NHS Suffolk and North East Essex - Labour and Birth Booklet

14 Planned caesarean birth Just over one in 10 women will have a planned caesarean birth. This is due to a variety of factors, and the decision will be made together with your obstetric and midwifery team. The day before your caesarean you will be asked to take some medications. These should be taken the night before and also on the morning of your operation, as directed. You should not eat any food after midnight but may drink water until 6am on the morning of your operation. On the day of your caesarean you will normally arrive at your maternity unit early in the morning. Sometimes if the labour ward is busy, you may have to wait for a period of time before your operation can start. In the operating theatre, your chosen birth partner can normally accompany you and can stay by your side throughout the surgery, unless, for medical reasons, you require a general anaesthetic. The majority of women have a spinal anaesthetic or combined spinal epidural which causes the body to go numb from the abdomen to the feet. A catheter will need to be inserted into your bladder, and this will be normally removed the following day. Once the operation starts, the baby is normally born within 10 minutes, and all being well you can have skin- to-skin contact with him/her in the operating theatre while the operation is completed. After the surgery you will spend a few hours in a recovery area, and a nurse or midwife will check your observations regularly. You can start bonding with and feeding your baby during this time. Your anaesthetic will wear off after a few hours. You will normally stay on a postnatal ward for one to three nights, depending on your recovery. You will be given regular painkillers. You will be helped to become mobile once the anaesthetic wears off. Early mobilisation and blood thinning injections