I have had 2 emergency c-sections for different reasons and never been strapped down. In both cases I held the baby on my chest whilst they stitched me up then went to recovery and had the first feed about 45 mins later when on the ward.

This probably happened (the timings) because both were born in the very early morning so skeletal midwife resources to have the feed happen earlier but it caused no problems for me or either girl.

Best of luck with the VBAC! It felt fantastic for me to try although after 26 hrs of labour, dd2 had other ideas. I'm going for VBA2C this time around.