C Section & Mental Health

I ended up having an emergency on 1st April with my little one being nearly 5 weeks early. Considering it was an emergency I had a positive experience. From consent being given to baby arriving was probably no more than 20-30 minutes and just under an hour in total until I was in recovery. My anaesthetist was with me the whole time explaining what was happening and my husband was by my side the whole time too, even when they were preparing me. Trust that the doctors and nurses/midwives know what they are doing. You’ll be in safe hands. There isn’t such thing as a silly question and they’ll be happy to answer any you may have. Recovery can be tough but it gets easier. Keep moving but also rest as much as you can and stick to aftercare advice. Also keep on top of pain meds, even if you don’t think you need them. I’m 5 weeks pp tomorrow and feel pretty much back to normal now. An emergency can be more traumatic due to the urgency. I’m also a FTM with a previous loss so get being anxious x

I am a FTM and ended up having an emergency c section 3 days ago and it was the best, most calm experience. I was induced at 37 weeks due to a couple of risk factors, it was almost classed as a failed induction until my final exam when I was 2cm, 12hrs later was only 4cm and it was mutually decided that an emergency section was the best way to go and honestly if I had anymore children i wouldn’t be against opting for an elective section. Although things happened relatively quick, I was more well informed about my emergency section in 20-30 minutes than I was about my whole induction, which was a week long. I saw my doctor, anaesthetist and surgeon once after the other, all very reassuring, all made sure that I understood and consented to what was happening. Due to having a failed epidural during my labour so rather than resite it they gave me a spinal block which was the only time my partner couldn’t be with me but the doctors, midwife and anaesthetist did such an amazing job

…at keeping me informed of what was happening and provided lots of reassurance, they moved around to accommodate my partner being by my side throughout the entire thing. Baby girl was born within 10 minutes of being in theatre, when my partner went to bring her in the anaesthetist sat and stroked my head and we were back on the ward within an hour. The recovery I was more anxious about and the first 48-72hrs I was in pain but keep up with all of your pain meds, follow all the advice they give you and as much as it can be trying get moving little by little as soon as you can. I’m only 3 days pp and the moving around and getting up and down is getting easier xx

@Chloe thank you so much for this. How long were you in hospital for? X

@Kirsty thank you so much. How long were you in hospital for after the section? X

@Incognito I was in for 3 nights but could have stayed longer as baby was in NICU for 10 days. I just knew I’d recover quicker at home in my own bed x

I was in total from 25th April until yesterday, however my section was around 11am on 2nd May and I came home yesterday so 48 hours from having my section to being discharged home x

I had an emergency C-section for my first over 3 years ago. It was during COVID, I was by myself and baby was not well. The C-section was so quick, my recovery was not as bad as I thought it would be. I stayed in the hospital for 3 nights, they kept me a tad longer because I had high blood pressure and baby was in NICU so I tried to stay one more night! I have booked a planned C-section for in 2 weeks too as it's much easier to plan everything for our toddler!