Can you schedule a c section

Enhanced Recovery after Surgery ERAS protocol is designed to help patients recover more quickly from surgery with fewer complications. Not all hospitals use ERAS, and different hospitals implement it in different ways. For moms having a cesarean delivery, ERAS often means that you'll get oral medications right before your surgery, and long-lasting painkillers in your spinal anesthetic so you have less need for powerful narcotics after surgery.

You may be offered non-narcotic pain control methods such as lidocaine patches above your incision and scheduled dosing of ibuprofen and acetaminophen around the clock. You'll be encouraged to get out of bed and try walking within six to eight hours of delivery. Overall, c-sections are very safe. But a c-section is major abdominal surgery, so it's more likely to cause complications for you and your baby than vaginal birth and to have implications for future pregnancies.

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Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies. Vaginal birth after cesarean delivery. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Cesarean birth. Medically indicated late-preterm and early-term deliveries.

March of Dimes. Having a c-section. Going home after a c-section. National Library of Medicine. Join now to personalize. Expect significant soreness for a few weeks; arrange for help for you and your new baby in advance. Your OB-GYN will ask you to avoid strenuous exercise and lifting anything heavier than 15 pounds for six weeks. However, your doctor will want you up and walking around as soon as is feasible after surgery usually the same day , because this reduces your risk of postoperative complications such as blood clots and helps get your intestines working faster.

One approach is to schedule ibuprofen and Tylenol for the first few days after surgery to keep the pain at bay. Find one near you. Why do I need a scheduled C-section? How many C-sections do you perform each year?

Plus, you can come home sooner and recover quicker with a vaginal delivery. If you're interested in having a C-section instead of a vaginal birth, talk about the risks and benefits of both options with your doctor.

Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. But Cesarean sections or C-sections usually are scheduled for women such as those: who have a high-risk pregnancy for example, they're expecting multiples or have a medical condition that would make a vaginal delivery too risky who've had previous C-sections although many women can safely deliver vaginally after a C-section or other uterine surgeries who have problems with the placenta, such as placenta previa when the placenta sits too low in the uterus and covers the cervix whose babies have some types of birth defects whose babies are in the wrong position sideways or breech It may be tempting to try to schedule your baby's "birth day" and avoid the uncertainty and pain of labor.

These include: bleeding infection bladder or bowel injury reactions to medicines blood clots problems with the placenta in future pregnancies Another potential risk of having a scheduled C-section that is not medically necessary is giving birth to a late pre-term baby born between 34 and 36 weeks. You may even feel a sensation like a humming motor inside you.

This means that your intestines are getting back into gear after pain medications , which slow down your bowels. By the third or fourth day, depending on whether you're also recovering from labor, you will be sent home. If you're dead tired, push for as long a hospital stay as possible to rest. After two weeks, you'll go back to the doctor for a wound check to make sure your incision is healing well. At six weeks, you'll have a postpartum visit.

By that point, you probably feel like a parenting pro! Common C-section side effects include cramping, nausea, weakness, and fatigue. It may be uncomfortable to cough, sneeze, or even laugh. The area around your incision will be tender for the first few weeks and you should watch it closely.

If it becomes very red or inflamed, or if you start running a fever, call your doctor, since this could be a sign of infection. To speed recovery, eating healing foods can help. Lisa Kimmel, M. She also advises to eat specific nutrients , including zinc found in seafood, meats, and whole grains , vitamin C citrus fruits, strawberries, red bell peppers and vitamin A carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes.

Most women notice that their actual scar is numb from the nerves being cut, but this numbness should go away over the next few months. Your scar will continue to get lighter and look better with time, and eventually it'll fade to almost the color of your skin. C-section incisions are made very low these days, so they're easy to conceal—even in bikinis and low-rise jeans. By Michele Herman Updated January 03, Save Pin FB More.