The Night Before Your C-section
You will not be allowed to eat, drink or smoke after midnight. This includes candy, gum and water. Try to get a good night's sleep. You may brush your teeth in the morning.
Pack comfortable clothes to wear after your planned c-section. Consider loose-fitting sweats, and oversized pajamas, with really soft material. Hoodies and cardigan sweaters are great to have if you get cold.
Buy at least two or three packs of 12 maternity pads. You may need to change your pad every hour or two hours after giving birth. This will reduce to every three hours or four hours over the next two days. Be sure to buy maternity pads, rather than ordinary sanitary towels.
It's important to get out of bed and walk around within 24 hours after surgery. This can help ease gas pains, help you have a bowel movement, and prevent blood clots.
What is the Golden Hour? After the birth of the baby, both vaginal and c-section birth, the Golden hour consists of uninterrupted and immediate skin to skin contact, limited interventions that are not necessary, if possible and desired having delayed cord clamping, and having the first feeding of baby completed.
Back sleeping is often recommended post-surgery, and it could be the most comfortable position as it doesn't put any pressure on your c-section wound.
Cesarean deliveries with no trial of labor were much more concentrated during the day, especially around 8 a.m. "This makes sense, as C-sections are usually scheduled during the daytime hours and wouldn't be scheduled overnight or into the early hours of the morning," says Jennifer Wu, MD, obstetrician/gynecologist at ...
It's no longer standard procedure to shave pubic hair, because it could permit unwanted bacteria into the body. (Nor should you shave or wax your own bikini area or abdomen right before a scheduled C-section, also due to the infection risk.)
How long does a C-section surgery take? The typical C-section takes about 45 minutes from start to finish. After your provider delivers your baby, they'll stitch your uterus and close the incision in your abdomen. Different types of emergencies can arise during a delivery.
It takes about six weeks to recover from a C-section, but each person's timeline will be different. An incision — typically a horizontal cut made in your lower abdomen — can take weeks to heal. During that time, it's recommended that you avoid lifting anything heavier than your baby.
The first day after a C-section is often the hardest, and moving around may hurt. Take any prescribed pain medication on schedule, and time your trips to the bathroom or around the room to coincide with when the pain medicine kicks in, suggests Dr. Woeber.
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.
Walking after c-section is encouraged and should be your go to for the first few weeks. You'll start to notice day to day movement getting easier and less discomfort lifting baby or moving around.
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.
And not just for vaginal deliveries, but C-sections as well. Labor delivery nurse and founder of Mommy Labor Nurse Liesel Teen, BSN, RN, says underwear — and yes, diapers — are an essential part of postpartum recovery, regardless of your delivery method.
You may remove your wound dressing and take showers if stitches, staples, or glue were used to close your skin. Do not soak in a bathtub or hot tub, or go swimming, until your provider tells you it is OK. In most cases, this is not until 3 weeks after surgery.
The doctor should let you hold them right after the C-section is finished. If you're planning to breastfeed, you may also be able to try feeding your baby. But not every new mom gets to hold their baby right after a C-section.
Items like carbonated drinks, citrus juices, coffee, tea, and spicy food should be avoided as they increase bloating and gas. Fermented and fried food can cause heartburn and indigestion. Since mothers are breastfeeding, such foods can affect the milk and cause growth problems in the newborn.