Emergency
Caroline Frostick, 31, had an emergency Caesarean as her daughter Isabella, was arriving face first.
‘My contractions started at 4am on my due date. Then they stopped and didn't come back until about 7pm that night.
‘I stayed home till 10pm when I felt I needed pain relief. When I got to the hospital, the contractions were coming every four or five minutes. I sat in a warm bath with gas and air for an hour. Then the contractions became more painful and I asked for pethidine. The midwife examined me and found I was 8cm dilated. She felt it was a bit late for pethidine and suggested breaking my waters.
‘After they were broken I immediately went into the second stage. After two-and-a-half hours of pushing, the midwife called for a doctor who tried with a ventouse but the baby was lying face down, with her neck bent backwards, pushing with her face rather than the crown of her head.
‘Amazingly, the baby wasn't in distress - although I was! The next thing I knew they were looking for an operating theatre. By this point I was relieved. I was in so much pain that I just wanted it to stop. In theatre they gave me a spinal block anaesthetic. It was a struggle to administer as I was having contractions and couldn't keep still. But once in, it was a major relief.
‘In theatre, my husband Jonathan sat by me. Unfortunately, he missed the moment Isabella was born because I asked him something and he turned to answer me. They didn't do any of the things you see on TV. I was sure they'd lift her up and show her to me but they didn't. They checked her over and gave her to Jonathan who ineptly tried to show her to me. All I could see was a bundle of towels. Then after about five minutes, the lovely anaesthetist who'd been standing by my head the whole way through, grabbed Isabella from Jonathan and put her onto my chest. The moment I felt her on me, I thought, "That's my baby," and just fell in love.
‘I had a drip, a catheter and a drain in so it was quite hard for me to get about. In the end I thought I'd be better off at home. So after two nights I had everything removed and discharged myself.
‘At home I felt wobbly. Walking about was painful but I was so relieved to be home. Jonathan had two weeks paternity leave and I knew he'd look after us. We had lots of visitors, which was exhausting - you still feel obliged to make the house look reasonable!
‘I was in quite a bit of pain and think I tried to do too much during the first few weeks. It took quite a long time for the scar to heal completely. It didn't get in the way of me doing things, but it was tender to the touch and I had a slight pins and needles feeling around it for five months.
‘I also found it hard to get Isabella out of her crib in the night. I couldn't manage the movement of twisting, leaning down and picking her up, so when she woke up, Jonathan had to pick her up for me.
‘The stitches came out a few days after the birth but it took about six months for me to recover completely.
‘To start with I did feel a bit cheated that I hadn't pushed Isabella out normally and that she wasn't put on top of me straight away. But I guess they wanted to check her over pretty quickly.
‘It didn't happen the way I'd imagined when I wrote my birth plan but I think I probably would elect to have a Caesarean again next time. I now know what it feels like to go through labour, so it might be nice to know when my baby's coming and for it all to feel a bit more calm next time round.'
Elective
Tamsin Burland, 36, had an elective Caesarean at the West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth, because her son James was breech.
‘I'd always assumed I'd give birth naturally. Then at my 34-week check the midwife said she thought that the baby was lying the wrong way up. I had a scan three weeks later that confirmed he was breech. The doctor offered to turn him but I'd heard it can cause the baby distress and I didn't want anything to go wrong. It seemed that the safest option was to have an elective Caesarean.
‘We arrived at the hospital at 8am. They scanned me again to check the baby was still breech, and his heart was monitored, then I had checks, too, to make sure I was okay for the operation, then an epidural.
‘I was taken down to theatre at about 9.30am and there was quite a large surgical team including two midwives - one for the baby and one for me.
‘Before I knew it I heard someone say: "He's out!" I hadn't felt anything, not even the pulling and tugging they say you'll experience. Before I could see him, they rushed him to the resuscitation area to check his breathing.
‘Once they felt he was okay, he was handed to Andy while I was being sewn up, which took about 20 to 25 minutes.
‘It wasn't until they wheeled me into the high dependency ward that I got to hold him. He was 5lb 8oz. My mum was convinced he was underdone! But it was lovely to hold him. The feeling began to return to my legs and after a couple of hours I could shift around the bed.
‘We were discharged after six days and although physically everything was fine and my scar healed well, my milk took a while to come in so James wasn't putting on weight and I was also worried about things like keeping the house tidy. It was all self-imposed pressure. I could have done with asking for more help earlier really.
‘After two weeks of breastfeeding James was still underweight, which may have been because he was too weak to latch on, so I started to express, but at eight weeks I had to give up altogether, which broke my heart.
‘I didn't see James being born as I was behind a screen. They produced a baby but they could have got him out of a cupboard for all I knew! I do feel I lost out a bit as a result of having a Caesarean'
Why you might need a C-section
Your baby may be delivered through your abdomen for any of the following reasons:
- The baby is in danger.
- Labour failing to progress.
- Previous Caesarean.
- The baby's breech.
- The mother has requested a Caesarean, perhaps because of fear of childbirth.
- Baby's not in the right position.
- Pre-eclampsia.
- Placenta praevia, where the placenta lies across the cervix.
- A medical condition that may make a normal birth dangerous.
- A previous tough natural delivery.
Source: The National Sentinel Caesarean Section Audit (ENGLAND AND WALES ONLY)
For more information, visit
www.netdoctor.co.uk/
