BFing after a c section

[VillainV]

I hoped for skin to skin right away, but lost a lot of blood and it took them a while to stitch me up. By the time I got back to the room and did skin to skin, it was probably 45ish minutes, maybe 60. C latched right away and we had no issues BFing, but he was a unicorn baby in many respects, so I don't know how common this is.

[carolinagirl831]

I did it in the recovery room. DH held her while they stitched me up and then once i was in the recovery room, they passed her to me and I was able to BF. I was feeling weird and weak during. I wouldn't have been able to hold her properly at all while they were stiching me up flat on my back

[chickens987]

After I was stitched up and they were rolling me to recovery, they put dd on me for the ride (swaddled). Once we were in recovery, the nurse helped me get started (made H grab my boob, lol). We nursed for a little bit, then she took dd for a bath and h went with her. When she came back we nursed again.

[spankswife]

I have seen some mor progressive c sections even in the last 6 months, so ask beforehand. I actually saw one where the dr let her pull the baby out (well second half anyway). I hear they are more open to skin to skin too.

Mine in april was normal though. RCS, scheduled. I was probably holding him in 30 min. 45 tops.

[6fsn]

I never went to a recovery room- OR to my room. With each kid they brought them up to see and kiss, then weighed and measured (and tried to patch the cut head) then right back to me for skin to skin while still in the OR. I don't really remember when I fed the second two but I distinctly remember feeding the first in the OR.

[kdubs923]

I believe some hospitals do skin to skin right in the OR, but I didn't hold DS until I was in recovery. DH went ahead to recovery with DS while they finished stitching me up. I'd say he latched within 30-45 minutes from birth? No issues at all.

I don't know if there are specific positions for post c-section, the LC at the hospital taught me cross cradle and football hold. Lots of pillows helped.

[spankswife]

Oct 9, 2015 20:32:53 GMT -5 @starry said:

ok so sounds like you DON'T breastfeed right away, but in recovery. That's fine by me as long as the baby is ok and not starving in those 30-45 minutes. Hopefully DH can hold her

Well, DS (9lbs 14 oz) came out with his fist in his mouth bc I stopped eating before midnight (delivered at 9am). His blood sugar was low and if our first session didn't work they were going to have to give Formula bc when the sugar is below a certain level there is a risk of brain damage. But it worked fine

As a rational person before the crazy hormones, just know if they HAVE to give formula, it's ok. Most likely they won't though.

[VillainV]

Oct 9, 2015 20:30:42 GMT -5 spankswife said:

I have seen some mor progressive c sections even in the last 6 months, so ask beforehand. I actually saw one where the dr let her pull the baby out (well second half anyway). I hear they are more open to skin to skin too.

Mine in april was normal though. RCS, scheduled. I was probably holding him in 30 min. 45 tops.

Some are definitely open to doing skin-to-skin and delayed cord clamping as long as everything goes well and mom and baby are both doing okay.  Mine was unplanned (but non-emergency), and I really didn't get a chance to discuss this with the doc.  As it turned out, I wouldn't have been able to anyway.   If we have another, I'll probably do RCS, and hope to make all of this part of my birth plan so everyone knows my preference.  If it's still not possible, then I'm okay with it.

[hopecounts]

I did skin to skin in the OR, they bundled up DD then we moved to our room and I nursed, all in all it was about 35-45 minutes from delivery to nursing.
She was fine, wasn't crying after the initial post delivery crying so I assume she wasn't particularly hungry, she latched great. 
Talk to your OB, and tell your nurse that you want to BF as soon as you can.

[chickens987]

Oct 9, 2015 20:32:53 GMT -5 @starry said:

ok so sounds like you DON'T breastfeed right away, but in recovery. That's fine by me as long as the baby is ok and not starving in those 30-45 minutes. Hopefully DH can hold her

Yep, h held her right by my head the whole time. She was content, not starving!

[spankswife]

Ya DD was FF. BF just didn't work that time around. (She was an emergency c section).

She's amazing! I just know how those crazy hormones can be

[VillainV]

Oct 9, 2015 20:39:54 GMT -5 @starry said:

I will ask some questions at my appointment Monday and before the surgery. My area isn't terribly progressive but I guess you never know!

I had C at a military hospital (basically the definition of non-progressive!) and most docs were very open to doing progressive things as long as they knew your preference and there was no danger to mom or baby :-)   So you never know, and it definitely never hurts to ask and make your preferences known.  I would also ask under what circumstances they will and will not be able to accommodate your requests, just so you have a heads up going in that if things aren't going that direction, you won't be surprised when you don't get to do skin-to-skin or whatever.

GO HAVE A BABY ALREADY!!!!

[thebreakfastclub]

I did skin to skin and attempted to nurse in the recovery room. It was fine then, but the next day I was over that because I was too sore.

I would bring a boppy or something like it if I was interested in trying to nurse again.

I did almost no baby care in the hospital and very little for the first few days home.

Eta DS didn't latch but they were cool about waiting 24 hours.

[CloudBee]

Not right away. No skin to skin in the OR.

The labor and delivery unit has their own OR, so DS came with me into recovery. No one mentioned breast feeding, so outright asked, and they said yes. No one helped me, though.  (He was swaddled, so I think that made it all difficult.)

[VillainV]

Oct 9, 2015 20:47:27 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

Oct 9, 2015 20:32:53 GMT -5 @starry said:

ok so sounds like you DON'T breastfeed right away, but in recovery. That's fine by me as long as the baby is ok and not starving in those 30-45 minutes. Hopefully DH can hold her

It shouldn't even be that long. Ds1 was born at 441 and we were back in our room by 505 (I can tell by the clocks in pictures lol). So if everything goes well it will be pretty fast relatively.


Re: positions: sitting up more was better, I used a lot of pillows to keep me propped up.

And a Boppy definitely helped!!!!

[bookqueen15]

She went to the recovery room with the nurse and DH while I was still being stitched up. I lost a lot of blood so it took awhile. Once I was in recovery the nurse brought her to me to do skin to skin and get her to latch but I was still pretty out of it from the meds and kept falling asleep! It went better once we were in our room.

[Deleted]

Both times the OB said I couldn't do skin to skin right away. He said they don't do that after c-sections. OB needs to sew you up, baby needs to be evaluated and cleaned up, etc. By the time the OB was done with me (30 mins I think?), DD was in my room all cleaned up and swaddled in the warming bassinet. DH brought her to me for feedings. Whenever she woke up, he unswaddled, changed her, brought her to me for nursing, and did everything back in reverse.

ETA: I slowly raised the bed to a semi-sitting position and did cross-cradle hold with some pillows. It was fine.

[6fsn]

They kept insisting I do the football hold. I didn't like it with #1, really didn't like it with #2, and by 3 I was ready to hurt someone that even suggested it.

[blueberry10]

First time DD had to go off to special care for abx so I couldn't BF until later, but second time I got to try right after I got to recovery. I was feeling kind of pukey in the OR so the short wait was fine with me!

[VillainV]

Oct 9, 2015 20:53:13 GMT -5 6fsn said:

They kept insisting I do the football hold. I didn't like it with #1, really didn't like it with #2, and by 3 I was ready to hurt someone that even suggested it.

Yeah, my kid was WAY too big to football hold. Cross-cradle for life!

[Deleted]

Oct 9, 2015 20:53:13 GMT -5 6fsn said:

They kept insisting I do the football hold. I didn't like it with #1, really didn't like it with #2, and by 3 I was ready to hurt someone that even suggested it.

I never got the hang of football, ever. Cross cradle is my jam.

[Deleted]

As soon as I was sewn up they handed J to me. I held him as they wheeled me into the recovery room and then we immediately did skin to skin and nursed.



Eta: H was holding J while I was being stitched up.

[pinotgrig]

We did skin to skin in the recovery room and started BF there, also. I remember the boppy being a pita and I just used hospital pillows to help me with the football hold.

G was handed to me pretty quickly after he checked out ok (which took awhile) and I held him while we wee wheeled to recovery. I remember thinking that was a bad idea (lol?) but it was fine.

[Deleted]

Oct 9, 2015 20:59:52 GMT -5 @mrsbecky said:

Oct 9, 2015 20:54:50 GMT -5 @starry said:

It is so funny what you forget and what you remember.

Also I am traumatized by a youtube video where the mom was BFing getting stitched up. NOT from the BFing but omg I really don't want to know what they are doing with my stomach! AHHHHHH looked terrible lol.

omg h is still traumatized bc apparently one tech during my first csection was positioned in such a way that he could see EVERYTHING in her glasses. I do actually kind of feel bad for him. lol.

I have no idea what DH saw or didn't see. He's never talked about it, and I've never asked.

[ladygrey]

Both times I was able to do skin-to-skin while I was being stitched up; nursing happened right away in recovery (it would not have been comfortable at all to nurse while in surgery). I used the recline on the hospital bed to my advantage so I didn't have to try and sit up right away. The Boppy was also extremely helpful and comfortable. I know a lot of moms like the laid-back position, but I always felt like I got a better latch/position from a traditional cradle hold.

[thatgirl2478]

I want to say I was able to bf within an hour or 2 - but I was so out of it (lost a lot of blood) it may have been a lot later. DD2 latched just fine later. I wouldn't try it laying down - just sitting up reclined.

I tried football hold - but it never worked right. I just put a pillow over my incision and went from there.

[panicfoot]

At my hospital they allow skin to skin in the OR. Did had Togo to the NICU so it was three days before I could hold and BF him but if there is a number two, I hope to try again!

[pacificrules]

I asked if my husband could do skin-to-skin right away (since I didn't feel like I had enough room to have her on my chest) and they said yes. She was on the table/cart area for a few minutes and he held her right after that and put her on his chest. She was sort of sucking on his stomach and so he asked them/me if she could try to BF. He held her on my chest and she nursed while I was being sewn up. Once we were back in the room I laid her next to me and nursed that way for quite awhile.

[countthestars]

Not a CS mom, but even with skin to skin right away neither of my kids latched for at least two hours so I wouldn't worry if it takes a bit before she is able to snuggle up and try!

[t]

Were any of you guys sick during/after your c/s? I was so busy either dry heaving or actually vomiting during and after both of my surgeries that it was difficult to do anything. Lol to me pulling her out! I think one if the nurses was standing on my chest to try and push DD2 down out of my ribs. I remember asking the anesthesiologist if I was dying.
I did nurse DD2, I think, like an hour after surgery. I know DH was with her in the OR while I was being closed back up and then he wheeled the bassinet to our room. With DD1, I was so sick that I couldn't get out of bed to see her in the nicu and attempt to nurse until she was almost a day old. I was pumping in my room, again, between vomit sessions. But I still nursed for a year with no issues after the first six weeks (when I used a shield).