C section

Almost one-third of births in the U.S. are delivered by Hospitals offering gentle cesareans allow you to have a family member with you. You also have choices about What Is a Gentle C-Section? A gentle C-section is also done in a hospital operating room but is more "family-friendly." You can choose to have background music and ask for dimmed lights. Your doctor will use spinal anesthesia, which numbs the lower half of your body. You don't feel pain during the surgery, but you are fully conscious and can watch your baby being born. With a regular cesarean section, your baby is taken away immediately after birth. They are then dried, cleaned, weighed, examined by a pediatrician, swaddled, and handed over to your family outside the operating room. When you opt for a gentle C-section, your baby stays with you. You use the all-important first hour for bonding. How Is the Gentle C-Section Procedure Done? After you are numbed with anesthesia, your obstetrician begins the C-section, makes cuts in your skin, your abdominal muscles, and your uterus. They'll lift your baby out and then sew up the layers. With a gentle C-section, the green cloth barrier normally used to keep the surgical area sterile is replaced by a clear one so that you can see your baby being born. A C-section is a major surgical procedure, so your medical team will use various monitors. During a gentle cesarean, they attach the leads for these monitors to your side or back. This way, you can hold your baby on your ...

Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. While C-sections are sometimes necessary to save lives, many pregnant people are opting to schedule them when they aren’t medically necessary, says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “While C-sections can prevent injury and even death to those with high-risk pregnancies and their babies, they are also linked to increased risk of complications like blood clotting and infections,” says Ob/Gyn The rapidly rising rate of C-sections among low-risk births has sparked the Department of Health and Human Services to set a national goal of reducing the number of C-sections among low-risk pregnant people with no prior births by 23.6% over the next year. This figure does not include C-sections that are medically necessary for the health of the mother or the baby. The risks of a C-section for mom and baby Going through labor and having a vaginal birth can bea long process that can be physically taxingfor the mother. “But C-sections come with risks for the mother, including risksfrom anesthesia, blood loss, infection, a There also are potential risks for a baby born via C-section. “Babies undergo a process during a vaginal birth that readies their lungs, which are filled with fluid in the uterus, to breathe oxygen after birth,” Dr. Starck says. Babies born via C-section can have respiratory issues with ex...

The Safest Time C-sections scheduled prior to 39 weeks have an increased risk of complications. In some cases, the benefits of scheduling your c-section early outweigh any potential risks. An example would be with triplets or higher-order multiples, placenta previa, or fetal distress. In these cases, the benefits of delivering early clearly outweigh the risks of what's called "late preterm" birth. Babies develop at different rates, and some aren't ready to be born at the 37-week mark. Over the past decade, doctors have studied late preterm births in depth. One surprising discovery is that the Babies born before 39 weeks may still have some of the health problems that earlier preterm babies face, including: Research has shown that late preterm infants may also experience developmental delays which persist until the age of two, especially in the area of language development. If the discomforts of late pregnancy have you itching to meet your baby, take heart. By postponing your delivery until at least 39 weeks, you are giving your baby the best possible start. Dates to Avoid There are many personal factors you may wish to consider when you schedule your c-section. You may wish to avoid dates that your families associates with sadness, such as the anniversary of a loved one's death or another traumatic moment. You may also wish to avoid or commemorate other memorable days such as birthdays and holidays. School Cut-Off Dates Another point you may want to consider is school. The...