Having a Cesarian Section

So tell us about your experience that you've had this time, with it being planned. Well it's been pretty easy really, compared to last time. Yeah, very calm. We got here at 7.30 this morning. The son was delivered at 9.35 in a very calm room with chilled out music playing. It was pretty much over and done with very quickly. So now that you've had your caesarean section and now you're in recovery, you've just breastfed your baby and your husband's with you, how are you feeling now? Are you feeling stressed? Are you feeling scared, apprehensive? Are you happy, content? No, I think, yeah, I mean, compared to last time I feel really chilled, I don't feel exhausted, which is really nice. I've had some pain. But that's about it. Yeah, I feel fine. My name's Shelley Ward, I'm one of the consultants and aesthetists and I'm just going to talk to you a bit about what we do pre-operatively and then what to expect before your anaesthetic, during your anaesthetic and during the caesarean section. So every woman who has a caesarean section either has an elective section, which means that we choose to do it at a time which is convenient to you and us in the theatres, or an emergency section. The elective section, you'll be seen by your anaesthetist before and they just briefly go through your general medical history, your anaesthetic history, in case you've had an anaesthetic before, in case you've had any problems. They're very unusual, but we like to know about them. And any problems with the pregnancy, if you've got any allergies. And then we explain to you exactly what we're going to do. And the majority of women in this hospital have their cesarean sections done under either an epidural, a spinal, or a combined spinal epidural. Only about 4% of women in this hospital have a general anaesthetic. And that's generally because having an epidural is a bit safer for you and your baby and you get to see your baby as soon as they come out, which is nice for you. I just wanted to introduce you to the labour ward team, so Midwire is the one who will be looking after you in the room, he's very friendly, always smiling, there to look after you from the beginning to the end of the procedure and the doctor's just popping in and out whenever needed. And don't forget the ODP! And the ODP is the theatre staff, the person that will be taking you and looking after looking after you with anaesthetist in theatre and keeping you as comfortable as possible and pain free and sickness free.