Why elective caesarean

If everything is OK, you can ask the doctor to hold your baby up so you can get a first look. The umbilical cord will be cut and your placenta removed. Then the doctors or midwives will check your baby very carefully. Your doctor will recommend an injection or medicine through an intravenous drip to make your uterus contract and to reduce bleeding.

The doctor will stitch the layers of the uterus, muscle, fat and skin in your tummy back together and put a dressing over your wound.

Early skin-to-skin contact helps your baby to stay warm and feel secure. It also lets you and baby bond physically and helps with breastfeeding. You should be able to have it in the operating theatre.

You can ask a midwife to go with you to the recovery room to help you breastfeed your baby. After a general anaesthetic, the midwife or nurses will look after you in the recovery room until you wake up. The midwives will regularly check your blood pressure, your wound and how much vaginal bleeding you have. After the first 12 hours, a midwife will help you get up so that you can shower.

Getting up and moving around as soon as possible after the surgery will help reduce your risk of blood clots. And you might be asked to keep wearing compression stockings or be fitted with another compression device over your lower legs to reduce your risk. If you have had a general anaesthetic, you will most likely wake up in the recovery room. You should be able to see your baby once you are awake.

You will be encouraged to breastfeed. The earlier you start to breastfeed, the easier it is likely to be for both you and your baby. Having a caesarean section can make breastfeeding harder to start, so ask for all the support you need.

Breastfeeding is the best possible food to help your baby grow healthy and strong, and the midwives are there to help you. Some hospitals encourage women to breastfeed their baby in the recovery room if there is a midwife to assist.

Tell your midwife or doctor when you are feeling pain so they can give you something to ease it. Pain-relieving medication may make you a little drowsy. You may have a drip for the first 24 hours or so, until you have recovered from the anaesthetic. You can start to drink after any nausea has passed. The midwife or doctor will tell you when you can eat again. Your catheter will stay in until the anaesthetic has worn off and you have normal sensation in your legs to walk safely to the toilet.

This may not be until the next day. Walking around can help with recovery. It can also stop blood clots and swelling in your legs.

A midwife will help you the first time you get out of bed. You may also have an injection to stop blood clots. You may need antibiotics after the operation.

You may have trouble with bowel movements for a short time after the operation. It should help to drink plenty of water and eat high-fibre food. The doctor or midwife can give you more advice. When your dressing is taken off, you will be instructed to keep the wound clean and dry.

This will help it to heal faster and reduce the risk of infection. Special care for your baby after a caesarean section After a caesarean, your baby is more likely to have breathing problems and be admitted to the special care nursery for a period of time although they are usually ready to go home when you are.

Risks and complications of a caesarean section In Australia, a caesarean section is a common and relatively safe surgical procedure, but it is still major surgery. Some of the more common risks and complications include: above-average blood loss blood clots in the legs infection in the lining of the uterus a longer stay in hospital three to five days, or 72 to hours, on average pain around the wound you will be given pain relief problems with future attempts at vaginal birth a need for a caesarean section for future births complications from the anaesthetic.

First six weeks after a caesarean section After a caesarean section, women usually stay in hospital for about three to five days. Tips to help with recovery in the first six weeks include: Get as much rest as you can. Ask family or friends to help, or organise paid help if you can afford it. One way that family and friends can help is by preparing meals that can be frozen and heated up — this is more useful than giving flowers. If you feel you need extra support at home, talk with the doctor or midwife, or maternal and child health nurse.

Do not lift any weight that is heavier than your baby. Take a gentle walk every day. This can have physical and emotional health benefits. Do your pelvic floor exercises. Regardless of the type of birth you have had, your lower abdominal muscles and pelvic floor muscles will have weakened after pregnancy, and need strengthening.

Eat a healthy, high-fibre diet and drink plenty of water. Do this every day to avoid constipation. Use warmth on your wound. Warmth can have a soothing effect. Try a wheat bag or hot water bottle.

If you are breastfeeding, check that any medication you are using is safe for your baby too. Keep your wound clean and dry. If you have a particular medical problem, please consult a healthcare professional. For more information, please visit the links below:. You are welcome to continue browsing this site with this browser. Some features, tools or interaction may not work correctly. There is a total of 5 error s on this form, details are below.

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Send to: is required Error: This is required Error: Not a valid value. Why have a planned caesarean? About 3 out of every 5 caesareans in Australia are planned. The timing of a planned caesarean You will need to talk to your doctor and possibly to the anaesthetist before a planned caesarean to check for any possible complications.

How to prepare for a planned caesarean You will need to fast before the caesarean, as with all surgery. What happens if I go into labour first? J Med Assoc Thai.

Elective cesarean section increases the risk of respiratory morbidity of the newborn. Acta Paediatrica. Morbidity in neonates according to the mode of delivery: a comparative study. Archivos Argentinos de Pediatr. Influence of mode of delivery at term on the neonatal respiratory morbidity. Pak J Med Sci. Neonatal respiratory morbidity and mode of delivery. In: 13th World Congress of Perinatal Medicine. Belgrade Jain L, Dudell GG. Respiratory transition in infants delivered by cesarean section.

Semin Perinatol. Risk factors of neonatal respiratory distress following vaginal delivery and cesarean section in the German population. Acta Paediatr. Maternal and infant outcome after cesarean section without recorded medical indication: findings from a Swedish case-control study. Elective cesarean section or not? Maternal age and risk of adverse outcomes at term: a population-based registry study of low-risk primiparous women.

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. Neonatal outcomes with cesarean delivery at term. Cesarean delivery on maternal request in China: what are the risks and benefits? Am J Obstet Gynecol. Neonatal respiratory morbidity at term and the risk of childhood asthma. Arch Dis Childh. The timing of elective caesarean deliveries and early neonatal respiratory morbidity in term neonates.

J Faculty Med. The relationship between the five minute Apgar score, mode of birth and neonatal outcomes. Neonatal respiratory morbidity risk and mode of delivery at term: influence of timing of elective cesarean delivery.

Neonatal respiratory morbidity and mode of delivery at term: influence of timing of elective cesarean section. Neonatal outcomes associated with planned vaginal versus planned primary cesarean delivery.

J Perinatol. Scheduled cesarean delivery: maternal and neonatal risks in primiparous women in a community hospital setting. Am J Perinatol. Evaluation of neonatal complications in caesarian section and vaginal delivery. Arch Dis Childhood. Risk-adjusted operative delivery rates and maternal-neonatal outcomes as measures of quality assessment in obstetric care: a multicenter prospective study. Elective cesarean section and respiratory morbidity in the term and near-term neonate.

Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. Keywords: respiratory morbidity, newborn, elective cesarean section, spontaneous vaginal delivery, term pregnancies.

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Introduction Cesarean section CS is one of the most recurrently carried out surgical procedures in modern obstetrics.