I had pretty much the same experience as Feeb. And was told that it was normal for my hospital to do it, for a muber of reasons, but mainly that was as it is too cold in the theatre, and I had both arms hooked up to machines and drips, and to be honest, I dont think I would have been capable of holding my baby in theatre... I got bad shakes at one point.

I had both boys on naked on my chest within 30 min after surgery, as they prioritise c-sect in recovery and get you back to the ward asap. (My hospital only has funding for a mw in recovery three day a week...). In fact, I got up to the ward before DH and DS the first time. I also did a breast crawl with both of them. DS2 has his the minute I got my hands on him, but DS1 it took a few days for me to do it, and it still worked. I feel I got my "bonding" with both of them from this...

I suggest that talking it through with the hospital might be a good way to gauge their willingness for you to have that skin to skin in surgery. Good Luck!!!