Breastfeeding and contact following Caesarian

[beau_9]

i have to have a c section birth for my first born and for someone who is absolutely petrified of hospitals i would be so much more relaxed at having DH and baby with me after the birth and in the recovery room. i can't believe some hospitals do and others won't even consider it. you would think as long as everything's gone fine they would allow it for the new family.
my sister had her son by c-section and said it was awful how they we're ushered out of the operating room away from her, after a quick photo and we're not allowed in the recovery room for what seemed like ages before she could actually hold her baby and see her husband.
my DH is determined to be by my side the entire time, even though we have yet to find out if they allow this to happen at our hospital. i pray they do but i have some doubts.

[auzzie.chick]

Hi All

i'm booked to have a caesarian section in six weeks time. I've read that some people have to wait until they get out of recovery in order to have some proper contact time and breastfeeding, whilst others report having the baby and their partners with them in recovery and being able to breastfeed at this time.

I am going to Frances Perry House - so wondering if anyone who has had a caesarian there knows how things go at FPH. I am going to ask if the baby and my partner can come with me to recovery rather than wait in the room, but want to know if others have had experience at FPH.

Thanks,

Kaz

Did you end up having bubs in recovery with you? or skin to skin contact i'm due to go to fph september and had c/s with my first bub and have been advised c/s for second.

[GiiGii]

I will be having a scheduled c-section on March 26th because of large fibroid tumors. The hospital where I'm delivering is very pro breastfeeding. They allow the baby to stay with you 2 hrs after delivery to give time for breastfeeding. I hope everything goes well so that will happen for me.

[MantaRay]

Good on you for asking about this now, so that you can be prepared.

This is a very hot topic atm. Many hospitals still don't allow the babies to be with the mum in recovery despite a raft of evidence that shows having the baby there is best for all concerned. If the policy of FPH is not to allow the baby, you can fight it if you wish. The first step would be to ask the reason for their policy. Often the answer given is that if baby is there, then dad needs to be there also to care for the baby, as mum is recovering from surgery, and if something goes wrong, like a PPH, it is scary for dad to suddenly be evicted with the baby. This is an interesting response, because skin to skin contact with a baby, and bfing straight away greatly reduce the risk of PPH. So by not allowing baby there, they are increasing the risk of something going wrong. My other argument to that would be this shouldn't be a policy, give us that information and allow us to make the choice. If my partner is happy to take this chance then why shouldn't he be able to.

It has also been shown that separation of mum and bub at birth can make it harder to establish bfing. This doesn't mean that you won't be able to, but it can make it harder and let's face it, with a new baby you don't need anything to make life harder. If you are not happy with the policy at the hospital and you'd like to challenge it, I suggest you contact a doula or LC in your area to see if they will support you, or you could contact the Lactation Resource Centre (LRC) run by the ABA and they should be able to give you really good information to support your case.

All the best hun.