Category: Breastfeeding

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Breastfeeding c-sections Health Mothering Parenting Pregnancy & Birth

Recovering After a C-Section

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This is a follow up post to the post I wrote about C-sections, The Reality of C-Sections.  While writing that post, the thought occurred to me that it may be helpful to share some tips and ideas that could help mothers recover from a C-section.  Some of these tips I learned first hand, while I was in my recovery period, and some I learned and heard about after the fact.   If you have any other tips or something that is not mentioned here that worked for you, please let me know and I’ll add it to the post.  If you have had a C-section, it can be a long process to get “back to normal,” so any ideas we can pass on to other mothers recovering from their C-sections, I am sure will be appreciated.  🙂 

  • Rest and Do Not “Over Do” It– I know this is easier said than done, especially since there is a new baby, but I believe, in general, this is THE most important factor in determining how fast your recovery time will be.  Not only have you just had major abdominal surgery, but you are caring for a brand new baby, whose existence depends on you right now.  The laundry, and housework can wait.  Give yourself permission to rest at least for a week, and not take on all the housework too. Focus on your baby- that will be tiring enough, without worrying about the housework.  Your body needs rest to heal properly. 

If you are finding it hard to do this, (like I did), pretend that you just had major abdominal surgery for any reason other than having a baby.  Pretend that you had to have a hysterectomy (which is very similar to a C-section).  Would you be up and trying to cook dinner?  Would you be stressed your towels weren’t washed, or your bathrooms weren’t clean?  Chances are, no.  You would forget about these tasks for a while, and would be resting.  More than likely, you would have your husband, friends, or other family members helping out.  That brings me to my next tip:

  • Let Others Help Out– Again, I know this can be easier said than done.  No one likes to admit that we need help, but the one time in your life where you will need help is after having a C-section with a new baby.  Let your husband cook dinner, and put away the laundry.  No, he won’t do it exactly like you do, but in the end, it will get done.  Or if you have a friend or family member nearby, and when they ask how you are doing (which they will) tell you need some help, or tell them it would be wonderful if they could come over and help with a small task.  Make a short list for them, so they know what you would like help with. This also ensures they won’t start cooking something for dinner, trying to be helpful, when your husband is bringing take-out home. 

It is hard to ask for help, but again consider if your friend just had a baby, and asked if you could help her with a load of laundry.  Wouldn’t you jump at the chance to help her out?  Most people want to help, and it makes them feel good and useful.  If they can’t do it, or don’t want to, they will find an excuse not to come over.  But I believe that would be an exception.  Besides, they are all dying to see your new baby, and if I have to throw a load of laundry in the dryer to see a cute new baby, no problem. 

Don’t forget that you can ask for help with the baby too.  Maybe you are just dying to take a shower, or grab a short nap.  If your baby is okay being held by someone else, ask them to come over for an hour.  Believe me, most people will jump at the chance to come over and hold your baby.  Having a few minutes or a shower in peace, is not being a bad mother- it is a necessity for you to keep going, and to heal.  Friends and family are wonderful and can help so much.  You only have to ask, and let them know a little help would be greatly appreciated.

  • Don’t Overdo It With Visitors– Didn’t I just suggest to have friends and family help out?  Yes I did, but there is a big difference in having a few trusted friends and family over who you know will help out with what you ask them to, say hi briefly, and be gone.  You will be wiped out from the surgery and taking care of a newborn.  Now is not the time to have your chatty Aunt Cathy over for hours, or all your college roommates.  There will be plenty of time for you to have extended visits with these family and friends.   You need time to rest and heal.  You can’t do that when you have a constant stream of visitors in your house. 

A few ways of keeping visitors to a minimum are, stay in your pajamas, get into bed,  or put a robe on when someone is coming by for a visit.  You can tell them that you were going to take a nap, and if they see you in your PJ’s, or even laying down in bed, or on the couch,  they usually will get the hint not to stay too long.  Another great suggestion is you can say your doctor advised you to rest, and not have visitors right now, so you can recover from surgery.  It is pretty hard for that insistent relative who has decided she needs to see your baby *right now* to argue with doctor’s orders.  I also had a friend who had her baby at home.   Her midwife put a sign on the door saying something to the effect while the family appreciates shorts visits, this is time for the family to bond, and for the mother to heal and rest.  It specifically asked that visitors stay no more than 10 minutes, and if you see something that needs to be done, it would be appreciated if you could do it. 

The point is, that it is your house, your body that needs to heal, and your baby.  You don’t have to play hostess right now.  You can call the shots, so to speak, on which visitors you take, and how long you would like the visits to be.  Don’t feel bad, guilty, or feel like you are being rude.  People who want to see you and your baby will understand you need to rest, heal, and bond with your baby now.  The baby will still be there in a week or two, or even three for them to visit.

  • Follow the Doctor’s and or Nurses Suggestions– This one may seem obvious, but because some of us (okay, me) think we know better, we may try to ignore some of the discharge instructions.  Obviously, the health-care providers have lots of experience and tips.  They are not telling you not to climb stairs to be mean and confine you to one area of your house.  There is a reason for the suggestions, and having learned the hard and painful way, the suggestions really are given to ease pain, and speed up your recovery.   

For me, it was driving.  I was told not to drive for at least ten days.  Ridiculous, I thought.  One night about a week after I was home, I really wanted to have some pictures of Ryan printed.  Joe was exhausted, so I told him I would hop in the Jeep (an automatic too) and drive the 3 miles to my closest Walgreen’s.  He reminded me I wasn’t supposed to drive.  I told him I would be fine.  BIG mistake.  I never knew you used the muscles that were cut during the C-section to drive, but you do.  Every time I hit the gas and brake, it hurt- a lot.  After I got home, I was very sore, and even during the next few days, it felt like I had stretched the muscles in the incision area, and they were very tender.  I learned that night there was a good reason I was told not to drive while I was healing- it hurt, and it was like taking five steps backwards with my body healing.

  • If You Have Stairs, Move What You Need Into One Area– Stairs can be excruciating to walk up right after a C-section.  I have 14 of them leading to my upstairs.  My bedroom, bathroom, and Ryan’s nursery are all upstairs.  Walking up and down the stairs killed me.  I thought my incision was going to rip open, with every step I took.  After two days of this, when I came home from the hospital, I sat down in the glider in Ryan’s nursery and told Joe I was staying right there.  I was NOT walking up and down the stairs anymore.  I had all of Ryan’s clothes, blankets, and diaper items right there in the room.  Joe would bring me water, and food.  Because of a technicality with our bed (it is very high off the ground), I could not climb up into it or get out of it, without intense pain.  So I slept in the glider for three nights as well.

Have your husband or all those friends and family who want to help, move your items on one floor for at least a few days so you don’t have to stress your incision by climbing stairs.  There may be cases where you have to climb stairs, but you will not want to make any trips up the stairs that are not necessary.  My baby’s room worked well for me, since all his items were there, it was pretty easy to “set shop” up there for a few days.  Joe just kept a monitor on downstairs, and whenever I needed him to bring me something, I just called him.  This may seem like a small point, but it will help your body heal.

  • Follow Your Pain Medication Instructions– I forgot often to take my pain meds.  It wasn’t like I was busy or anything with a new baby.  A nurse told me when your body has pain, then your blood pressure goes up and it will take more medication  and it takes longer to stop the pain, than if you had stayed on top of the schedule.  This was really true.  When I forgot to take my pain medication, it took more medicine and it took longer for the pain to stop.  When I took it on schedule, I virtually had no pain- there wasn’t time for the dosages to wear off.   

I didn’t like taking the pain medication and I know that contributed a lot to me forgetting to take it.  It was a big psychological block for me too.  I felt “sick” taking medication several times a day.  I tried to wean myself off of it for a few days, before I allowed myself to just take it. I had to tell myself I wasn’t sick, and I wasn’t going to be taking it forever, but for the time being, my body needed it to help control the pain, so it could heal. 

  • Have A Pillow Nearby You Can Hold Up Against Your Incision– I was sick to my stomach after my C-section, due to the anesthesia.  Throwing up after a C-section, is NOT fun.  It was the worst pain I have ever had in my life.  Coughing, and laughing after a C-section is not fun either.  More intense pain. 

After I was home, my aunt, who is a nurse, came to see me.  I told her how much it hurt when I coughed, sneezed, or laughed.  Actually, I was trying not to laugh to avoid the pain.  She told me to hold a pillow into the incision/stomach area.  She said that would help support the muscles in that area.  I tried it and it worked great!  It was a great tip- I only wish I had known about it when I was in the hospital.

  • Have Something To Prop Yourself Up In Bed With– While I was in the hospital, any time I wanted to sleep or rest, I could just hit the button on the bed, and it would adjust into a position I could be comfortable in with no pain.  After coming home, trying to lay down flat in bed was awful.  I needed to be reclined somewhat, but the pillows I had weren’t working.  Finally one of those reader pillows with the armrests to the sides, did the trick, when I was able to finally climb into bed and tolerate the pain. 

 Of course we didn’t have one, and no stores in our area had them, so my aunt saved the day when she brought me hers to borrow.  This was one of those things that I never even thought about, until I was faced with reality that I couldn’t lay down flat to sleep.

  • Eat Nutritious Food and Beverages– This goes without saying, but not only will you feel better if you eat nutritious and healthy meals, but your will be giving your body the best energy sources you can, to help it do its job of healing.  Drink as much water as you can, especially if you are breastfeeding. 

Eat as much organic everything that you can afford.  You can certainly have some treats if you feel like it, but the more nutritious food you supply your body with, the better and faster job it will do in repairing itself.      

  • Hire A Post-Partum Doula– If you have family and friends nearby, this may not be necessary.  But if you don’t, or don’t have anyone you feel comfortable with asking to help out, a post-partum doula can be a lifesaver and the best money you will spend.  PP doulas will come to your home and will follow up with you, see how you are doing, check on the baby, hold the baby, cook, clean, do laundry, and general housekeeping.  I think a PP doula services would come in very handy as well, if say you only had your husband to help out.  He will be tired too, will be adjusting to the baby, and trying to keep you happy.  A PP doula can help ease his work load as well, and give him a much deserved break. 

In my area, the PP doula’s will come in for as little as one hour a day, up to forty hours a week.  Even if you think you can’t afford a PP doula, in actuality, you might be able to for a few hours a week.  Keep in mind too, it isn’t forever- just until you have recovered enough to start taking on the chores yourself.  Different doulas charge differently, so it may be helpful to interview a few several weeks before your due date, so you can have someone in mind.  Even if you don’t have a C-section, a PP doula is wonderful.  Consider how much it would cost if you overdo it, and end up back in the hospital for a few days.  You would have to pay for a hospital stay again, and most doulas fees don’t come anywhere near what you would pay for a hospital visit.  A PP doula can help you manage tasks, and ensure you don’t end up over doing it. 

If you have an unplanned C-section, you may not have even thought of many of these tips or ideas, but hopefully you can incorporate as many as you can, depending how far along in your recovery you are.  However, if you know you have to have a C-section, do what you can before the C-section in terms of moving things in one area, lining up friends and family to help, etc. and it will make it that much easier and restful for you, and your family when you come home. 

I know first hand how hard it is to be out of commission for a while.  If you overdo it, you will be out even longer.  Allow yourself the time you need to feel better, and recover from your C-section.  You will feel better faster, and you will be a much happier and healthier mama for your baby. 

Categories
Breastfeeding Mothering

How Much Milk Does a Breastfed Baby Need?

That question is one almost every breastfeeding mother asks at some point.  Their baby could be a newborn, and they are worried they aren’t getting enough milk, or the baby could be older-over six months and eating some solids, but still needs breastmilk.  How much is enough?

 I had this really neat page bookmarked and came across it again today.  It is from Kellymom.com, the wonderful evidence based breastfeeding website.  It is a milk calculator, which will give you a nice guideline on how much milk your baby needs.  You simply put in the number of feedings per day, and hit calculate. It gives you about how much milk your baby needs in ounces on the high end and the low end of the scale.  If you scroll down after the calculator, there are some paragraphs of information on how much milk an older baby needs as well.

The article points out that most doctors base the amount needed on formula intake, “which research has shown after the early weeks, these methods overestimate the amount of milk baby actually needs.”  (quote from the article).

I realized I had this bookmarked for my use, and thought it was too neat of a tool not to share. 

Categories
Breastfeeding c-sections Health Mothering Parenting Pregnancy & Birth

The Reality of C-Sections

Prelude- 9/5/2008

In the seven months since I first wrote this, I have received a lot of comments from readers.  I have received even more private e-mails; the majority from women who just wanted to say thanks for sharing my experience with my C-section, and they too, had a similar experience.

Not all comments have been positive, and I didn’t expect them to be.  It seems the biggest “complaints” from the comments about this post, is that C-sections are not really like what I wrote about, and I am trying to scare women.  Since there are a lot of comments, and I am sure not everyone reads all the comments and my replies before leaving a comment of their own, I wanted to clarify my viewpoint about this post, hopefully BEFORE the post is read.

This is a realistic account of MY C-section. There are certain aspects to a C-section that EVERY woman will experience, such as scaring, and increased chances of uterine rupture with future pregnancies.  There are other aspects to this account which I experienced. These may or may not be experienced by every woman who has a C-section.  Just like no two vaginal births are the same, no two C-sections are the same.

I agree and support emergency C-sections 100%, and they do save lives.   However, as you will read, I believe that the medical community is over-using C-sections in non-medical emergency situations (such as breech births).  I feel I need to clarify this point as well, because when I originally wrote the post, my goal was to inform women who may be facing a planned or elective C-section (not an emergency one), and to offer my viewpoint from my perspective, on what a C-section is like, since my experience with my C-section was not a emergency C-section. 

I wrote this post to inform women who suspect there might be more to a C-section than what she is being told, like I was.  That is the spirit of the post-to inform.  Like the famous quote, “knowledge is power.”  The more you know, the more informed decision you can make.

To the readers who feel I am scaring women, I am sorry my account of my C-section is scary.  Honestly, it was pretty scary.  There are countless TV shows, websites, books, magazines, Hollywood celebrities, and doctors who will tell you C-sections are not scary, are not painful, and they are nothing to worry about.  That was not the reality I found at all.  I do not want to sugar coat, or tone down my experience.  If I were to do that, there wouldn’t be much point it writing about it.

So having said this, before you read the post, please be forewarned that this post could be scary.  I am attempting to share what a real C-section was like.  If that has the potential to scare you, then please think twice before reading it.  If you are searching for information on what happens during a C-section, possible complications that could arise, pictures of the procedure, the recovery period, possible impact on the family, and general information on C-sections, and how the medical community using them, and feel this information would not scare you, than this may be something you would be interested in reading.

If you have a comment after the post, please feel free to comment.  I read every comment, and try to respond when appropriate.  Please know I will delete any overly disrespectful comment.  You don’t have to agree with me, but please keep it civil.

Thank you.

Heather- A Mama’s Blog

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ORIGINAL POST

This post has been several months in the making.  I have been thinking about what I wanted to convey in writing a post about Cesarean sections, better known as C-sections, or even as a “C.” 

As I thought about it, there were so many different angles to take.  I thought about writing a very detailed researched post, but you can find a lot of those by doing a Google search on C-sections.  I decided in the end, I was going to write what comes naturally from my personal research and experience of having a C-section.

My intent for writing this post is to convey the reality, which is not often mentioned, of women, their new babies, and families, endure from C-sections.  It is not meant to judge or make any mother feel bad who has had a C-section.  I write a lot of the things that I wished I had known before hand about C-sections, which I was not told.  This post is only meant to inform, and bring to light, issues involved with C-sections, that as a woman, and a mother I seldom hear anyone (doctors included) talk about in our society. 

  •  My C-Section

I had a C-section with my first birth, with Ryan, only because he was a breech baby, and refused to turn.  I wasn’t very informed on other alternatives for turning breech babies at the time, other than the external version, and accepted having a C-section was the only way to give birth to my baby.

  • Lack of Options

Unfortunately, it pretty much WAS my only alternative.  I did not feel comfortable having a home birth being a first time mother, with a breech baby.  Not to mention, there were zero doctors in my area who would attend the birth of a breech baby.  This is despite living in a college area, with a number of top rated medical facilities.  So we agreed to the C-section, but really what choice did we have?

It has always bothered me more alternatives are not available for birthing breech babies. I did not want a C-section, but it was my only option.  Even a home birth isn’t always an option- in several states (mine included), it is actually against the law for a midwife to attend a breech birth!  This isn’t to say it isn’t done, but if you know ahead of time your baby is breech, this could be problematic in finding a midwife who is comfortable attending a breech birth, and possibly be in violation of the law, and thus be putting her certifications and her practice in jeopardy. 

Finding an OB these days, who will deliver a breech baby, is a joke at best- even though as I found out later, delivering breech babies vaginally is very safe, in the majority of situations.   In my opinion, this is a HUGE failure in the medical community to have only one option for a mother facing a breech birth- an automatic C-section. 

  • Major Surgery

C-sections are MAJOR abdominal surgery.  The pain is agonizing.  I never experienced greater pain in my life, than after my surgical C-section.  Even going through natural labor and contractions with a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) birth of my second child for eleven hours, the pain was not as bad as it had been with the C-section. 

The best way I can describe it is imagine your most painful, intense, contraction, and multiply it by at least 50 to 100%, depending on your pain tolerance.  Now, realize the pain does not go away, after 30 seconds or a minute like the pain during contractions does.  It is constant and never-ending.  That level of pain is with you for DAYS (not seconds or minutes).  Imagine your insides feeling like they are going to split open for several weeks, after the surgery, every time you laugh, cry, sneeze, get out of bed, stand up, or move too fast. 

  • Media Portrayal of C-Sections

It is also very disturbing to me how some avenues of the media, and celebrities portray C-sections.  I have seen on numerous TV shows- including a prime time, number one show, (named Grey’s Anatomy, to be specific), where women who refuse a C-section, because they desire to have a NORMAL, vaginal birth, are portrayed as fanatic, and ridiculous.  There is another show, The Baby Story, which shows many elective C-section births.

As a new mother-to-be, and even before I was pregnant, I watched The Baby Story.  In my case, seeing so many C-section births, almost made it seem like it was a normal, healthy, alternative to giving actual birth.  I NEVER saw the downside: pain, infections, and inability to get back to regular life after a C-section, shown on The Baby Story. 

It is almost glamorized by the media when a famous celebrity has a C-section.  “Too posh to push,” is how they sum it up.  Whether that is the case or not, it is misleading to millions of women, who are faced with the same decision.  What is NEVER mentioned is even if a celebrity chooses to have an elective C-section; she has resources available to her, which a normal woman does not.  The celebrity can hire nurses, nannies, chefs, and cleaning services to take over for her while she recovers from surgery, when an average woman cannot. The strain and time it takes to recover from a C-section puts the average family under enormous stress. 

Yet, the media continues to glorify and glamorize C-sections.  It even seems like they make a special point to say, “Actress A had her baby (or gave birth), born by Cesarean section.” I have yet to see, hear, or read, “Actress A had her baby, born by normal, vaginal birth.” 

I certainly never gave much thought to what really was involved with a C-section.  I honestly thought, since I had seen so many women on The Baby Story, give birth by C-section, and they seemed fine, and never mentioned any drawbacks, certainly I could handle it. 

  • What A C-Section Is Really Like

Naive?  Absolutely.  C-sections are NOT as they are portrayed on “reality” TV shows, prime time TV shows, or by the media when reporting a famous woman had a C-section.  Maybe if I hadn’t been bombarded by all these positive messages about C-sections, I would have thought twice about it.  Maybe if I had, had someone actually tell me what a C-section really was like, I could have prepared better.   Maybe if I could have found in a mainstream pregnancy book, the truth about C-sections, I would have known what I was getting into.  But I didn’t, and at the time, all the information I had, said C-sections were no big deal. 

C-sections ARE a big deal.  So big, your life will never be the same.  Here are some of the REAL outcomes from C-sections:

You may lose precious time with your newborn baby.  Time that you will NEVER get back, because you are doped up on strong narcotic pain medications for at least 24 hours- usually longer- after the birth.  Your baby might be groggy after birth in most cases, because the epidural and or spinal tap medication used to numb you, is in their system too. 

Instead of spending the first few moments after birth holding, nursing, and bonding, with your baby, your hands may be tied down.  Because of this, you probably won’t be able to hold your baby during this time, while you are being stitched back up. 

Your baby may be taken out the operating room from you, while your uterus and incision site are being stitched.  In my case, my hands were still restrained.  You will probably have to wait at least 30 minutes after the birth (usually longer), before you can really hold your baby for the first time.   

If you are lucky, your baby will want to breastfeed, even though he/she could still be groggy from the birth.  If not, then starting breastfeeding becomes a much bigger challenge. As any new mother will tell you, breastfeeding a brand new baby can be hard at first.  Now imagine trying to position your baby to nurse, but you can’t have your new baby’s feet, or body anywhere near your incision because you can’t risk having them push, or kick you in that area.  You can use a pillow to block the site, but it becomes another aspect to figure out. 

By having a C-section, your chances for hemorrhage, post-partum infection, internal injuries, post-partum depression, breastfeeding problems, reproductive problems, and maternal death, are increased than if you gave birth vaginally. 

By having an elective C-section your baby’s chances for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), physician caused prematurity (since they can only guess, what the correct due date is), persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPH), are cut by the surgeon’s scalpel two to six percent of the time, and are less likely to be breastfed, are increased than babies who are born vaginally. 

In most cases, you will have metal staples in your incision for several days after the surgery.  I thought my tummy looked liked Frankenstein’s forehead.  It was so awful I couldn’t even look at it. 

Your uterus will have permanent scar tissue, which is at a higher risk for rupture with future pregnancies. 

You will have an scar just above your pubic bone for the rest of your life.  Your stomach will more than likely hang over your scar, known as “belly flap,” for the rest of your life.  Your incision / scar area will probably be numb for several months, several years, or even for the rest of your life. 

Your birthing options with future pregnancies are SEVERELY limited, after you have a C-section.  There is a saying, “once a C-section, always a C-section.” VBAC is a very safe choice for the majority of women, but VBAC’sare discouraged and you will be lucky to find a doctor and a hospital that supports this choice.  In some states, it is against the law for midwives to attend VBAC births.  In all actuality, you will be pressured to have a repeat C-section with future pregnancies, even though with every subsequent C-section, the uterine rupture rate increases, especially during pregnancy as the uterus expands.  Usually another C-section is the only choice offered to you, even if that isn’t the best choice for you, and your baby.

You will probably have a longer recovery, after a C-section than if you had given birth vaginally.  You can’t drive for usually 10 days.  You are sore, and it can be a struggle to just get up and move, let alone walk, sit-up, sit, and lie down.  It is recommended that you don’t climb any stairs for two weeks-too bad if your house has stairs- it can be very painful, every time you have to go up or down your stairs.  You don’t dare laugh or cough for several days, because it just hurts too much.  You may only have a limited amount of pain medication, because most doctors want to “wean” you off the strong pain narcotics a few days after the C-section.  Keep in mind, this is all while you have a brand new baby to take care of as well. 

(Many of these facts in the above blue boxes can be found on Childbirth Connection’s page on C-sections.)  

  • Recovery Time and Complications

Being a new mother is one of the most challenging life experiences.  We rise to the task, but when you are trying to recover from a MAJOR surgery, YOU need to rest, and be taken care of.  That does not happen after a C-section, for the majority of women.  Maternal instincts take over, and we need to be with our babies.  We push our pain, and  discomforts to the background, in order to take care of our baby, and family.

This only adds to the recovery time, and often results in women “overdoing it,” which leads to ruptured scars, which leads to infected scars, which leads to another hospital stay, which leads back to square one, all over again.  It can be a vicious cycle.  

The general thought is it usually takes about 3 weeks, to recover from vaginal birth, and 6 weeks to recover from a C-section, IF everything goes well.

That was not true for me at all.  It took me about 12 weeks to feel almost 100% again- meaning I didn’t have pain that kept me from doing daily activities. That is 3 months!  If I were to count the time that it took for my scar to heal, and to not feel any pain whatsoever- I would say NEVER.  Even now, four years later, if I move at an odd angle, I will get a weird pain in my abdomen, that I never had before having a C-section.

After the VBAC birth I had with my second baby, I felt back to normal, after about a month.  Yes, there was pain, discomfort, and stitches involved with a vaginal birth, but it was SO, SO, SO much more manageable and less painful than a C-section.  Having given birth both by a C-section and vaginally, I would pick a vaginal birth every time- without hesitation.  As one of my friends who also had a C-section, and a vaginal birth said, “The worse vaginal birth, beats the best C-section anytime.”   No wonder we were made to give birth vaginally, not surgically!

  •  Risks Outweigh The Benefits

C-sections are a medical tool, and should only be performed when absolutely necessary.  C-sections DO have a place in obstetrics, and I have a friend who would have died, if she had not gotten an emergency C-section. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) says anytime a country’s C-section rate rises above 15%, then the risks outweigh the benefits the surgery could provide.  In the US, the C-section rate is 30.2% of all births.  Just 100 years ago in the US, almost every baby born, was born at home!  What has happened?  Clearly, something is very wrong, and thousands of women are receiving unnecessary surgical C-sections, where the risks are outweighing the benefits.

  • The “Hidden” High Costs of C-Sections

Another aspect that is hardly ever mentioned is the financial aspect and costs to a family.  Obviously a C-section is more expensive than a vaginal birth. My C-section in 2004 cost 50% more than my vaginal hospital birth in 2006. That was with no complications- just a “by-the-book C-section”.  Even with insurance, a family pays substantially more for a C-section, and that is just for the procedure! Most women have to stay in the hospital for a minimum of three days after a C-section, compared to anywhere from  12-48 hours with a vaginal birth.  I had to stay for five days.  Not only do you get charged for your care, but you get charged for the care your baby gets too. 

If you factor in the extra long recovery time, the costs of hiring some household help, extra doctor and or hospital visits due to infection, pain medication, extra time the father may take off of work, to name a few- it is astounding how expensive a C-section is, and how fast it all adds up. 

For a woman who has to return to work, 6, 8, or 12 weeks after giving birth, she may not even be fully recovered from surgery, before she has to take on the demands from a job as well. 

  • Ignorance Is Not Bliss

I believe that every woman who is faced with the possibility of having a C-section (emergency situation aside) should be given ALL of the information on the surgical procedure including the emotional and financial aspects beforehand.  Ignorance is NOT bliss- it just keeps you from having to face the reality of this surgical procedure until you are in the thick of it, with nothing left to do, but see it and its consequences through.

During my recovery, I was in so much pain, and realized that I didn’t even know why, until my husband (who had watched the surgery) said, “If you had seen what they did, you would know why you are in pain.”

Then it hit me that I had no idea, what they even did during the C-section.  They never show that on The Baby Story either. I have decided to include several REAL pictures from actual C-sections that I found by doing Google and Yahoo searches.  Believe it or not, pictures like this were very hard to find. There just aren’t that many pictures of actual C-sections out there.  I spent a lot of time trying to find pictures with the goal of  showing  what really happens during a C-section. 

The pictures are graphic in nature- that is the reality of a C-section.  I have provided the link to the site where you can view the pictures as well.  There will be descriptions of what the picture is of. 

Since some will prefer not to look at the pictures, I will include my closing comments now, instead of at the end of the pictures. 

  • Conclusion

Despite what we are told in the media, C-sections are NOT glamorous, or posh.  If you choose to view the pictures below, you will see what it really is.   

The emotional and financial toll it can take on you and your family is massive.  Ironically, a lot of women choose C-sections, because they think it is a lot less painful than vaginal birth.  You will have no pain during the C-section itself, because you are numb from usually the chest down.  But, a surgical C-section birth is not a way to avoid pain during birth.  Ironically, in most cases, it will cause you substantial amounts of more pain in the long run.

The end result of a C-section is beautiful- a new, hopefully healthy baby and mother.  For me, that was my goal.  But I never realized beforehand, as I wrote, you lose a lot of time with your newborn when recovering from the surgery.  Time that you only get one chance at.  If you have to return to work, as you know, your time is not endless with your baby, and that time goes by in a blink of an eye. 

No mother I know, would willingly give up her precious time with her new baby, to attend to surgical dressings, be “out of it” due to pain medication, maybe miss out on breastfeeding, if they choose to do so, raise their risk of post-partum infection, and depression, and pain.  Yet, that is what happens to one degree or another, with EVERY C-section. 

If you prefer not to look at the pictures, I hope some of this post will help you, a friend, a sister, a daughter, a cousin, or anyone, who needed more information and truth on what is involved in a C-section. 

I know first hand that sometimes a C-section is your only option.  In these cases, I hope some of what I wrote may help in giving you more information on what to expect, so you can prepare better than I did. If you are considering a C-section that is not medically necessary, or you have other options, I hope if you have read this far, that maybe you are reconsidering having a c-section. 

While writingthis post, I decided to write another post in the near future with ideas for mothers who are preparing for a C-section.  I plan to include information on things she  can do to prepare for it before hand.  I also will include ideas and tips she can do post-partrum, to help with the healing process, pain, and the overall transition back to family life.   E-mail me  if you have any tips or suggestions, you would like to share.

Every woman deserves to know ALL of the facts, before facing a major surgery, especially one with the goal of bringing a new life into the world.  Doctors should take into account ALL the factors, pre-AND post-surgery, on how C-sections can affect their patients and their families.  The entire medical community (doctors, hospitals, etc.), should start offering vaginal breech baby birth options.  Finally, C-sections should stop being glamorized by the media as a healthy alternative to vaginal birth. It is very dishonest and misleading.

I sincerely hope by sharing my experience, and facts that usually aren’t disclosed about C-sections, it can help women who are facing  C-sections, to make an informed decision.

I would love to hear your comments and feedback. 

  • Additional Information

I urge anyone facing a C-section to read the article, “Cesearean Birth in a Culture of Fear.”  It is written by Wendy Ponte, and it appeared in the September/October 2007 issue of Mothering magazine, and is the best article I have read on the subject to date.    If you can get the actual magazine, there were some very good illustrations, showing the C-section procedure.  I tried to find these illustrations on-line, but was unsuccessful.  I was able to find something along the same lines, in a slide show presentation, with ten drawings from The New York Times, showing the C-section procedure. (These drawings are not graphic- they are what you would see in a newspaper.)

************************WARNING!!!!! ******************************** 

************DO NOT READ OR SCROLL ANY FARTHER IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO VIEW C-SECTION PICTURES- GRAPHIC IN NATURE************

Removing the staples from a C-section incision. 

 There is also a picture of a new C-section scar held together with staples, and more post-partum C-section scars, including verticle ones, in this gallery at About.com .

Mother 1: C-section scar 2 days after the surgery, 20 year-old mother

Mother 1: (The same mother as in picutre above), her C-section scar, 11 weeks after the surgery

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Mother 2: The C-section overhang (“belly flap”)- this is after the first c-section (third pregnancy), this 28-year old mother had, one year after the surgery

Picture from Terra, (a mother who read this post and sent me some of her C-section pictures) of her C-section incision

 

Picture 1 of Terra’s Infection at Incision Site

Picture 2 of Terra’s Infection at Incision Site

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Mother 2: (picture 2) Same mother as the above picture; side view

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Mother 3: Picture of scar, more than 3 years after C-section (it is the second line, towards the bottom-not the thin red line)

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Mother 4: Pictures of infected C-section scar, 3 to 4 months after the surgery, during this 38 year-old mother’s

fifth round of antibiotic treatments for the infection

Above pictures from https://www.caesarean.org.uk/ScarPictures.html#group1. There are several more pictures of C-section scars at this site, in various stages of healing.

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My scar- 4 years after C-section.

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Another picture of my scar.  On the right end of the scar, you can see how it looks indented.  A few of my staples became loose, while I was in the hospital, so the skin there was open, while healing.  It left a lot larger scar on that end of the incision, and tends to “cave in.”  I doubt this will ever go away.  The marks higher up on my stomach, are the marks from my pants.   🙂 

(All of these photos, the ones of myself included, are unedited.  They have been reduced in size, however so they could fit on the site. )

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Breastfeeding Cole Family & Friends Health Me Mothering Parenting Ryan

Happy Blog-Day

A year ago today, I started A Mama’s Blog. Here is my first-ever post. 

I can’t believe how much Cole has grown in a year, from that first picture.  Here is an updated picture of him- he has really changed fom a baby into a little boy (despite me wanting him to stay a baby 🙂  )

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I have really enjoyed blogging, and want to thank everyone who has left me comments and support over the last year.  It is so nice to know there are other mothers, friends, family, and people I have never met, who will contact me to share a similar experience to one that I have written about. 

As I wrote in the first post, I wanted a blog to preserve memories while my children are growing up.  During the last year, while writing, I realized that if Ryan and Cole read my posts someday, I also want them to have a sense of who I was as well, during their childhood. I want them to know what was important to me.  Sometimes I wonder how my mother raised four children, and I wonder- what were her high and low points?  I know she was passionate about nutrition and home-birth.  I want my sons to know while my first priority in life is being their mama, there are other aspects to me as well- some serious and some not-so-serious.

I wrote on a lot of different topics- some serious, and some not so.  It is interesting to see what kind of “traffic” certain posts get.  Over the last year, I am very happy that one of my highest traffic posts was on a subject that I feel passionate about-breastfeeding.  The post is Re-Using/Sharing Breastpumps.  I think this is an important topic, and there wasn’t a lot of information at the time all in one place about the possible health dangers of sharing breastpumps.  Based on the amount of people who have read this post in the last year, I like to think the post is helpful for people researching the subject.

Another one of my top posts was on a subject, obviously, a lot of people struggle with-in finding  birthday spots or ideas for Winter Birthday Parties.  I am amazed, because I only wrote that post about two months ago, but it is the third most read post on my blog. 

I never imagined the number one post on my blog would be the post I wrote about Car Family Stickers.  It was just one of those ideas that occurred to me that might make a funny-sarcastic post, on something that kind of bugged me.  Some of the comments I received, I ended up deleting, because they were rude and disrespectful! I never thought a post about bumper stickers would invoke such passionate feelings!  However, I did learn why some people like them. I really liked what Jim wrote in his comment, in that some people may just be proud to be part of a family-is that really so bad?  It made me think of them in a different perspective.  While I am still not a fan of car stickers, and would never put one on my car, I have to admit that I don’t dislike them as much for reasons people left comments about why they liked them.  The Ass Family, is still hilarious too!

I hope with posts like these, my boys will learn more about me- more than they could ever learn from just hearing me talk to them, or tell them what I am interested in. I know it will be many years, before I can even hope they will be at this level,  and even want to read anything I wrote, but a mother can dream can’t she? 

I hope everyone who reads my blog will continue to do so, and thank you to everyone who does.  If you have never left a comment, try coming out of the land of the lurking, and introduce yourself- I won’t bite.  🙂 

I am working on some exciting new changes for A Mama’s Blog, in the very near future, and some very special posts.  One of which I hope will help provide the information needed, and I’ll add, information that is not usually disclosed- before women make a life altering decision.  I have been working on this post for months, and hope to have it ready next week, so be sure to check in for that.

Once again, thanks to everyone who has made my first year of blogging so enjoyable- especially my two little boys- my life sure would be boring and incomplete without them.  🙂

Categories
Breastfeeding Pregnancy & Birth

Another Reason to Breastfeed

I got this new study from HealthDay today, via a BabyCenter bulletin.  I thought it was very interesting that research now points to breastfed children being less stressed than children who were bottle-fed, even 10 years after birth.   Here is the article:

Breastfeeding may give kids lasting protection from stress

Sun, Jan 6, 2008 (HealthDay News) — Breastfeeding is considered a great way for a mother to form a close bond with her infant. And now there’s evidence to suggest it may also help kids be more resilient to stress.

Researchers in Sweden and the United Kingdom examined data on almost 9,000 children born in Great Britain in 1970. Relevant information was collected at birth and again at ages 5 and 10 from parents, teachers, health-care workers and midwives.

Teachers were asked to rate the kids’ anxiety levels on a zero-to-50 scale at age 10. And parents were asked about major life events — including divorce or separation — that occurred when their children were between 5 and 10 years old.

Not surprisingly, children whose parents had divorced or separated were more likely to have high anxiety. But what the researchers found striking was the difference in stress levels between breastfed and bottle-fed kids. Breastfed children were significantly less anxious than kids who hadn’t nursed at their mother’s breast.

Lead author Scott Montgomery, an associate professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said the research team was interested in examining whether there are any specific early-life exposures that make children better able to cope with stress later in life. The study attempted to replicate animal studies that showed close physical contact between a mother and her offspring may have a positive impact on the development of the offspring’s stress response, he said.

“The best marker of maternal physical contact in the first month of life that we could find among the research information at our disposal was breastfeeding,” Montgomery said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that healthy women exclusively breastfeed their infants for at least the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding “for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child.”

Breastfeeding offers many health and development benefits for baby, says the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. Kids get the right balance of nutrients to support optimal growth, fatty acids to promote brain development and protection against many childhood illnesses. And there are important emotional and physical benefits for moms as well.

“There is no question that breastfeeding is better for the health of mothers and children,” said Nicole Else-Quest, an assistant professor of psychology at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, “but it is less clear how breastfeeding affects the mother-child relationship.” Breastfeeding may help to establish an early bond, she added, but “it is only one of many ways to do so.”

As for why there might be differences in stress between breastfed and bottle-fed kids, Else-Quest said it is difficult to speculate “given that many factors influence the decisions to breastfeed in the first place.”

The research team considered factors that might affect a child’s reaction to stress and ability to cope, such as maternal depression, parental education levels, social class, and smoking habits. Even after accounting for those factors, breastfed children were less anxious than their peers. In addition, bottle-fed children whose parents divorced were more anxious than breastfed kids.

Yet the study findings don’t prove that breastfeeding itself reduces anxiety. It may be a mark of close, early physical contact, the researchers noted.

“A child without such regular contact may perceive greater danger reacting to stress — indicating a potentially dangerous situation — with a more reactive and less well-controlled stress response,” Montgomery said.

It’s also possible, he added, that mothers who breastfed simply have a better relationship with their child.

“The parent-child relationship influences the child’s health and development in many ways,” Montgomery said. “A good relationship with parents is important, and this relationship begins in infancy, so good early contact with the child is important.”

The study findings were published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

What you can do:

Breastfeed your child if you can. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding your baby for at least the first year of life, and longer if both you and your child wish to continue.

• See our breastfeeding area for more information.