A cesarean section, or C-section, is the surgical delivery of a baby through an abdominal incision. C-sections can be very frightening for new mothers and are often a last resort. Learn about what to expect from a C-section birth in this pregnancy video.
Don't eat beforehand
Don't wear jewelry
Expect anesthetist to help
Get up and move about
Bea is a Registered Midwife who moved here from England, where she completed her midwifery training in both hospital and home settings. Bea owns the Labor of Love Birth Center in Tampa, Florida, which offers women a unique birthing experience in a home-like, comfortable environment and has a large Jacuzzi tub for those wishing to enjoy a water birth experience.
BEA ROWELL: Hi, my name is Bea. I'm a midwife here at Labor Of Love Birth Center for Tampa. Now, although we specialize in looking after women who are having low-risk pregnancies and looking for natural birth choices, I'm actually here today to prepare you for whatever reason if you have to go in for a C-section at the hospital. You should be prepared to have a lot of fuss around you when you first go in. The nurses are going to be running around. There are lots of things they have to prepare. Just make sure that you're nice and relaxed. You should not have had anything to eat after midnight the night before. You should not be wearing any jewelry, and you should have removed any nail varnish on your toes or on your fingers. When you get into the hospital, they're going to ask you to change into a gown. They're going to listen in to the baby and just start prepping you before going into that O.R. room. In the O.R. room, one of the anesthetists is going to be putting in a spinal block. This is to numb you from the chest down. Your husband will be able to stay with you throughout the operation. You're going to have a screen-up across so that you don't have to see anything of what's going on. The anesthetist is going to stand up by you; he'll be checking on your vitals at all times. You may feel a little nauseous. It's due to the anesthesia and the operation that they're doing. The anesthetist will be able to put something in your drip to help you with that. You're not going to feel any pain at all. The anesthetic would have taken care of that. What you may feel is some pressure and movement as the doctor is moving the baby around to bring him out of your tummy. Once the baby is out, the nurses will take him or her over to an area where they're going to be checking over the baby, making sure that everything is good. At this point, your partner can be going along with the baby also and you are able to take pictures. Now once the baby is good, they've made sure everything is fine, they're going to wrap him up warm and bring him over to you while the doctor finishes off the surgery and closes the incision. Depending upon the hospitals that you're in, the baby may be able to stay with you while you're in recovery and they're certainly be attempting to breastfeed as soon as you're able to. The most important thing with Cesarean section is to make sure that you get up and about as soon as you can. The anesthesia is going to wear off by that evening; and by the next day, the nurses are going to be encouraging you to get up and start becoming mobile. The more mobile you can be, the less you're going to seize up and the quicker your recovery is going to be. Enjoy your baby.
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