General Anaesthetic for Caesarian Section?

[Rysgirl]

I'm in early pregnancy.

I'm really worried about having to have a section. I am terrified of needles and hate the sound of ha ing blood taken (blood filling in the tube). I always faint/am sick when I hear this!!!

I am really worried if I have a section with an epidural I will end up being sick and feinting because I will be able to hear them in my abdomen and the sound of blood.

Can you ask to have a GA when you react to blood/sounds so badly. I'm terrified I will be sick into the wound!!

 

[Hispirits]

I'm in early pregnancy.

I'm really worried about having to have a section. I am terrified of needles and hate the sound of ha ing blood taken (blood filling in the tube). I always faint/am sick when I hear this!!!

I am really worried if I have a section with an epidural I will end up being sick and feinting because I will be able to hear them in my abdomen and the sound of blood.

Can you ask to have a GA when you react to blood/sounds so badly. I'm terrified I will be sick into the wound!!

do you know you are having a section?

you'll have to have a few blood test throughout the pregnancy also.

if you get a section, and request GA, you have to weigh up if avoiding slight discomfort for a few moments is worth sacrificing those special early moments with your baby for?

what do you mean when you say hear them in your abdomen? once that needles in your probably wont notice.
plus unlike a blood test, its completely out of your range of vision, so you won't see whats going on or when the needle goes in. which can be quite off putting when having injections and blood tests.

 

[couttsloz]

My section was under g a as far as I'm aware they don't really like doing this unless totally necessary as baby is affected by the anaesthetic. It's usually only done in my hospital (I'm a nurse but not in obstetrics) if they need it done rapidly or in my case it would have caused my heart more problems having an epidural x

 

[weerach]

u,ll most likely have a ga with an emergency section anyway.. but iv had two sections, both with just spinal block ( one of which i hemoragged) and it was fine! they add stuff to ur iv to make any sickness go away.also u cant see urself being cut open or ur baby coming out so u have zero chance of being sick into your wound.im sure once u get to the end of ur pregnancy u wont care how ur baby arrives..plus u can be sick and faint during natural labour too .good luck x

 

[Clarabell543]

I had an emcs under g a because i had alot of water retention and they couldn't do spinal. To this day it upsets me that I woke up with a four hour old baby that had already been fed and dressed. It is really something you should think about unless of course it was medically necessary xx

 

[Lil_Pixie]

There's no way you could be sick into the wound. I was sick during my section and the only place it could go is down your own face

 

[hopefulfor1st]

There's no way u can be sick in your wound, there's a curtain up so y can't see it.

I had a g.a. As I walked in hospital slightly bleeding- 5 minutes later I was haemmiraging so badly and babies heartbeat was so low I needed an immediate c section and blood transfusion.

It still to this day devastates me that I woke up 2 hours later. I didn't hear my babies first cry, I didn't see my husbands reaction to seeing his son born, didn't see them weigh him/ cut the cord. By the time I saw him he was all cleaned and wrapped and husband had been thrown in the deep end looking after him a few hours! Plus I was still groggy so I slept on and off most of the next day and friends came to look after bub. Also bub is also affected by the anaesthetic u have while he's in utero. He was groggy and had trouble feeding for about 2-3 days.

Also I guarantee there will be so much going on in that room you'd have to have superman hearing to hear the blood above several doctors, heart monitors, oxygen machines etc!!

 

[LDC]

As the others have said having a section under ga is not common due to the effect on the baby.

Do you know that you're having a section?

Mine was an emergency (they don't automatically do these under ga either) and I was really scared of having a section, but when the time came to it, it was just something I had to do. I couldn't tell what they were doing (because of the curtain) and I asked them not to narrate to me what was happening.

The surgeon did shout up that she could see my baby and that there was a lot of hair, but at that point I was thinking about my baby, the same as when she was taken out and the last thing on my mind was that I was there with a big open wound! I was just so excited to see my baby.

Compared to my anxieties beforehand, and I had no reason before labour to think I was having a section, I really enjoyed the experience. I would also reccommend that if you are having a section to not watch any videos or read up too much about it else your anxieties will get worse. I'm glad I went in "blind" on what would happen so I wasn't fretting.

I'd much rather find methods of relaxation to use than miss the first few hours of my babies life.

You can't be sick in your wound either as you're laying down and won't be able to move.

The nurses in the theatre room were also fantastic at making me feel relaxed.

Xx

 

[LynseyPynsey]

I was sick 3 or 4 times during my section and the only place it went was down my face

 

[winegums]

Not only the fact that you won't see your baby after the birth but have you considered that there are very serious risks to GA in pregnant women which is why it is only usually used as a last resort?

Blood loss is higher with GA and there is an increased risk of haemorrhage.

For the baby there is an increased rate of low APGAR scores at 5 minutes and higher risk of baby having to be intubated

The biggest risk is aspiration pneumonia which is the main reason they try not to use GA on pregnant women. Progesterone relaxes smooth muscle including in your respiratory system (hence heartburn being a common problem in pregnancy), your digestion is slowed considerably, plus the pressure of the uterus all contribute to making pregnant women very high risk for aspiration.

Even without all those factors anyone having GA needs to fast before hand and take medication to stop the production of gastric acid. For a pregnant woman with all the factors working against them even fasting for a long time before GA puts them at much, much greater risk.

It's still very rare but if it does happen and can lead to ARDS, spread of infection round the body, pneumonia, shock and other conditions that may take months or even years to recover from. Although it's rare to die from it, it can be fatal. Risk of death from AP after a cesarean section with general anesthetic is 0.2%

 

[Hispirits]

Well said x

 

[Millnsy]

I had a ga with my second emcs and I would never ever choose it! It was awful. I can't remember much at all I the first 12 hours if my baby's life. I had a sore throat and felt like I'd been in over by a bus. Maybe try and go and see someone to talk through your phobias and get it all in perspective?!

 

[minnieoxox]

I felt the exact same way as you, I started in labor, the pain was bad so I gave in and had an epidural, which was the most amazing feeling ever lol. Doesnt hurt at all and wasn't as cringy as you would think. I had to be put to sleep with my emergancy section as epidural didn't work enough for op. It was horrible missing the birth of my child, it made it hard to bond and I never felt the rush of love for my baby, which devastated me. Everything is ok now, but it wasnt easy. But don't worry about having a section, I'd rather have a planned section than give birth naturally if I have another.

 

[hopefulfor1st]

In all my baby's first photos I am asleep with my mouth hanging open and drooling lol

 

[Lausie]

I also had a GA csection with dd and I have to say waking up 4hours later being given your baby, not having a clue what is going on, where you are, no DH as he wasn't allowed in until I was checked. AWFUL! Certainly wouldn't recommend it!

 

[seoj]

tbh- having a c-section was my BIGGEST fear while pregnant (mostly cause the thought of it just made me ill- and I HATE needles etc...)- but for me, it was honestly easy peasy. There were some rough recovery moments- but overall I did well. The c-section itself was just lovely- very calm and the staff was amazing! I asked the nurse to hold my hand during the Spinal (not Epi)- and she did- but it was one quick pinch and then no more pain. I made it out way worse in my head!

I had placenta previa- and knew at 28wks it wasn't moving so I'd need a section. And thus I had some time to come to terms with it before hand. There is nothing you can do if you have to have one- just know this too shall pass and you'll manage. Most likely, all will go much easier than you have it made out to be

 

[hopefulfor1st]

When I came off the GA I was so out of it I was in denial that I'd had my baby.
I kept asking where he was and screaming and apparently he was on my chest the whole time!