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Home › Articles › Cesarean › Just in Case

Just in Case

Making a Plan for Cesarean Birth

By Ann Haarman

Pages:  1  2  3  

Having your husband there can be a huge comfort. "He was the one person there who was totally focused on me and my needs," says Theresa Lansberry of Peoria, Ill. You might also want your doula to stay with you.

  • Arm restraints. During a Cesarean, the mother's arms are usually strapped down with wide Velcro restraints. For many women, this is the most unpleasant part of the Cesarean birth experience.
  • Cesarean Section Diagram Anesthesia and IV tranquilizers. Most women receive a spinal or an epidural so that they can be awake for the birth. Some get sedatives in an IV line as well. "I really wanted to be awake," says Gretchen Humphries of Stockbridge, Mich. "I didn't want them to give me anything beforehand to calm me down, and I didn't want them to give me anything afterward to help me relax."
  • Watching the birth. Some doctors will lower the sterile drape at the moment of the birth; others may set up a mirror.
  • Photographs or recording the baby's first cries. "That's a sound I'll never forget but would like to hear again," says Kira Smith of Clearwater, Fla. Most hospitals will have no problem with someone taking still photos, Dr. Flamm says. If you want to videotape, you may have to do some more negotiating.
  • Breastfeeding and bonding with the baby in the operating room or the recovery room. "The 45 minutes that they took closing me up went so fast because I had my babies," says Humphries. "I really wasn't paying attention at that point to what else was going on ... I was just totally involved with my children."

    • Pages:  1  2  3  

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