CSec at Latifa (what happens) and cost of private room

Hi Amy! My DH just informed me that there were free private rooms available but that he wanted to treat me to a VIP room. It's a good thing that he told me that because I was feeling annoyed that he didn't get me any flowers! For that price, it was just a room with two armchairs and a fruit bowl. The nurse on hand is standard in all rooms. Anon - sorry - I know you are a busy bee right now, but I just thought about the 'free' private rooms - so they were 0AED? That would save 2K! :) Hi Amy! Yes, they are free but it seems highly unlikely that any would be available. I don't think Latifa was that busy during the time I was there.

I had 3 cs births at Latifa - 1 emcs and 2 planned. What anaesthesia is used? CS1: epidural CS2: spinal block CS3: spinal block Spinal much better than epidural as did not get shivers. How long does it take? A few minutes. If you have planned cs you will probably get Dr Strachal (sic?) who is amazing. I've read ppl itch and are nauseous afterwards but that some drs put anti itch/nausea meds into their anaesthetics? Slightly itchy face after CS3 but nothing serious. How many days after did you leave? CS1: 4 CS2: 3 CS3: 3 what pain meds were you on afterwards? Not sure - possibly morphine for 1st day - but whatever it was it worked. Were you given a prescription that could be picked up at the Latifa hospital, or did you have to go elsewhere? Can't remember 100% but pretty sure I got what I needed at Latifa. Any possible info you could give would be wonderful for this 1st timer. And, the last q... How much is a private room at Latifa? Not sure but however much it costs it is worth it. Good luck :-)

My c-section was in Doha but for a rundown on what to expect in general; Most people have a c-section with an epidural/spinal which means you are awake but can't feel any pain in your lower half. The epidural is not painful to get and because you will not be in labour its much easier to give, basically you sit on the edge of the bed and they undo your gown at the back and you have to hunch forward and keep quite still (I imagine this is tricky if you are actually having contractions, but easy if you are not). They will then test when you lose feeling in your legs and lay you down on your back, to take the pressure of your arteries (from the weight of the baby) they tilt the bed to the side so you might feel a bit like you are goinf to fall of sideways but trust me you won't (no one explained to me that they had tilted it on purpose and that part really confused me until I asked my brother afterwards (he is an anesthetist) and then it made sense.) You might still feel a bit funny lying on your back and if you feel breathless or dizzy they might give you some oxygen to breath. They get the baby out really quickly, literally 5 minutes after they start the surgery, you can feel when they take it out, not pain at all but suddenly you feel "empty" and its like all the pressure is off all your organs and you can finally take that deep breath you haven't been able to take in months, its a weird feeling. They will show you the baby and then do the APGAR tests. Hospital procedures vary on what happens after this point and it might be something you want to negotiate in advance but if you can swing it, I'd ask for the baby to be put on your chest and covered with a blanket so you can start skin-to-skin straight away. Its the best way to keep the baby warm and happy and also its a great distraction for you as the rest of the surgery takes quite a while, at least 30 minutes of them stitching you back up. Some hospitals won't let you keep the baby with you in which case it would either go to your husband or to the nursery. Once the baby is out they usually give you a shot of morphine or similar into the epidural, this does make some people itch later on but most people are fine (I had no itching). Some hospitals leave the epidural in on low for up to 24 hours post surgery while others will give you pain relief via IV. I had IV pain relief (tramadol) which was patient controlled (PCA) meaning that I automatically got a shot of it every 15 minutes or so and if I needed it earlier I could push a button and it would self administer. Its been found that people usually require lower doses when they can self administrate like this. In my hospital I was able to talk with the anesthetist beforehand and discuss my pain relief/anesthesia options, not sure if this will be the case for you? Very occasionally women get what is called an epidural headache, which happens if the epidural needle goes slightly too deep. They fix this by giving you an injection of your own blood (called a blood patch). I had no issues with epidural pain, itching or nausea though and did not need this. Once they took the IV away I did start to feel some pain if I moved, they were quite keen for me to get up and move around as soon as I felt up to it, it was a little tricky getting out of bed but lovely to get up and have a shower etc. My Dr was keen to expose the wound as soon as possible and I could shower etc without a dressing and let the water run over the wound, but different Drs do it differently. They keep asking you when/if you have passed gas, done poos etc as sometimes the intestines get moved around a bit during surgery and things can get backed up, they may offer you a laxative/suppository to get things moving. I had no issues with trapped gas but I know one woman who did and found it quite painful. After the first 24 hours they usually give voltaren and paracetamol or similar for the next week or so. These are generally compatible with breastfeeding and only make it in teeny tiny amounts into your colostrum anyway. I opted just for panadol as my pain was not bad but don't try and be a hero if your recovery is harder, its important to control your pain well so that you can be mobile and not have BFing issues etc. Some Drs also give IV antibiotics, but mine didn't. They test your iron and sometimes prescribe iron as obviously you lose some blood in the surgery. There is no reason medically why you shouldn't be able to try and breastfeed straight away, I had my baby with me in recovery and he was able to try and latch then. I found it easiest to bring his bassinet right next to my bed to save me having to get in and out to pick him up and a lot of the time I just kept him in bed with me. Your milk should not be delayed due to the surgery and you shouldn't need to give any formula (unless there are complications with the whole process). The worst part for me was having to fast pre-surgery. I was really thirsty afterwards (despite IV fluids) and wasn't allowed anything besides ice-chips until the Dr had done his rounds, which felt like forever! HTH, good luck and enjoy meeting your new baby!

Hi Amy! My DH just informed me that there were free private rooms available but that he wanted to treat me to a VIP room. It's a good thing that he told me that because I was feeling annoyed that he didn't get me any flowers! For that price, it was just a room with two armchairs and a fruit bowl. The nurse on hand is standard in all rooms.

Hi Amy! I got a private room at Latifa but we had to pay for it. It was 1300 dirhams a night. That is a bit expensive. Fortunately, I only had to stay one night.