spend two or three days recovering in hospital as nurses closely monitor you and your newborn. Nursing staff can assist with pain relief and breastfeeding. In order to prevent blood clots, nurses will encourage frequent standing up and movement; this helps avoid deep vein thrombosis (DVT). To stay moving blood around more easily they might also suggest wearing special cuffs on legs so blood flows more freely.
Post-operative care
If you choose a C-section, your healthcare provider will discuss and let you ask any pertinent questions about the procedure, along with providing you with an agreement form to sign. They may ask about any allergies you have such as latex, iodine or tape; you should also disclose all medications (both prescription and over-the-counter) being taken which affect blood clotting processes.
Doctors might suggest cesarean sections for various reasons. Here are some common examples:
Are You Carrying Multiple Babies? A C-section may be the safest way to deliver twins or triplets.
At an abnormal position during labor. This could mean either feet or buttocks entering first (breech), or shoulders coming down before head (transverse).
Labor dystocia occurs when your cervix fails to dilate properly or stays dilated for too long during labor, leading to prolonged labour or dystocia.
Your fetus has grown too large for you to carry vaginally; this may be the case with women with large uterine fibroids or pelvic fractures.
