7 Ways to Have a Gentle Cesarean Experience
In 2016, the national cesarean rate was 31.9 percent. While you all know me as a passionate vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) advocate and proactive about reducing the cesarean rate, I am grateful we have access to this surgery that can save both moms’ and babies’ lives.
C-sections are a reality (and sometimes a blessing) for many expectant mothers. Even when surgery is the safest option for birth, many mothers experience feelings of disempowerment, disappointment, fear and overwhelm.
Wherever you are on your pregnancy journey - a first time mom working on a natural birth plan, facing a planned C-section or cesarean birth after cesarean (CBAC) or planning your VBAC, it’s a good idea to know your options in a cesarean birth, should you need one.
In birth, ignorance is not bliss.
Let’s empower you with knowledge.
What is a gentle Cesarean?
A gentle cesarean, also known as a family centered cesarean or a natural cesarean, is still a surgical birth. It’s the details of the surgical environment that make a gentle C-section different from a traditional one. Gentle C-sections offer a more natural and nurturing experience for the family by bringing many elements of a vaginal delivery into the operating room environment.
Gentle cesarean is a relatively new concept and some hospitals have not yet caught up with this growing trend. While the differences between a standard cesarean and a gentle cesarean might seem minor, they can have a significant impact on the birthing experience for parents and babies.
What does a gentle Cesarean look like?
It’s hard to imagine how a cesarean could be gentle, or anything like a vaginal birth. But as more and more women become empowered to take control of their birthing experience, there are many ways in which hospitals and healthcare providers have adjusted the C-section experience from being cold and scary to a more mother-centered, natural approach.
Dr. David Garfinkel, an attending physician at Morristown Medical Center and senior partner at ONE to ONE FemaleCare in New Jersey, describes it as a change in attitudes toward C-sections that aims to make the C-section experience in the operating room as similar as possible to the labor and delivery room.
How do I ‘sign up’ for a gentle Cesarean?
It’s important to discuss the option of a gentle cesarean with your doctor earlier on in your pregnancy so your wishes can be made known ahead of time. This avoids having to make these kinds of requests and decisions in an emergency type of situation where time is of the essence and emotions are running high.
It also allows for the medical team to be aware of the kinds of logistical changes that need to be met in the operating room to accommodate a gentle cesarean experience.
Things like bringing in additional nursing staff that would normally be in a vaginal birthing room, relocating equipment and clearing drapes are more likely to happen if there is time to prepare.
Top 7 ways to create a gentle C-section experience:
There are a lot of different options to create a gentle Cesarean experience, and each region, hospital and doctor will have their own allowances and limitations so be sure to check ahead of time what is possible.
Here are some of the more popular accommodations to ask about for your gentle cesarean:
Adjust the medications.
If you want to feel more present for the birth, you may be able to request that certain types of anesthesia be avoided. Many women don’t even remember meeting their baby for the first time due to the standard mix of medications administered for a cesarean.
Your anesthesiologist can adjust the medications, allowing you to be more aware and coherent during the procedure.
2. Create a more natural delivery vibe.
In a standard cesarean, your baby is typically delivered quickly. In a gentle cesarean, your baby can be delivered headfirst, in a slower manner that more resembles a vaginal birth. Doing this also allows baby’s chest to be squeezed and fluid to be removed from their lungs.
Some hospitals and doctors will allow the surgery drape to be lowered or cleared away so you can see your baby being born. Keep in mind that drapes will be used for the procedure up to your baby being ready for delivery.
3. Skin-to-skin contact.
In a routine C-section, mom’s arms are typically strapped down and several monitoring devices are placed on her chest, arm and fingers. This makes immediate skin-to-skin and early breastfeeding a challenge.
Here are a few ways to help you achieve immediate skin-to-skin with your little one in surgery:
Ask to keep your arms free from straps or have your arms released immediately after the birth, while the doctors are closing you up.
Request that monitoring devices are placed on your body in areas that will allow you to position and hold your baby more easily. For example, use your non-dominant arm for an IV, use your toe (instead of your finger) for pulse monitoring.
Ask for the EKG monitor to be placed on your side rather than your chest so you can have the baby placed on you right away.
If for medical reasons, you cannot hold your baby or breastfeed immediately, you can request that your partner has immediate skin-to-skin contact instead.
4. Operating Room Environment.
In a standard labor and delivery room, effort is usually made to create a calm, relaxing environment and you can strive to create that in the operating room, too. For example, you can request a sound machine or your own music to create similar calming effect and muffle the beeps and hisses of the medical equipment.
Another option is to nicely request that the doctor and nurses keep small talk to a minimum. Who really wants to hear about their weekend plans in that situation, amiright?
5. Surgery recovery
Assuming that mom and baby are doing well after surgery, try to request that your baby stay with you into the recovery area. While 75% of people who have cesarean births are separated from their baby for at least an hour after birth, only about 20% of vaginal births experience this separation.
An alternative may be for your partner to stay with the baby in the nursery until you’re out of recovery while your doula or another close friend can stay with you.
6. Delayed first bath
Another standard procedure in a cesarean is to give the baby a bath immediately. There are amazing benefits to leaving that powerful vernix on. As they say, “... don’t rub it off, rub it in.”
If you decide to delay the first bath, be sure to put plenty of coverage on top of baby, since the operating room is usually very cold.
7. Additional support person
Often times standard labor and delivery rooms can accommodate a doula, a friend or a birth photographer in addition to your primary support person. Having this option for your cesarean is a good way to create a more nurturing environment.
Do your research.
It’s important to do your research on the gentle cesarean options available to you in your region to help you make the best decision for you and your baby.
While the internet can provide some great information, you can do this best by talking to your doctor and to discuss each option while taking a hospital tour (which I highly recommend doing!). You can then know what’s available to you and include your preferences in your birth plan. Don’t have one? Click here to download my free birth plan template.