What Happens During a C-Section?
🌿What Happens During a C-Section? What to Expect Before, During and After Surgery
Whether your C-section is planned, unplanned, or happens during labor, it's normal to wonder what the experience will actually be like.
What happens in the operating room?
Will you feel anything?
How long does recovery take?
Nearly one in three births occurs by C-section, yet many mothers say they weren't fully prepared for what to expect before surgery, during delivery, or in the days that follow.
Understanding the process ahead of time can help reduce anxiety and make recovery feel a little less overwhelming.
If you're preparing for a C-section, don't be afraid to ask questions. Knowing your options and understanding what happens before, during, and after surgery can help you feel more confident going into birth.
🌿Questions to Ask Before a Planned C-Section
If you're having a planned C-section, consider asking these questions during your pre-operative appointment or while you're being prepared for surgery:
- How long do you expect the surgery to take?
- What type of anesthesia will I receive and what side effects should I expect?
- How long will I stay in the hospital?
- Does the hospital allow skin-to-skin contact in the operating room?
- What happens if I go into labor before my scheduled C-section?
- Does the hospital provide belly bands or postpartum recovery supplies?
- Do you practice gentle or family-centered C-sections?
A gentle or family-centered C-section aims to make the experience feel more similar to a vaginal birth by encouraging family involvement, immediate bonding, and in some cases using a clear drape so parents can participate more actively in the birth experience.
🌿What Happens During a C-Section Surgery?
The operating room can feel intimidating if you've never seen one before, but many of the things that happen during surgery are completely normal.
Here's what you can expect:
1. The OR is cold! They may offer you a warm blanket or warm air, say yes!
2. The OR will be jam packed. Meaning there will be your doctor, and maybe another who’s assisting, the anesthesiologist and a few labor and delivery nurses. Don’t be alarmed this is all normal – remember you’re having major surgery.
3. You'll have a Catheter – a flexible tube inserted in your bladder, your pee goes there.
4. You may feel nauseous from the anesthesia. Your anesthesiologist will be right by your side….literally. Let him know how you feel.
5. You will feel pressure and pulling. Even though you won’t feel any pain or be able to move the lower half of your body, you will feel the pulling and pressure as they try to get your baby out.
6. You may get the shakes during surgery and in recovery. Ask for warm blankets.
7. If you are given general anesthesia you will probably not remember waking up and the next hour or so.
8. If you have a spinal or epidural you will be in the recovery room until you are able to move your toes.
9. Stay on top of your pain medication. Don’t wait for your pain meds to wear off to ask for more.
10. Keep Pillows Around. Pillows make excellent splints when you need to cough, laugh, or sneeze. Just hold it tightly over your belly.
11 Get up and walk as soon as you can. Find out from your nurse if they haven’t told you when you can start walking. You will not feel like it but you’ve got to get moving.
12. If you get stool softeners, take them! Why do you need them? Well to make pooping more comfortable. No matter what type of birth you’ve had you’ll want them. For C Section moms the drugs make you constipated, a stool softener helps. A stool softener will make for less straining and less discomfort when you go.
13. Some moms get hemorrhoids during pregnancy or from pushing during delivery, — others have tears or incisions (down there) that are sensitive. You’ll need our perineal kit to help you heal after your c section. In the first days use our peri balm to soothe : here’s a quick healing hack — apply some peri balm on a cotton pad, then dab the pad all over your incision. Our balm is formulated with witch hazel and peppermint and provides instant relief to cools and soothes your incision pain. Numbing sprays and gels are no..no. They just numb the area and mask pain instead of giving your long lasting healing.
🌿 The First 24 Hours After a C-Section
The first day after surgery is focused on rest, monitoring, pain management, and helping your body begin the recovery process.
Here's what you can expect during the first 12–24 hours:
1. Depending on the type of anesthesia you have, you and your baby may be sleepy for awhile after the procedure. Sleep as much as you can. More and more hospitals are cutting out nurseries. You may have baby from day one, and sleeping will be on and off. Either way, make the most of it. And make sure you have a support person in the hospital with you.
2. Expect to be swollen. They give you a lot of IV fluids before, during and after surgery. Try to keep your feet elevated to reduce the swelling in your feet and ankles.
3. You won’t be able to eat solid food until you pass gas. Don’t be shy. You probably haven’t eaten in at least 12 hours and you will be hungry. And you won’t until you pass gas. Once you do, your first meal will be clear liquids and foods such as chicken soup, tea, ginger ale, apple juice, and jello.
4. If you have a cesarean section, it may take longer for your milk to come in compared to if you have a vaginal delivery. You'll want to put the baby to breast as soon as possible and breastfeed very often as possible. If for some reason you’re unable to right away, tell you nurse you still want to as soon as you’re able to - to help stimulate milk production.
If you are like me and your c section is planned ahead of time, it means you can plan for your postpartum period.
🌿 How to Prepare for C-Section Recovery at Home
If you're like me and your C-section is planned ahead of time, one advantage is being able to prepare for your postpartum recovery before baby arrives.
Here are a few things I did that made a difference:
1. With my first birth I was completely clueless and didn’t plan so with my second I planned for care at home — ideally you need someone — friend or family to wait on you hand and foot for the first two weeks.
2. You will need help!! If you can, have a family member other than your partner in the first few days, ideally you want someone who has given birth and understands the raw emotions that comes with postpartum. And now with COVID, if they can quarantine before the baby comes even more awesome.
3. If there are sibling(s), you need to think about who is going to take care of them while you heal and recover? My daughter was five so throughout my pregnancy I was preparing her on what to expect, I bought books that I read to her in preparation. If yours are too young, you’ll definitely need another hand and a few books about becoming a big bro or sis can’t hurt.
4. Get that supply station ready, c section restricts your movement. Make the things you need are close enough at your bedside, sofa or wherever you will spend majority of your time.
5. Stock up on reading materials, I was stuck upstairs my house isolated and in pain. Get a few books on the first year of motherhood to brace yourself for the time ahead.
6. What will you eat — freezing meals a few days before or have family/friend drop off meals. Otherwise a meal delivery like @hellofresh or @blueapron.
7. Ask your doctor for extra pain medication and stool softener before you leave the hospital. If you don’t get extra pain meds you will want to stock up.
A c section also means more time in hospital. How much shorter it depends on your recovery and how well you are healing. One thing’s for sure, you’ll have less recovery time at the hospital and more time on your own to figure things out.
🌿 C-Section Recovery Tips That Help
One of the biggest frustrations I had after my first C-section was being told only that recovery would take six to eight weeks.
No one explained what recovery actually looked like.
These are some of the recovery tips that helped me most:
If you're like me the most you'll hear is it takes 6 - 8 weeks to heal. That's it, I wasn't told anything else and had to find out the hard way. I don't want this to happen to you so here are my recovery tips for you.
1. Take the stool softener, your first poop will hurt, ease the pain ahead of time by taking stool softeners. 💊
2. Coughing will be painful. Every time you need to cough, grab a pillow. Place it on your belly, pillows act as splints, lessening the pain.
3. WALK WALK WALK. Walking stimulates your organs, prevents blood clots and reduces fluid retention.
4. FOOOOOD, and more food. Most of us are iron deficient after birth, me me I had to have a blood transfusion. Load up on iron rich food.
5. As soon as you're comfortable touching. Massage around your scar, it helps desensitize and free up your skin to reduce numbness. Most of us aren't told this and are left with numbness months/years later.
6. Before you do any exercise talk to a pelvic floor therapist.
7. You want everything at waist level no extra stretching to reach for stuff. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
8. Once you get the all clear for baths, soak in a bath tub of healing herbs. Healing herbs like yarrow fights inflammation and speed up healing. (you'll want our sitz bath for that).🛁
9. Use our peri balm to soothe your scar soreness. No one tells you how to heal after and that’s where we come in.
🌿 Related C-Section Recovery Resources
Recovery doesn't end when you leave the hospital.
You may also find these resources helpful:
• C-Section Recovery Guide: What to Expect After Birth
• How Long Does Postpartum Recovery Take? A Week-by-Week Timeline
• Postpartum Essentials Checklist: What You Actually Need After Birth
Every recovery journey is different, but understanding what to expect can make the early weeks feel a little less overwhelming.
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