Scheduled Cesarean Section

Instruction Sheet

Patient Name:__________________________________________________________

Scheduled date and time:_________________________________________________

Before you leave home

Please leave all jewelry and valuable items at home. Jewelry can not be worn in the operating room. Please also make sure that you do not have any metal bobby pins, hair clips or ponytail holders in. Also, hospital policy does not allow any video taping of the cesarean birth. You may video tape your baby after he/she is born or you are welcome to take still pictures.

Please make sure that you have had nothing to eat or drink since midnight. This includes no cigarette smoking prior to your procedure. If your doctor/midwife has instructed you to take medication prior to your procedure, please take it with a small sip of water and notify your nurse at the hospital.

When you arrive at the hospital

Please check in at the registration desk. The attendants will ask for your insurance cards and confirm the reason for your visit. Once you have checked in, proceed to the Women’s Center. Press the doorbell located on the wall next to the double doors. We are a locked unit for the safety of you and your baby. When the doors unlock, go to the nurses’ desk and you will be escorted to your room.

Once you are settled into your room, your nurse may ask you for a urine sample, your blood will be drawn, IV started, and you will be placed on the fetal monitor. Your nurse will make an assessment of you and your baby and will answer any additional questions you may have.

When it is time for your c-section, you will be taken to the operating room where anesthesia will administer your spinal. Once your spinal is in place, the nurse will get your support person. Don’t forget your camera!

When your c-section is over, you and your baby will be taken back to your room. We no longer take healthy babies to the nursery while you go to a separate recovery room. However, the hour following your c-section is still considered a recovery period and only your support person will be allowed in your room. Please take this time to rest, take pictures, breastfeed, and enjoy a few special moments of family bonding. After your recovery time is complete your nurse will tell you that it is okay for visitors to come in.

On rare occasion, spinal anesthesia is not an option and you will need to have general anesthesia (be put to sleep) for the surgery. If this occurs, unfortunately, your support person will not be able to go with you to the operating room but is welcome to wait in your hospital room. After your baby is born, he will be brought to your room or to the newborn nursery and you will go to the recovery room for about an hour.

When you return from surgery, you may feel hungry. You will first be given ice chips. If those do not make you feel sick to your stomach, you can try some clear liquids such as jello and soup broth. If you tolerate those well, we will continue to advance your diet until you are on regular food. This process can take 1-2 meals, or up to a day or two. It is very important that we go slowly in advancing your food intake to allow your body to wake up from the anesthesia medications.

While you are in surgery, a nurse will place a foley catheter. We will wait until you are numb from your spinal to do this so that you do not experience any discomfort, but the catheter will remain in your bladder until the morning following your surgery.

Your legs can feel numb up to 12 hours after your surgery so you will not be allowed to get out of bed until then. The first time you do get up a nurse needs to be in the room with you. When you are unable to get out of bed or move your legs, there is an increased risk of developing a blood clot in your legs. For that reason, we will place Synchronized Compression Devices (SCD’s) on your legs once you return to your room from surgery. The SCD’s use a pumping motion to help circulate blood through your legs to decrease the risk of a clot forming. It’s kind of like getting a nice, long leg massage! The SCD’s will stay on your legs until you are able to get up and walk around.

You will also be asked to use a breathing machine called an Incentive Spirometer (I.S.). This machine will help keep you from developing pneumonia. Your nurse or respiratory therapist will instruct you how to use the machine.

As a reminder, Fitzgibbon Hospital is a Non Smoking facility and you will not be allowed to smoke during your hospital stay. If you feel you need assistance with cravings, your doctor can prescribe a Nicotine patch for you to wear.

If you have any questions or concerns about anything you have read on this information sheet, we would be happy to talk to you. Please call 660-831-3253.

The birth of your baby is a very exciting time and at The Women’s Center, we look forward to caring for you and your new little one.