During the nine months of pregnancy, there is always anxiety about the delivery. When will it happen, will it be a normal delivery or a C-section, will I be able to take care of my baby, all these questions are always there in your mind.
What will be the normal course of action and what to expect after a C-section will be dealt in this post.
After a C-section, your hospital stay will be of approximately 3 days.
1. Anaesthesia for C-section
For a C-section delivery usually, regional anaesthesia (spinal/ epidural) is given. In this type of anaesthesia, you are awake and only the lower part of your body is made numb. In regional anaesthesia, you will feel some little bit of pressure and feel that something is happening but you will not feel the pain.
After regional anaesthesia you should not get up and put a pillow below your head for atleast 24 hours.For atleast 24 hours you should be on bed otherwise you may experience post spinal headache.
In case of any emergency or complication, general anaesthesia is also given.
Also read: <<What are the tips for normal delivery ? SOME TIPS FOR NORMAL DELIVERY >>
2. Day 1 of C-section
After the c-section is over you will be bought to post op ward or your room.Regular monitoring with check of blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, vaginal bleeding will be done.
You may experience some pain in your belly after the surgery but pain killers are usually advised and your pain will be taken care of.
After usually 6 hours of surgery, you will be allowed sips of water after checking your bowel sounds. After that liquid diet may be started. This may vary depending upon your doctor.
3. Day 2 of C-section
After 24 hours of surgery, you will be allowed to get up from the bed and ambulate. You should take the help of someone when getting up from the bed for the first time at you may feel somewhat dizzy.
On day 2, you should move around your room. The earlier you start ambulating, the more you will feel comfortable and the post op pain will go earlier.
Soft diet will be allowed from day 2. One more thing you should keep in mind is to drink plenty of water. This will help you in breast feeding and also keep urine infections away.
4. Day 3 of C-section
Soft diet will be continued on this day too. Its time for celebration as you will be discharged from the hospital today.
Some hospitals will change the dressing before discharging the patients. At the time of discharge you should be able to feed your baby. If there is any problem take the help of nursing staff to learn how to breast feed your child.
5. Care of newborn baby
When you are shifted to the postop room you can start breast feeding your baby.The nursing staff will help you to hold the baby. The first breast milk i.e. the colostrum is very good for the baby. Once you initiate the feed with your baby, there will be milk let down reflex that will fill the breast for next feeding.
Numbness from anaesthesia and pain in the stitch line will cause some discomfort in feeding but you may always take the help of nurse to feed the baby. The excitement of holding and feeding your newborn baby will make you forget all the pain. Don’t forget to burp the baby everytime after the feeding.
6. Bleeding and contractions
After the delivery uterus will contract off and on to get into the normal size. So you may feel some pain in your tummy after the delivery especially during breast feeding of your baby.Breast feeding helps to contract the uterus.
You may experience menstural bleeding which will gradually decrease. Tiny clots may be expelled sometimes. But if you experience heavy bleeding, consult your doctor.
