Caesarian Questions!

[MamaG]

a friend is 39 weeks and MW thinks baby is breech. She has been told that she might have to have a CS next week unless teh baby turns and she is rather anxious. She HATES needles.

I had an epidural with my DD and I've tried to reassure her but she's contemplating asking for a general as she's so scared at the thought of a needle in her spine.

Any advice I can give her? I've never had a cs

[MamaG]

lulumama wher are you!

[yogimum]

My mw told me my baby was breech and was wrong! i think someone told me that acupuncture can help turn a baby. As for a needle in the spine, I didn't feel a thing.

[moodlumthehoodlum]

ds was of "unstable lie", ie the little bugger kept on moving around until his bottom faced downwards. But elective cs was fine, and I am such a coward, I went into theatre wailing and weeping with fear! But it was really fine, and although the first night post op is quite painful, you can ask for morphine in tablet form, if like me, you are scared of needles.

I've heard that reflexology (with a good, knowledgeable reflexologist) is good at turning lo's.

[lulumama]

am here !!!!

she should ask for a scan to determine baby's exact position..and take heart..there was someone i was supporting antenatally, baby breech, tried everyting, stayed breech, waters broke 10 days early, went to hospital , found baby was vertex, and delivered vaginally a few hours later !!!


re needle in her spine..for an elective, there is less trauma and rushing around, so giving the epi or spinal block is not being done mid contractions or after a long labour

so that makes it less stressful.....

also, she won;t be able to see the needle, so that helps, and the anesthatist will be used to anxious and emotional women..and should be sympathetic

if she is so terrified, she can of course ask for a general, but the implications of that are that she will miss the first hour or so of her babies life, that she will be groggy and out of it for a while, and that she might find it harder to establish breastfeeding....

also GA crosses the placenta and it means baby has to be got out ASAP

she needs to talk to her midwife and express her fears and find out her options

[MamaG]

Thanks all

I'll pass all the comments on, I think i managed to persuade her not to have a GA

Re the epidural, its 7 years 50 weeks and 6 days since I had one (!) - how is hte movemetn nowadays? How long until she'll be up and about?

[bumble75]

MamaG - I ended up having an emergency cs with dd, and the needle in the spine was the thing I was more worried about than the actual cs bit . I had been in labour for ages though so was happy for them to do anything that was going to finally get dd out (and make it stop hurting).

I am glad I didn't need a general though - I got to see and hold dd much quicker - maybe that could sway her to the spinal block option? Recovery after a spinal block I would imagine is also quicker than having a general.

And on a lighter note, for some reason, most anaesthetists seem to be extremely attractive men which might distract her

HTH and everything goes well for your friend!

[MamaG]

htanks bumble

[Roskva]

I had a similar experience to Bumble75. I had a midwife and a nurse holding my hands and generally distracting me, and the anaesthetist was very reassuring, and I honestly didn't feel anything other than a pin prick when he used a local anaesthetic to numb the area before putting the needle in my back. And I am the person who wrote in my birth plan that I was terrified of the idea of an epidural...

I have to say, from the moment the obstetrician said loudly "we need to get this baby out NOW" and paged her consultant, I just wanted whatever was best for my baby and me, in that order, and thirdly I wanted the pain to go away.

My acupuncturist says that she has a very good success rate at turning breech and transverse babies, although if your friend is not keen on needles, that might not be something she wants to try.

[Klaw]

GA is not the answer! she risks finding that she has trouble with bonding and the CS in her mind. She still has to have the pre op needles which she will SEE.

At least with a spinal, she cannot see it!

I do NOT ever want an epidural due to uneasiness about someone putting a needle in my spine and have ended up with two spinals! Grrrr!

Moxibustion can still be considered. Here are some links I post on another forum:

If baby is Breech:
www.radmid.demon.co.uk/Skills.htm
www.breechbabies.com/contents.htm
www.birthinternational.com/articles/andrea13.html
www.mother-care.ca/breech.htm
www.moondragon.org/obgyn/pregnancy/breech.html

[Klaw]

MamaG,

I'm off to the chat rooms now to post some ideas for days out, I've just realised the date

[MamaG]

Thank you very much for the csection advice, I'm sure my mate will be reassured

[eleusis]

If she is definately having a section I recommend the needle in the back rather than a general. I had a general for my first section as a matter of emergency. The who failed induction experience was so miserable I was absoolutely delighted when they said they were going to have to nock me out. I remember thing "thank God. I don't want to be here anyway." So when I was booked in for a planned section, I considered asking for a general. I was talked out of it at Queen Charlotte. I'm not squeemish about needles, but I really didn't fancy lying on the table with no control over my legs. But, in the end it was fine. It was nice to be there and awake when my son was born. The local was definattely better. And you don't feel quite so bad the rest of the day with the local.