Try to relax, meditate, and stay positive. It can be hard to control your worries before a C-section. But deep-breathing exercises can help you stay calm and focused.
A single dose of midazolam or fentanyl before caesarean delivery can lower the patient's anxiety and have no adverse neonatal effects.
Is it OK to be scared of how painful a C-section might be? “Yes, it is extremely normal to be nervous about the delivery itself, including the pain that you might feel during and after the procedure,” says Teen.
Not all c-sections are traumatic, just as not all vaginal births are joyful. But for those who experience a cesarean and have emotional distress because of it, professional postpartum support and counseling or therapy is critical.
Under most circumstances, undergoing a c-section via Spinal Anesthesia or Epidural Anesthesia (rather than General Anesthesia) is preferred since it involves less risk and has the advantage of allowing you to be awake during your baby's birth.
Background: Conscious sedation, not affecting the safety of both mother and fetus, is especially favorable in anxious patients undergoing Cesarean delivery.
Anxiety is particularly important, because it has the potential to affect all aspects of anesthesia such as preoperative visit, induction, perioperative, and recovery periods [2, 3].
The mother is given an anesthetic throughout the whole operation. Women who have a Cesarean section usually have a choice of two or three options: A general anesthetic, where they are completely unconscious, and two types of regional anesthetic known as “epidural” and “spinal” anesthesia.
Previous studies have reported that ropivacaine and lidocaine could increase shivering during cesarean sections [27, 28]. Anesthesia may cause vasodilation, and cold disinfectant further promotes chills.
A caesarean section is an operation to give birth to your baby. Caesarean section surgery usually takes 30-60 minutes, although the entire process takes a few hours. There'll be many people in the operating theatre with you.
The average hospital stay after a C-section is 2 to 4 days, and keep in mind recovery often takes longer than it would from a vaginal birth. Walking after the C-section is important to speed recovery and pain medication may be supplied too as recovery takes place.
At the beginning of a caesarean section, six separate layers of the abdominal wall and uterus are opened individually. Once the baby is delivered the uterus is closed with a double layer of stitching.
Relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises, meditation or muscle relaxation can be helpful. These techniques can be learned in classes or with the help of pre-recorded audio training courses. Massages, acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy or hypnosis are sometimes offered before surgery too.
Midazolam injection is used to produce sleepiness or drowsiness and relieve anxiety before surgery or certain procedures. When midazolam is used before surgery, the patient will not remember some of the details about the procedure.
Women who have general anesthesia during C-sections are significantly more likely to experience severe postpartum depression resulting in hospitalization, suicidal thoughts or self-harm, according to a study published last week.
A woman given regional anesthesia for a cesarean section will typically feel some pressure and be aware of the hospital staff working on her but will experience no pain.
Immediately Post C-Section
The amount of time you will remain in recovery varies, depending on the type of anesthesia (general or regional) that you had. It's typically about a two- to four-hour period. If you had an epidural or spinal anesthesia, you'll stay in recovery until you can wiggle your legs.
If you have had a general anaesthetic, you will stay in the recovery room until you wake up, usually in about 30 to 60 minutes. You will be able to see your baby when you wake up. Your baby may be allowed to stay with you unless the team is worried about your health or the baby's health.
They'll make one cut in your belly, then another one in your uterus. You won't feel them because of the anesthesia. But you may feel the doctors pushing or pulling on your middle section as they work to remove your baby from your uterus. You may feel nothing, or it may feel like pressure, but it shouldn't hurt.
Ideally, your doctor will cut through the same scar so that you don't have multiple scars on your abdomen and uterus. Sometimes scar tissue can be difficult to cut through but your doctor should be able to cut through it.
A c-section is major surgery, so it may have more complications for you than a vaginal birth, including: Your incision (cut), uterus and other parts of your body, like your belly and bladder, may get infected.
During elective (planned) caesarean sections, some obstetricians routinely dilate the cervix intraoperatively, using sponge forceps, a finger, or other instruments, because the cervix of women not in labour may not be dilated, and this may cause obstruction of blood or lochia drainage.
How Long Does a Cesarean Surgery Take? Though every woman's situation is unique, the delivery of a baby via cesarean may take as little as 15 to 20 minutes, with a further 45 minutes needed to stitch up the uterus and abdominal incision.