When cesarean section hurts

The psychological impact of cesarean section

“Did you have a good time with your Caesarean?” By starting this discussion on Facebook, we did not expect to receive so many responses. Cesarean section is a very common, almost trivial, surgical procedure. Yet, reading all these testimonies, it seems that this type of birth has a real impact on the lives of mothers. In addition to the physical consequences, the cesarean section frequently leaves psychological consequences that are sometimes heavy for the woman who has suffered it.

Rachel: “I have my arms outstretched and tied, I’m chattering my teeth”

“My first vaginal birth went very well, so it was serene that I welcomed my contractions for the delivery of my second baby. But not everything went as planned. On D-day, everything becomes more complicated at the time of the expulsion. The doctor tries to get the baby out using a suction cup, then forceps. Nothing to do. He announces to me: “I can’t do it, I’m going to give you a cesarean”. They take me away. For my part, I have the impression of living the scene outside of my body, and that I have been knocked out with great blows of the club. My arms are outstretched and tied, I chatter my teeth, I think I am living a nightmare… Then, snatches of sentences: “we hurry”; “Your baby is fine”. It is shown to me for a short while, but I don’t realize, for me, it’s still in my stomach.

Little by little I understand that it is all over. Arrived in the recovery room, I see an incubator, but I feel so guilty that I am unable to look at my baby, I do not want him to see me. I burst into tears. A few minutes go by and my husband says to me: “look at him, see how calm he is.” I turn my head and finally I see this little being, my heart warms. I ask to put it to the breast and this gesture is saving : the link is recreated little by little. Physically, I recovered from the cesarean very quickly, but psychologically, I remain traumatized. Eighteen months later, I am unable to tell the story of my son’s birth without crying. I would have liked to have a third child but the fear of childbirth is so great today that I am unable to imagine another pregnancy. “

Emilie: “I would have liked my husband to be with me”

“I had 2 daughters by caesarean section: Liv in January 2009 and Gaëlle in July 2013. For our first child, we had followed a preparation for childbirth with a liberal midwife. It was just awesome. The baby was looking good and this pregnancy was ideal. We were even considering birthing him at home. Unfortunately (or rather with hindsight, fortunately), our daughter turned around at 7 months of pregnancy to present for breech. Very quickly a cesarean was scheduled. Huge disappointment. One day, we prepare to give birth to a baby at home, without an epidural and the next day, we choose the date and time for you when your baby will be born … in the operating room. In addition, I suffered tremendously physically in the post-operative period. Liv weighed 4 kg for 52 cm. She might not have gone natural, even if she had been upside down. For Gaëlle, who promised to be so fat, the cesarean was a precautionary measure. I was in great pain again. My biggest regret today is that my husband could not be present with me in the OR. “

Lydie: “He examines me and, without even speaking to me, says:” we take her down “…”

“Work is progressing, my collar has opened slightly. They put me on the epidural. And it is from this moment that I become a simple spectator of the most beautiful day of my life. The numbing product makes me very high, I don’t understand much. I wait, no evolution. Around 20:30 p.m., a midwife told me that they had to call my gynecologist to check that everything was fine. He arrives at 20:45 pm, examines me and without even speaking to me, says: “we take her down”. It is the midwives who explain to me that I have to undergo a cesarean section, that I have been out of water for too long and that we cannot wait any longer. They shave me, they put the product of the spinal anesthesia on me, and here I am taken in the corridors. My husband follows me, I ask him to come with me, I am told no. JI’m terrified, I’ve never been to an operating theater in my life, I am not prepared for this and there is nothing I can do. I arrive at the OR, I am installed, only the nurses speak to me. My gynecologist is finally here. Without a word he starts to open up to me and suddenly, I feel like a great void in me. They just took my baby out of my womb without telling me. She is presented to me in blankets, I cannot see her, but she cannot stay. I console myself by telling myself that she is joining her dad. I am jealous of him, he will meet her before me. Even now, I can’t help but be disappointed when I think about my childbirth. Why did it not work? If I had not taken the epidural, would I have given birth normally? No one seems to know the answer or seems to understand how much this affects me.

Aurore: “I felt soiled”

“On October 14, I had a cesarean. It was programmed, I was prepared for it, finally that’s what I thought. I didn’t really know what was going to happen, the doctors don’t tell us everything. First of all, there is all the preparation before the operation and there we are just a body, completely naked on a table. Doctors do a lot of things to us without telling us anything. I felt soiled. Then, while I still felt the cold on the left side, they opened me up and there I had tremendous pain. I screamed for them to stop I was in so much pain. Then I was left alone in this recovery room when I wanted to be with my partner and my baby. I’m not talking about post-operative pain or the inability to care for your baby. It all hurt me psychologically. “

3 questions to Karine Garcia-Lebailly, co-president of the Césarine association

The testimonies of these women give us a very different picture of the caesarean section. Do we tend to underestimate the psychological impact of this intervention?

Yes, it is obvious. Today we know well the physical risks of cesarean section, the psychological risk is often overlooked. At first, mothers are relieved that their child has been born and that all is well. The backlash comes later, weeks or even months after birth. Some mothers will be traumatized by the emergency context in which the cesarean section took place. Others feel that they have not really participated in the birth of their child. They “were not able” to give birth vaginally, their body did not provide. For them, it is an admission of failure and they feel guilty. Finally, for other women, it is the fact of having been separated from their partner at this crucial moment that causes suffering. In reality, it all depends a lot on how the woman imagined childbirth, and the circumstances in which the caesarean was performed. Each feeling is different and respectable.  

What levers can we act on to help women?

The cesarean will always be painfully experienced by a woman who wanted at all costs to give birth vaginally. But we can try to limit the trauma. Arrangements that would make it possible to humanize the conditions of the caesarean a little more and to promote the establishment of the mother-father-child bond, are possible.. We can cite for example: the presence of the dad in the operating room (which is far from being systematic), the fact of not tying the mother’s arms, of putting the baby skin-to-skin with her or with the father during sutures, the fact that the baby can be with his parents in the recovery room during post-operative monitoring. I had met a great doctor who said that he made women grow during cesarean section because the uterus was contracting and that facilitated the recovery of the child. For the mother, this simple movement can change everything. She feels like an actress again from birth.

How to reassure future mothers?

Not all women have a bad caesarean. For some, everything is going well both physically and psychologically. It seems to me that the most important thing is to tell future mothers that they must not only inform themselves about the cesarean section, which is a heavy surgical act, but also about the protocols that are practiced in the maternity hospital where they have planned to. give birth. We can consider going elsewhere if certain practices do not suit us.

Above, the cover of the first youth album intended for children born by Caesarean section. “Tu es née de mon belly” written by and illustrated by Camille Carreau