Your partner or support person can usually be with you during your planned caesarean birth. You will also usually have a midwife that stays with you.
You can usually stay with your partner during a planned or emergency c-section unless they need a general anaesthetic. The midwife or operating assistant will give you a top, trousers and hat to wear in the operating theatre.
Having a partner present to support the mother during labour and vaginal birth is a well established practice in most countries worldwide1 and has well documented benefits. In many countries, this is also the practice with elective caesarean sections.
During the C-section, the best thing that you can do for your partner is to remain calm, answer any questions that she can have, and keep physically reassuring her, so that she feels safe and secure. And finally, the dads are typically the ones that get to hold the baby first.
Husbands are usually not allowed to go into the operating theatre in case of a caesarean birth. Even in the rare hospital that permits this, if the caesarean section turns into a true emergency, or if the mum needs a general anaesthetic, the dad will be asked to leave.
OK, so mums are obviously doing a lot of work themselves but the role of dads or other birth partners is essential. It's been shown that having a supportive birth partner present at the birth can lead to a better birthing experience and can even make labour progress more quickly (Bohren et al, 2017).
Keep her as relaxed as possible by offering to massage her shoulders, hands or feet. Offer to assist your partner into comfortable positions where she can lean on you during contractions. Be your partner's advocate.
Hospital Policies
Whether or not you can have someone with you during a c-section is generally determined by hospital policy. The vast majority of hospitals will allow you to have one person of your choice to attend the birth. This can be your partner, doula, mother, friend, etc.
“If a mother has had a C section, a father is present to deliver important skin-to-skin contact directly after birth.” “Fathers' empowerment, intimacy for the couple, closer bonding for parents and baby, and baby benefiting from the microbiome at birth” are all valuable reasons for dads to be present, she says.
A C-section requires anesthesia and you may be given general anesthesia, a spinal block, or an epidural block. General anesthesia will put you to sleep, so you will not be awake during the procedure. The other two methods numb the lower half of the body and you will be conscious during the procedure.
Most hospitals do not allow the husbands in to the labour room. A few do permit husbands in if the birth is a normal one. On the other hand, if the delivery is a c section, then NOT ONE hospital permits the husband in.
How long does an average C-section take? Usually, a cesarean takes about 30-45 minutes.
Once the baby is delivered the uterus is closed with a double layer of stitching. Four of the five remaining layers are stitched with a single layer of stitching, but one layer is not restitched as it heals better – with no buckling and reduced chance of scar tissue developing, without restitiching.
According to the American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology, you should not place anything in the vagina or have sex for a few weeks after a C-section. Dr. Puls says most OBs will give the green light for resuming sexual activity after 6 weeks.
Men may give active assistance during childbirth by simply being present during his wife's labor or by coaching during childbirth. Many women find their partners' presence in the delivery room to be comforting.
Dr. Davis adds that you are typically allowed to have one support person in addition to a partner. While some women will choose to have a doula or labor coach there for support, others might invite a parent or additional family member.
Between contractions, you can lean backward supported by the bed. If you like, your partner can also sit behind you in bed as you use this position.
keep you company and help pass the time during the early stages. hold your hand, wipe your face and give you sips of water. massage your back and shoulders, and help you move about or change position. comfort you as your labour progresses and your contractions get stronger.
No, it is neither wrong, selfish, or even uncommon for a woman not to invite the father of her unborn child to be present during labor and delivery.
Comfortable (Nursing) Gowns
If you feel more comfortable in something other than a hospital gown, you can certainly bring your own clothes. I recommend something comfortable, soft and stretchy.
There will be doctors, midwives and nurses present. Each is there to care for you and your baby at different stages of the operation and the recovery to follow.
While you are being stitched up after your cesarean section or an episiotomy, your partner can take over and practice skin-to-skin contact. If there is a medical emergency with your baby, the medical staff might let you hold his hand or hover your hand over his head so he can sense that you're there.
Research has shown that men who hold their baby close in the first 24 hours after their baby is born, report better bonding with their new-born. This is one essential and beautiful result from skin-to-skin contact.
Help your wife get in and out of bed. Hand off the baby to your wife for feedings and snuggles to minimize any heavy lifting on her part. Feed the baby with expressed breast milk or formula and have your own skin-on-skin time with them. Try and let her sleep and rest when baby is content.