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What are the complications after cesarean section?
Something in the future passes, but something remains for life.
Many people think that giving birth by caesarean section is much easier than naturally. She fell asleep, and woke up already with a child in her arms. There are no breaks in the causal place, nothing is stretched in that very place. Of course, for some women, a caesarean section is a necessity, but there are those who deliberately go under the knife. Moms are sure that such an operation is as easy as shelling pears, but how wrong they are. Here are 13 consequences that can happen after a cesarean section.
1. Problems with menstruation
After a cesarean period, your period may be more painful, heavy, and irregular. You will have to wait until the scar on the uterus is completely healed. During menstruation, the muscle layer of the uterine wall in the scar area contracts, which causes pain.
However, some women do not notice much difference in periods before and after surgery. This means that their body was able to quickly recover after a cesarean.
2. Lack of maternal instinct
In natural childbirth, as soon as the baby is born, it is immediately applied to the mother’s breast. Unfortunately, for women who give birth under anesthesia, this is not possible. Mothers see their child only after a while and sometimes feel a kind of barrier between themselves and the baby. It may take some time for some to feel maternal affection, and for some, this feeling may never arise.
Usually, the uterus of a woman who has given birth immediately begins to contract, which protects the young mother from excessive bleeding. However, it happens that at the birth of a large baby, after a protracted childbirth or a cesarean uterus remains in a relaxed state (atony of the uterus), which threatens with large blood loss. Doctors treat this condition with drugs based on prostaglandins.
Caesarean section is a major operation that will take some time to recover from. And it can take years for your abdominal muscles to recover. Some women, at the sight of their own bodies, fall into depression and, instead of taking care of themselves, lean on sweets, seizing their experiences. For moms looking to strengthen their muscles after childbirth, physical therapy can be a great option.
About 7% of women who gave birth via cesarean have a complication such as endometritis. An infection enters the uterus, and inflammation begins. In most cases, endometritis can be treated with antibiotics, but in very rare cases, the infection results in the removal of the uterus.
They also happen to mothers who gave birth naturally. This is due to the weak muscles of the pelvic floor. However, women often recover longer after cesarean. Because of this, moms are more likely to experience bladder spasms, unexpected pain and cramps, and incontinence.
Another problem due to weakened muscles is urinary retention in the urinary tract, which often results in infection. Pay attention to symptoms: fatigue, fever, pelvic pain, frequent and strong urge to use the toilet, which are ineffective.
Nowadays, doctors do such a jewelry job that a cesarean scar is often invisible under a tiny swimsuit. And in one of the clinics in Israel they have already learned how to do caesarean without stitches. However, after a cesarean, the scar remains not only on the skin, but also on the uterus. And a woman needs to be extremely careful not to damage it – this can lead to serious consequences, as well as problems in subsequent pregnancies.
Sometimes an infection can develop around the layers of skin that surround the scar, and if delayed with treatment, it will lead to purulent inflammation. In addition, there is a possibility that the site of the scar and the surrounding tissue will not heal properly. Because of this, even years after giving birth, there is a risk of a new infection.
This is a complication that can occur during pregnancy. The placenta blocks the internal pharynx of the uterus, and hence the path for the baby being born. If the presentation is not detected in time, everything can end in birth trauma, serious health problems for the mother and child, and sometimes even his death. One of the main reasons for placenta previa is scarring on the uterus after cesarean.
Having a caesarean section does not mean that a woman will not be able to give birth again. However, in most cases, she will have to do the cesarean again. Of course, there is a chance of giving birth naturally, but most doctors do not recommend this method due to the danger of uterine rupture.
After surgery, the body tries to restore the integrity of the organ on its own. The process of active scarring is started, the protein substance fibrin is released, which glues the tissues. However, it happens that fibrin affects the intestinal loops and pelvic organs, which causes adhesions to appear. There are pains in the pelvic and abdominal area, bowel upset, constipation, flatulence.
If you ignore the problem, in the future everything can end up with serious complications, as well as ectopic pregnancy and even infertility. One study found that women who had three or more caesarean sections were twice as likely to have tight adhesions than those who had their first or second caesarean section.
11. Post-traumatic stress disorder
Or seven out of a hundred mothers experience PTSD after childbirth. Moreover, women after a cesarean section are more susceptible to this disorder than those who gave birth naturally. Fear, lack of support before, during or after childbirth can be bad for the mother’s psyche.
Symptoms of PTSD include poor sleep, nightmares, irritability, anxiety, panic attacks, and withdrawal. Memories of childbirth are horrifying, and the woman tries in every possible way to forget this day.
Scientists in Scotland found that 20% of mothers who had a caesarean section had difficulty trying to get pregnant again.
A pregnant woman dreams of the day when she first meets her baby. However, moms who have had surgery during childbirth may have very different emotions.
Some women after a caesarean section, including due to hormones and stress, experience feelings of guilt, loss, detachment, as well as anger, resentment, and even low self-esteem.
Sometimes mothers feel as if they have let two babies down, since they could not give birth in a natural way. Someone has to endure hateful condescending comments from women who gave birth in the old fashioned way. Say, she herself did not give birth, which means that she was not a mother. Try to distract yourself from all this and think only about your baby. What difference does it make how he was born? Natural childbirth is not yet a guarantee that a woman will become a good mother.