What’s the deal with c-sections?
My first born being birthed out of my belly.
April is cesarean section awareness month.
People have beautiful babies. Some people have those babies via a vaginal birth, and some have those babies via a belly birth. No matter how you birth your baby, you grew them, then you birthed them. CONGRATULATIONS! That is HUGE! That is a MIRACLE! and that is AMAZING!
A cesarean section is a major abdominal surgery. If you labored before having a belly birth, then your body basically when through 2 labors- a vaginal labor and a belly labor. If you had a scheduled c-section, then your body still went through a major abdominal surgery to birth your baby.
A c-section consists of the surgeon cutting through the skin, then 3 abdominal muscles, then the abdominal cavity, and then the uterus (and that is if there are no complications from previous surgeries). That is A LOT of layers that need to be cut into!
For comparison, a knee replacement consists of cutting the skin, then into one tendon (the part of the muscle that attaches to the bone), and then the bone. Yes, they do cut the bone, but only one muscle was cut.
For a c-section, after they cut into 7 different layers of your body, 3 of them being your core muscles that help to hold you up, you usually are instructed to get out of bed once the anesthesia has worn off. Then you are sent home in a couple of days and instructed not to carry anything heavier than your baby. That is all. Nothing more is done.
After a total knee replacement, once the anesthesia has worn off, you are usually instructed to get out of bed with a device to help you walk and a physical therapist to make sure you know how to walk after your surgery. You are usually instructed in how to take care of your new knee, how it is important to rest, and some exercises that you should get started on to help the muscles heal and function properly. You are usually sent home the next day or 2 and then have a follow up physical therapy appointment that same week or the following. You will do physical therapy for a few months to 6 months until you are fully able to do everything you want to be able to do with you new knee.
Why is it that after an artificial knee replacement we are well cared for, given adequate education, and made sure we can do everything we want to do after the surgery, but after a cesarean section that might have been unplanned and traumatic, we are not told anything about how we should care for our body and ourselves? We are not given follow up appointments to make sure our muscles know what they need to do. We are not given multiple follow up appointments to make sure we are able to do everything we want to do and are happy with our results. Is it because we are usually given a beautiful child, and that should be good enough? What about the parents who don’t get to leave the hospital with a child? They are treated the same.
This just is not good enough! We deserve better. Our bodies just went through 9 months of creating a human and now our lives are changed forever and we are expected to not think twice about the major surgery we just experienced.
No matter if you had a c-section yesterday or 60 years ago, it is never too late to make sure your muscles are working properly, the scar is healed or is healing correctly, and the other organs affected by your body are all functioning properly after your surgery.
A c-section can cause lower abdominal pain, weakness, back pain, incontinence (leaking urine), inability to control gas or bowel movements (poop), hip pain, difficulty urinating, constipation, and pain with intercourse.
Be sure to see a physical therapist to make sure your muscles and scar healed properly after your surgery.
It is cesarean awareness month and every person who has had a c-section deserves to live pain and leak free and be able to be strong enough to do everything they want, including chasing after their kids!
