A mum has revealed how just six months after giving birth, she can’t remember the pain of labour. And it’s something many – but not all – can relate to.
“My husband thinks this is crazy. But I didn’t know if anyone else experienced this,” revealed the parent. “I gave birth almost six months ago and I don’t remember the pain.”
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The phenomenon is not uncommon. Lots of women report not quite remembering the sensations of labour, even though they recall it was painful for them at the time.
“I vividly remember being in pain, and clutching the hospital bed rails with all my might, but the actual pain, [I] can’t recall it for anything,” said the mum, taking to Reddit.
“It blows my mind. Like I know I had contractions for hours, but I couldn’t even tell you what they felt like.”
Other parents were equally baffled and shared their own experiences of not remembering the sensations of birth. “I remember between (screaming through) contractions I said to my husband, ‘how do siblings exist?!’” said one.
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“Two weeks later I’m picking out sibling names.”
But not everyone shared the reduced memory recall, as far as pain was concerned. “I can vividly recall every single pain and I’ve already decided to never do it again,” said one parent.
Another added: “Can’t relate. The pain haunts me daily.”
So, why is this?
Unsurprisingly it’s not a well-studied area, but one study of women’s memory of labour pain – from two months to five years after birth – found memory of labour pain did decline in a lot of women over a period of time.
But for those who had a negative overall experience of childbirth, the memory of labour pain didn’t decline. What’s more, women who had an epidural – suggesting they experienced extreme pain during birth – reported higher pain scores at all time points, suggesting that these women remember the ‘peak pain’ of labour.
In a piece for the Conversation, Monique Robinson, of the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at The University of Western Australia, suggested lots of other factors can play a part in how a birth is remembered. So things like: satisfaction with care-providers, choice of pain relief, level of medical intervention, complications, outcomes for the baby, and other personal factors.
All of these would add up to either form a positive or negative birth experience. Positive experiences are less likely to be associated with pain, whereas negative ones are.
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Discussing why some people might forget the pain of birth, Jennifer Conti, clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Stanford University, told Self her theory is that from an evolutionary perspective, the survival of our species could depend on women forgetting the pain of labour and birth.
“If you can’t remember how intense your [birth experience] was, maybe you’re more likely to do it again and reproduce,” she said.
“I often hear women say that they can remember that they were in pain during labour, but can’t actually recall the perception or intensity that well. On the other hand, there are women who swear they remember the event like it happened yesterday.”
Swabbing newborn babies with their mum’s vaginal bacteria might boost their early development, according to new research.
Known as vaginal seeding, the process involves transferring vaginal bacteria to a baby after a caesarean section, with a view to improving their gut bacteria.
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The process reportedly originated in Australia, however over the years has become increasingly popular in the UK, too – with more and more mums asking for vaginal seeding after a C-section birth.
But there are risks attached – specifically the risk of passing on an infection from mother to child.
What is vaginal seeding all about then?
Previous research has found babies born by C-section tend to have different gut bacteria to those born vaginally.
Vaginally born babies receive their early gut bacteria from the mother’s birth canal, while C-section babies’ microbiota are dominated by bacteria found on the mums’ skin, in breastmilk and in the environment.
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While the difference tends to disappear as they age, researchers suggest early gut microbiota is associated with the development of baby’s immune system and could affect their disease risk later in life.
This has led to practices like vaginal seeding – basically, mums (or dads) would rub newborns with a gauze swab containing their mother’s vaginal fluids after birth via C-section.
But there is limited clinical evidence that vaginal seeding is safe and effective.
What are the risks of vaginal seeding?
Doctors have previously warned that the process could put babies at risk of infection – particularly from group B strep (GBS), which can prove deadly in some cases. And according to Jane Plumb, chief executive of Group B Strep Support, testing for group B strep “is rarely available in the NHS”.
“[GBS] is carried by around one in four pregnant women, and although it poses no risk to the mother it can cause fatal infections in babies,” Dr Aubrey Cunnington, a clinical senior lecturer from Imperial College London, wrote in the BMJ.
“There are also other conditions that cause no symptoms in the mother, such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea and herpes simplex virus, that could be transferred on the swab.”
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He spoke about how one colleague had to intervene when a mother with genital herpes, who had undergone a C-section and was about to undertake the process.
“Swabbing would have potentially transferred the herpes virus to the baby,” said Dr Cunnington.
What does the new study say?
Researchers rubbed the lips, skin and hands of 32 newborns delivered via C-section with a gauze soaked with their mothers’ vaginal fluids and another 36 newborns with a gauze soaked with saline as blind controls.
Because of the risks attached, the mothers were tested in advance to make sure they were free of infections, such as sexually transmitted diseases and group B strep.
The team found that newborns who received the microbiota had more gut bacteria found in maternal vaginal fluid six weeks after birth, suggesting that maternal vaginal bacteria successfully reached and colonised babies’ guts.
Compared with C-section newborns who received saline gauze, babies with microbial transfer had more mature bacteria in their guts at six weeks old, similar to babies born vaginally.
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And no infants experienced severe adverse events during the experiment, according to the study which was published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.
It could also boost development
The team also evaluated the babies’ neurodevelopment at three months and six months after birth, using a questionnaire.
They asked the mothers if their babies were able to make simple sounds or perform movements like crawling on their hands and knees.
Babies who had been swapped with vaginal fluid scored significantly higher in neurodevelopment at both ages, and their scores were comparable to those of vaginally born babies.
Study author Yan He, of Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, said they now want to determine if vaginal microbiota seeding has the potential to reduce the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children, such as ADHD, ASD, and intellectual disabilities.
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“It is somewhat like faecal microbiota transplantation,” continued He.
“We need more data to understand this intervention and make it more precise. We may eventually uncover what exactly is beneficial in maternal vaginal microbiota, which could enable us to design therapeutics for all infants born via C-section in the future.”
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April marks C-section Awareness Month, and Lola&Lykke has pulled out all the stops to honour the delivery method many welcome their children into the world via.
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Mums who have undergone a Caesarean section, as well as those who have had a vaginal birth, can now save on all the essentials they need to look after themselves and their bodies during their pregnancy, and postpartum, with the popular parenting brand.
For the duration of April, Lola&Lykke is offering shoppers the chance to get 20% off select items.
Lola&Lykke – which was was founded in 2018 by parents Laura and Kati, after they experienced problems during their pregnancies – offers a range of products to see parents before and after their pregnancy.
The Postpartum Support Band in particular is a must have as it provides medical-grade compression on the weakened core muscles, and aims to speed up recovery from childbirth and pregnancy. It was also designed by Finnish physiotherapists, so is safe to use.
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Not only does it provide support around the stomach to heal diastasis recti, which is when your growing uterus expands causing your muscles to separate, but also to alleviate any back pain.
The Postpartum Support Band, which is also suitable for those recovering after a natural births, has been designed with comfort in mind, as the band fits to your body without inhibiting any movements.
The Postpartum Support Band is super simple to wear too, all you have to do is wrap around the target area of your stomach, and secure with the double velcro fastening.
It is free from latex, hypoallergenic and breathable, which means it is super delicate on fragile areas of the body.
<img class="img-sized__img portrait" loading="lazy" alt="The Postpartum Support Band provides medical-grade compression on the weakened core muscles.” width=”720″ height=”1079″ src=”https://www.wellnessmaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/new-parents-you-can-grab-20-off-postpartum-essentials-with-lolalykke-2.jpg”>
While those who want to secure the Maternity Support 2-Pack, which features the Pregnancy Band and Postpartum Support Band to see you through all stages of pregnancy, can do so at a more purse-friendly £171 down from £180.
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With glowing reviews, support from medical experts, and super affordable price tags, these bargain buys are not to be missed.
While on the Lola&Lykke website, you will also find tool kits, tips and tricks, expert advice from professionals, as well as real life stories from fellow parents, so rest assured you are in a safe space to share your concerns or product recommendations.
The maternity label also has a blog about all subject matters, including in-depth detail on C-sections, so you can be well informed about the surgical procedure prior to giving birth, preparation to help in advance, as well as tips on recovery, and everything in between.
A podcast host in the US has revealed how she was so constipated after giving birth that she got a teaspoon and tried to “dig it out” – yeah, reading that sentence certainly wasn’t on our bingo card for this week either.
In their latest episode, I’ve Had It podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan were joined by Jackie Schimmel, host of the Bad Bitch Bible, who just so happens to be pregnant.
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Naturally the conversation turned to pregnancy – as well as what happens after the birth.
One thing Welch was incredibly keen to convey to Schimmel is that after giving birth you can become very constipated. Especially if you’ve had pain relief.
Welch said: “You’re going to be more constipated than you’ve ever been in your entire life. And you’re talking nine, 10, 11 days not taking a shit. Nobody fucking talks about this. This is not in the pregnancy advertisement.”
She continued: “That first post-pregnancy shit, for me personally, was more difficult than giving birth.”
When co-host Angie Sullivan, also known as Pumps, agreed, Welch encouraged her to tell her own constipation story. And ladies and gentlemen, this is where things take A Real Turn.
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“I was so miserable and I couldn’t poo and I thought I was going to lose my mind. And so I got a spoon and was trying to dig it out with a spoon,” said Sullivan.
She helpfully clarified this was a stainless steel teaspoon – so thankfully not a table spoon. And she didn’t use any lube for her… encounter.
Despite her best efforts, it didn’t work. Sullivan confirmed nothing came out.
After posting a clip of their insightful chat on TikTok, people were keen to share their experiences of that first post-birth poo.
One person wrote: “Can confirm, first dump postpartum you WILL be fighting for your life on that toilet.”
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Another said: “Literally same! I was on the phone with a nurse thinking I was going to have to go to ER. What ended up coming out was the biggest turd I have ever seen.”
Constipation is pretty common after birth – with about one in four women suffering. According to Baby Centre there are a whole host of reasons you might be constipated, from not feeling comfortable using the toilet in hospital, to being scared to poo after tearing, as well as the impact of opioid pain relief.
On top of this, your digestive system slows down during labour and any damage sustained to your pelvic floor during birth can make it harder for you to empty your bowels.
To avoid constipation, they advise new parents to eat plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, salad, wholegrain cereals and wholemeal bread, and drink plenty of water.
When it is time to poo, and if you’ve had stitches for tearing, they advise holding a pad of clean tissue over the stitches while going about your business. The official advice is also to try and not strain.
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If you’re constipated and still can’t go after a few more days, don’t reach for the teaspoon and instead speak to your midwife or GP.
A gentle laxative might also help get things moving in the right direction.
If there’s one thing we know about tiny tots, it’s that they definitely don’t do lie-ins. Unfortunately some little ones can become pros at waking up before the sun has even risen – much to the horror of their zombified parents.
But what actually constitutes as “too early” when it comes to kids waking up? Dani McFadden, an infant sleep expert from The Daddy Sleep Consultant, says she’d define it as “anything less than 11 hours after going to sleep”.
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“In our experience, babies can typically sleep 11-12 hours at night and so we always aim for 11 hours from waking time when working with clients,” she tells HuffPost UK.
On rare occasions, some toddlers can get away with sleeping only 10.5 hours at night and are still absolutely happy and content with that amount, she adds.
Lauren Peacock, a sleep consultant at Little Sleep Stars, defines early rising as a little one consistently being awake for the day before 6am.
Most kids are natural ‘larks’, she adds, meaning they typically wake up fairly early – between 6 and 7am is standard. “If it’s earlier than that, there are usually steps a family can take to push the wake-up time to at least 6am,” she says.
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Reasons your child is waking up too early
Overtiredness
“In our experience, we usually see early wakings being driven by overtiredness, usually because of a lack of daytime sleep,” says Dani McFadden.
Lack of daytime sleep – or a wake window between the final nap and bedtime which is too long – will lead to a baby becoming overtired, she explains.
“This will usually increase the levels of cortisol in the baby and cortisol is what keeps us awake each day. Therefore, if there is an increased level of cortisol in the body (more than what would usually be produced) this can lead to a baby waking more frequently in the night or waking earlier in the morning.”
Not building up enough sleep pressure
To sleep soundly until 6am or later, a child needs to be going to bed with enough sleep pressure (aka the physical drive to sleep) to do that, says sleep consultant Lauren Peacock. But sometimes they don’t build up enough of this sleep pressure in the day.
Things that can leave a little one low on sleep pressure are:
too much daytime sleep
insufficient awake time before bedtime
a bedtime that is too early for them
Vera Livchak via Getty Images
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Interestingly – and annoyingly for parents impacted – without enough sleep pressure, a child may actually still fall asleep well at bedtime, as all the behavioural cues suggest it’s time to sleep. But the problem often comes at the other end of the night, says the sleep expert, when staying asleep without any remaining sleep pressure becomes “fairly impossible”.
What makes life even trickier is if you then cut down the amount of daytime sleep your child has too much, or you keep them awake for stretches that are too long, or you send them to bed later in the hope they sleep later, this can also backfire and cause early-waking. It’s about getting a happy medium.
“This happens because when a child gets too tired, they release additional wakeful hormones which can interfere with the body clock and in turn make 5am feel like the right time to be starting the day,” explains Peacock.
“So even though a child might still have enough sleep pressure to carry on sleeping, their body clock insists that they should be starting the day.”
As a result, she says, it’s often the timing and/or duration of their nap and/or the time a child is going to bed that is driving the early start.
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Environmental factors
What probably won’t be music to parents’ ears after reading all of the above is that there are also some environmental factors that can wreak havoc on young children’s awake times.
Is your child hungry? Do they need a nappy change? Is there light creeping into the room? An increase in noise levels? Or a drop in temperature? These can all signal to your child that it’s time to get up and start the day. Cue: them standing in their cot, eyes wide open, shrieking at you; and you looking at your alarm clock and groaning hard.
How to stop your child from waking up so early
If your child is waking up at the crack of dawn then there are (thankfully) lots of things you can do to try and address it.
The first thing you can do is check how much sleep your child is getting overall in a 24-hour period, compared to the evidence-based range.
The Sleep Foundation is a great resource for information around average sleep needs by age, says Peacock. If a little one is towards the bottom of the range, or below it, parents should try encouraging more daytime sleep (longer naps) and/or an earlier bedtime, she suggests.
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And if this doesn’t work, then it’s a “good indicator” that overtiredness is the culprit, “in which case, continuing to top up a child’s sleep tank should eventually start to chip away at the early start.”
If an early-riser is getting quite a lot of sleep for their age, or if more daytime sleep worsens the early start, then Peacock recommends going the other way and gently cutting the daytime sleep a little shorter or trying a later bedtime.
Chanin Nont via Getty Images
“Whenever a child’s routine changes, parents need to be prepared to stick with the new timings for a week or so, before evaluating the impact, as it typically takes a good few days for a child’s body clock to begin responding,” she adds.
“It’s all about getting a child’s sleep pressure back into alignment with their body clock – not least because young children are driven much more by what time it feels like than what time it actually is. The trick is to stop 5am feeling like the right time to get up.”
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In terms of making the environment more conducive to a longer sleep, McFadden says it’s “imperative” that the room remains blackout dark in the mornings as light can stimulate our little ones, just as their body is preparing for wake-up and sleep is naturally lighter.
“Also, it’s important for parents to be mindful of external noise starting at this time which can wake babies, for example: birds tweeting, traffic picking up on the roads and parents getting up for work,” she says. “This is where white noise, which plays all night, can be very helpful for blocking out that external noise.”
Sometimes parents do land themselves with a natural early bird and if that’s the case, and your kid is raring to go at 6am every day, then it’s often easier for parents to adapt their own routine rather than their child’s, says Peacock.
“If caregivers can edge the time they head to bed earlier by 15 minutes every three to five days, they can typically get to a place whereby starting the day a little earlier than they did pre-children feels a lot more humane.”
A hilarious video of a baby getting ridiculously excited about being fed is basically all of us ahead of our Christmas dinner.
In the clip, baby Milly pulls a face that can only be described as equal parts shocked, terrified and excited as she anticipates spoonfuls of chocolate pudding.
Milly was just nine months old when her mum, Sandra Karlsson Elfsten, decided to film her response to the delicious treat.
“She truly loved it,” the mum-of-three, who lives in Molkom, Sweden, tells HuffPost UK.
“She does that face when she gets excited over things.
“She actually does it even now [she’s five] – not exactly like in the video, but she gets excited with all her body.”
Karlsson Elfsten originally shared the video of baby Milly on Instagram in 2018, however it was recently resurfaced by another account – and we felt it was too good not to share.
Thank you Milly (and Sandra) for bringing us even more joy today.
Name two words parents dread more than sleep regression… we’ll wait.
We often hear about them in Whatsapp groups (why is my baby suddenly not sleeping?! Send coffee!), or in books about child development, with most agreeing the first sleep regression happens around the age of four months. Then eight months. Then 18 months and finally, two years.
But for lots of parents, it can feel like every week you’re starting a new sleep regression with a baby. And even when they’re toddlers, you’ll get the odd night where they sleep through in their cot (and you’ll pop some Prosecco in the morning to celebrate), but you’ll also get lots of occasions where they’ll wake up, end up in your bed, pull your hair, grab your lips and shout “DADDY!” approximately 59 times at 3.30am.
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So what are sleep regressions – and why oh why does it feel like you’re constantly in one?
It turns out most sleep specialists don’t really consider sleep regression a thing, per se – the concept is not really used in scientific or medical contexts when discussing child sleep. That said, sleep specialists do recognise that lots of parents are aware of them.
“The only ‘regression’ with any science behind it, that I recognise, is the one that happens around four months old when babies’ sleep cycles actually change and become more like adult sleep,” says Emily Houltram, founder of The Sleep Chief. “But even that one divides professionals!”
Explaining what a sleep regression is, Lauren Peacock, a sleep consultant at Little Sleep Stars, says that “it generally refers to a sudden perceived deterioration in a child’s sleep pattern, typically characterised by difficulty settling at sleep onset and/or night-waking that is happening more frequently and possibly for an increased duration”.
Sleep isn’t linear, she explains, and like all other aspects of development, it matures over time with a noticeable change occurring in the first six months. “Once this change occurs, periodic night-waking becomes a normal part of the sleep pattern,” she says.
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Then, whenever children hit a significant stage of their development – so that could be crawling, walking, talking, starting childcare, becoming a sibling, getting sick or teething (the list goes on), there is potential for their sleep to be impacted. Again, and again, and again.
Peacock suggests the term ‘regression’ is actually very misleading because none of these events occur as a result of a child going backwards – “they are only ever moving forwards,” she adds.
But for parents who aren’t sleeping that well, it can definitely seem like a step backwards compared to those halcyon days of newborn sleep when you could ease them gently back into slumber with a mere cuddle and a bit of milk.
Most babies will be impacted by a disruption to sleep at some point in their first few years, but some will be less impacted than others.
“All babies experience changes to their sleep pattern and many will go through phases where sleep feels more challenging,” says Peacock. “Some little ones do have a trickier relationship with sleep than others and so whilst some children will experience more frequent and persistent sleep disruption, others will navigate through these inevitable ups and downs much more smoothly.”
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If you’re very much in the camp of surviving the day on four hours’ sleep and feeling like you might never get a good night’s kip ever again, we have some good news – and some bad news.
The good news is that this won’t last forever. When they’re teenagers they’ll be sleeping for lengthy stretches to the point where you’ll probably worry they’re sleeping too much.
The bad news is that even as your baby becomes a toddler, and then a young child, there’ll probably be a few bumps in the road as far as their sleep is concerned. (Like we said: basically one big sleep regression.)
Signs your baby might be entering a so-called sleep regression include:
:: Becoming more difficult to settle at bed or nap time
:: Waking more frequently than was previously typical
:: Waking in the night and then staying awake for a long period – something sleep experts refer to as a “split-night”
:: Waking up a lot earlier.
Vera Livchak via Getty Images
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There is a popular narrative around sleep regressions occurring at specific ages: so typically we hear four months, eight months, 18 months and two years as inevitable points that sleep will deteriorate, says Peacock.
“However, some families will feel that their child never experiences a ‘regression’, whereas others will feel that they are hit hard by every single one – with some extra ones thrown in for good measure,” she says.
“There are ages that it is more common to see sleep challenges crop up, and they do tend to coincide with children making big developmental shifts which are more common in the baby and toddler phases, but even older children can hit bumps with their sleep.”
If you are struggling right now, infant sleep expert Katie Palmer, from Infant Sleep Consultants, suggests maintaining good sleep hygiene to get your child into the best position possible to navigate the next few months (and years, if you’re really lucky) of sleep disruption.
“This involves a good routine in the day, well-timed naps, a good bedtime routine and allowing your child to self settle,” she says. “They will always find this easier at the onset of sleep but if you know they can do it at the start of the night, there is no reason why they can’t for the rest of the night.”
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The sleep specialist adds that if a child is going through a developmental leap, they may be more unsettled when it comes to drifting off – and if you’re finding this, you can help them by keeping familiar routines and boundaries in place.
Of course, there are certain points where a parent might think: is there something drastically wrong with my child because they literally do not sleep? And if you’re feeling that, it’s definitely worth speaking to a sleep specialist about it – or at the very least your GP.
“There are ages that it is more common to see sleep challenges crop up, and they do tend to coincide with children making big developmental shifts which are more common in the baby and toddler phases, but even older children can hit bumps with their sleep.”
– Lauren Peacock
If a child’s sleep is good enough most of the time – both in terms of quality and quantity – then sometimes just knowing that more challenging periods are biologically normal, and will pass, is all the reassurance parents need, says Peacock.
“All children will, sooner or later, reach the stage of sleeping through the night,” she adds.
But if a child isn’t managing well with the sleep they are getting – for example, if they are regularly tired and irritable throughout the day, or it’s taking hours to settle them at bedtime every night – that’s indicative of a more pervasive challenge with sleep rather than a short-term ‘regression’, she explains.
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“Sometimes these challenges are underpinned by physiological aspects such as digestive discomfort or daytime naps not being optimal,” she says. “Other times, the patterns of behaviour that have developed around sleep aren’t helping a child to sleep well.
“The question really is whether things are working well enough, most of the time. If the answer to that is no, there are lots of ways that children can be supported towards better sleep.”
We all know vaguely what happens when you have a caesarean section – you’re given anaesthetic, a cut is made in your abdomen and then, minutes later, your baby is pulled out and passed to you. It’s a magical medical moment.
But it turns out there’s actually a hell of a lot going on from the obstetrician’s perspective. More than you could possibly know.
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A fascinating Tiktok video explaining the anatomy of a C-section has been viewed more than 11 million times after showing just how complicated the surgery can be.
Using various sheets of coloured fabric and paper, Tina (@mamma_nurse) explained how there are various layers that surgeons have to cut through, before moving muscle out of the way and then manoeuvring past organs – and that’s before you’ve even reached the area where the baby is.
Most information given on C-sections by healthcare providers is lacking in details. Probably for good reason.
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But if you’re the type of person who likes to be super informed ahead of birth – or you’re just really curious as to what the surgery involves – we asked Meg Wilson, an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant at London Gynaecology and the Whittington Hospital, to walk us through the process.
(Just a head’s up, there are some quite graphic images below.)
What happens during a C-section
First up, you’ll be given some pain relief – either a regional or general anaesthetic – and a catheter is fitted. Your abdomen will be cleaned and a drape will be put up so you won’t be able to see the surgery unfold.
An obstetrician will make a 10 to 15cm cut along the skin at the bottom of your abdomen, just at the top of your pubic hairline.
The first layer they cut through is the skin, and that cut also goes through a layer of fat. “Then you come down on to the rectus sheath – a white fibrous layer – that is covering the muscles of the abdomen,” says Wilson.
They’ll make a cut in that as well and all these cuts will be done in the same direction: horizontally.
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Byba Sepit via Getty Images
Next up, they come to the rectus muscles “which people know as their six pack muscles,” says the obstetrician.
These two muscles run as a strip down the abdomen and where they join together is something called the linea alba. It’s a weak area which surgeons can basically “poke through” to open it up, says the obstetrician.
“That takes you into your abdomen, by making that little hole, and then you’re into what we call the peritoneal cavity which is the proper wet inside of your tummy.”
Surgeons will make the hole a bit bigger by basically moving the two muscles apart.
“You’re pulling them out to the side to make a hole there,” says Wilson. “I think it’s really important that people know you’re not actually cutting muscles, you’re just shifting them apart.”
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When in the peritoneal cavity, surgeons will get a nice view of the surface of your bladder and then the main event: the womb itself.
Now comes the really interesting bit. They have to actually move organs to get to where they need to be – so yes, they shift your bladder out of the way.
“You lift up a little bit of something called the peritoneum,” she explains, which is “like a sheet that runs over the womb and the bladder.” Surgeons will make a small hole in that “sheet” and this allows them to see where the bladder is attached to the womb.
“It allows you to push the bladder out of the way and push it downwards a little bit,” Wilson says, noting it only gets moved about 1-2cm.
In the operating room, they have a specially designed surgical instrument that goes in to protect the bladder and hold it down and out of the way.
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The surgeon cuts into the womb (again, a horizontal cut in the same direction as the skin cut). The womb is a muscle so they expect to have some bleeding at this point as muscles have a strong blood supply.
In cases where a parent has placenta previa – where the placentacompletely or partially covers the opening of the uterus – it might be a bit more complicated, she adds, and they might have to cut higher up in the womb or even through the placenta, which could result in more blood loss.
“Then you’re going to hit the membranes around the baby – the amniotic sac – and you see that bulging out when you reach it,” Wilson continues. “You keep going and make a little hole in that with the scalpel and usually lots of amniotic fluid all comes spilling out in a big gush.”
At this point it’s all about getting the baby out. In a straightforward pregnancy the baby will be in a head down position, so they’ll get a nice view of that.
The retrieval process involves a bit of teamwork. “You put your hand in and slip your hand around the baby’s head – like a cupping action – and your assistant will put lots of pressure on the top of the woman’s tummy, pushing right at the top of womb where the baby’s feet are, and you’ve got your hands acting as a little slide for the baby to come out,” she says.
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The head pops out, then comes the neck, and then there’ll be a bit more gentle pulling to deliver the shoulders one at a time, and then the body “slips out relatively easily after”.
Michael Hanson via Getty Images
Doctors work to remove a baby from a woman’s uterus during a c section.
At this stage the curtain is often lowered and the parent(s) can see their baby and hold them. They tend to let the umbilical cord pulsate for at least a minute to give the baby beneficial nutrients and then they’ll clamp the cord, cut it and hand the baby to the midwife who will wrap them up and dry them off.
“Then it’s a case of removing the placenta, which is still stuck on to the lining of the inside of the womb,” says Wilson. “We pull a little bit on the cord and the placenta will be detaching.”
After the placenta has been removed, surgeons will then clean out the inside of the womb which Wilson says is “a very simple action” of rubbing a swab around the insides of the cavity “to make sure there’s no little bits of membrane or last little threads of placenta that are still there”.
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The mum will still be bleeding at this point so time is of the essence to get the womb stitched up again. Once that’s done, surgeons will take a moment to do a check and assess that there’s no additional bleeding anywhere.
bymuratdeniz via Getty Images
At this stage, she says, they clean away any spilt fluid and blood that may have collected in the sides of the pelvis using a swab. They also check the womb is contracted and that the ovaries and fallopian tubes look normal.
“It’s just an opportunity to do a health check because you’ve got the tummy open and it’s a relatively straightforward thing to do,” she adds.
The instrument protecting the bladder is then taken out and “then you allow everything to fall back into place,” adds Wilson. “The bladder will go back to where it was originally placed and those two rectus muscles that you held open to get into the cavity of the tummy will fall back into place as well.
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“You don’t routinely close the rectus muscles … they will come back together naturally and reform their meeting point.”
The next layer that’s surgically closed is the rectus sheath, which is the layer just beneath the fat. “We sometimes put a stitch in the fat layer but for most women we then just close the skin with another running stitch,” she adds.
“By routine we remove all the drapes and clean any collected blood that’s in the vagina,” she adds, “and make sure there’s no clots of blood or anything.”
At this point they might put in a painkiller suppository and a dressing is placed over the c-section wound. The whole process is complete in less than an hour.
