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When vaginal birth is impossible, cesarean section remains the only solution. Thanks to new surgical techniques, we suffer less, we recover faster and we also enjoy our baby.
Cesarean section: when, how?
Today, more than one in five births takes place by cesarean section. Sometimes in an emergency, but most often the intervention is scheduled for medical reasons. The objective: to anticipate in order to reduce the risks of an emergency childbirth. During pregnancy, examinations may indeed reveal a too narrow pelvis or a placenta located on the cervix which will prevent the baby from coming out vaginally. Just like certain positions that he adopts in utero, in transverse or in full seat. The fragile state of health of the expectant mother or fetus can also lead to a decision to have a cesarean. Finally, in the event of multiple births, doctors often favor the “high way” for safety. They are generally scheduled ten to fifteen days before the end of the term. Parents, carefully informed, therefore have time to prepare for it. Of course, a surgical act is never trivial and as a birth one can dream of better. But, obstetrician-gynecologists now have much more comfortable techniques for expectant mothers. The so-called Cohen one, the most widely used, makes it possible to reduce the number of incisions in particular. Result for the mother, less painful post-operative effects. Another positive point, maternity hospitals are increasingly humanizing this hypermedicalized childbirth, difficult to live with for some parents. If all goes well, the newborn will stay a long time “skin to skin” with his mother. The dad, sometimes invited to the operating room, then takes over.
Head for the boulder!
8 h 12 The midwife of the maternity hospital receives Emeline and Guillaume who have just arrived. Blood pressure measurement, temperature measurement, urinalysis, monitoring … The midwife gives the green light for the cesarean section.
9 h 51 On the way to the OR! Emeline, all smiles, reassures Guillaume who does not wish to attend the intervention.
10 h 23 A powerful disinfectant is applied to Emeline’s stomach.
10 h 14 Thanks to a small local anesthesia, the future mother does not feel the needle of the spinal anesthesia. It is also much thinner than that used for the epidural. The doctor injects between the 3rd and 4th lumbar vertebrae a powerful numbing cocktail directly into the cerebrospinal fluid. Soon the entire lower body is numb and, unlike an epidural, there is no catheter left in place. This locoregional anesthesia lasts about two hours.
Marla points the tip of her nose
10 h 33 After a urinary catheterization, the young woman is installed on the operating table. The nurses set up the fields.
10 h 46 Emeline is ready. A nurse takes her hand, but the mother-to-be is serene: “I know what’s going to happen. I am not afraid of the unknown and, above all, I cannot wait to discover my baby. ”
10 h 52 Doctor Pachy is already at work. He first incises the skin above the pubis, horizontally, about ten centimeters. Then he spreads the different layers of muscles, tissues and organs with his fingers to thread his way to the peritoneum which he incises, before reaching the uterus. One last stroke of the scalpel, aspiration of the amniotic fluid and …
11:03 am… Marla points the tip of her nose!
11 06 pm The umbilical cord has been cut and Marla, immediately wrapped in cloth, is quickly wiped and dried before being introduced to her mom.
The first meeting
11 h 08 First meeting. No words, just looks. Intense. To prevent the baby from getting cold, the midwives have tinkered around Marla a cozy little nest. Snuggled up in the sleeve of a hospital gown connected to a small auxiliary heater, the newborn is now looking for its mother’s breast. Doctor Pachy has already started to suture the uterus.
11 h 37 While Emeline is in the recovery room, Guillaume witnesses her baby’s “first steps” in awe.
11 h 44 Marla weighs 3,930 kg! Very proud and above all very moved, the young dad gets to know his daughter in a tender skin to skin. A magical moment before meeting the mother together in her room.