How soon can you BF after c-sec?

And I'll e-mail you names of birth doulas / pn doulas with bf support training.

Yes, I was just going to suggest you might also consider employing a doula to be with you for the whole birth...they will assist with making your wish for skin-to-skin known to the medical staff if that is what you would like. Will e-mail you the newsletter this evening :)

If you can't get an LC, other suggestions might be: - read as much as you can about breastfeeding (if you haven't read Breastfeeding Q&A's November newsletter, I can send it to you - it has a basic article about Getting off to a Good Start), particularly breastfeeding in the Golden Hour and BF after a c-section. - employ a post-natal doula who has had basic breastfeeding training (she will refer you to an IBCLC if necessary, but will be able to assist with the basics and the vast majority of breastfeeding problems can be avoided by getting off right so you may not need an LC). Are you having a scheduled C-section? If you know the time/day, you should be able to confirm that Sameera will be on duty when you give birth. xx

Ooh, could you post an update on the thread about which numbers are not active? It will be really helpful. The current IBCLCs in private practice in Dubai are: - Paula Miller (does home visits) - Dr Delphine Dupuis (does not do home visits) - Dru Campbell (don't know if she does home visits, but she is only working part-time at the moment) - *maybe* still Mahnaz Golshan? (I don't know, have not had contact with her, and don't know if she is still practising). Unfortunately that may not help with an in-person consult in hospital :( This is why it's vital for all hospitals to have qualified IBCLCs on staff and to train *all* their maternity staff in basic breastfeeding support. I think that City is working towards this. Perhaps you could find out from City what support would be available to you if Sameera is not on duty when you give birth?

Did you find the Breastfeeding Support in the UAE thread? Lots of contacts there - hope they are helpful! Elizabeth Bain at Saturday's Breastfeeding Q&A seminar showed a lovely clip of a c-section baby being delivered straight onto mum's chest; the clip was from the From Bump to Breastfeeding DVD which is viewable online here: http://www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/our-films/fbbdb8b2-4027-4fb8-a05f-dbca1329680c

Glad it was helpful, I was really scared about having a c-section and was pleasantly surprised. You will probably find you have much less pain afterward a scheduled compared to your emergency section too as it seems to be the case with others I've talked to. My Dr promised me I would be able to cook, bend over and get about without pain within days and she was right. :) Good luck with it all and I would definitely recommend you have an independant Lactation consultant sorted in advance to avoid any hassles there as much as possible. I don't think you can trust the hospital staff to give good advice in this parts of the world. Take care, you must be looking forward to meeting your baby :)

I also had a spinal block with my C section and within a few minutes of being wheeled to recovery the nurse pulling my hospital gown aside to expose my breast to feed my brand new daughter. I clearly remember asking her "What? What are doing, you mean I have to feed her as well now? Haven't I done enough today?" Ahhh... so naive back then..... ;)

As a Doula, I always recommend to my clients to insist they get skin to skin contact with LO as soon as they are born. That first hour after birth is crucial and amazing. Even if bubs just lies on your chest, they eventually squirm and wriggle in order to find the breast. It is a natural reflex. If they need to get tested, ask the doctor if it can wait for an hour or so. Keeping them close to breast as soon as they're born allows them to establish feeding. Ask questions, ask them for options and alternatives available for all procedures. That way you can make informed decisions regarding the birth you want. It is an experience you will remember the rest of your life and you want it to be beautiful. HTH

You don't feel a thing, I promise. I actually have a photo of myself smiling at the camera during the surgery which I love to show people, its taken from the side of the bed so you can see me and the baby at one end and the Dr's working away down the other. :) They give you the epidural sitting up, then lie you down on a bed, it's tilted sideways (so that the weight of the baby doesn't compress your blood flow) so you might feel a bit like you are going to slip off and slightly lightheaded until the baby is out (literally this takes 5 minutes) They might get you to breathe a little oxygen during this time. They hold the baby up and show you and then do the normal post birth checks on a table while you watch. When they take the baby out you suddenly feel "empty" like all your organs have room again but definitely no pain and they erect a screen so you can't see any blood or cutting. The hardest thing for me was my hospital (in Doha not Dubai) wouldn't allow husbands to be there for the surgery (they do in NZ where I'm from) but the nurses ran in and out with a camera so he could be updated with photos and video. If your Dr is pro-general I would change ASAP as they would be really out of step for a scheduled c-section. The whole process should be relaxed and peaceful and there is no need for you to miss out on seeing your baby be born. Mine was scheduled due to my babies position and honestly, it was a really positive experience. I was sent to talk the the anesthetist the night before and discuss the types of drugs etc. I asked for minimal sedation and for the epidural to wear off as soon as possible. Try and get a Dr who will be pro-active in getting the baby to you for the rest of the surgery because once you have the baby on your chest you honestly don't notice anything else that is happening, I think it took 20 minutes to stitch me up again but it felt like seconds. Island girl I know exactly how you felt having tried to cup feed my son pumped colostrum and once drop it and then have him spit 30 minutes of hard work down his front. I cried too and Dh took DS and sent me for a walk around the hospital at 4am to relax. :(.

DS was born in Canada and as far as I know, you are only asleep for a procedure such as that for emergency medical reasons (?). Again, I have only done this once so I am no expert. I think you can probably request it. I thought the only way you were put to sleep for it was if there was a complication and they have to do it fast. Definitely speak to your doc. It does your head in a bit leading up to it but it's over in no time and the only pain or discomfort was getting the IV in the back of my hand. I am glad I was awake to hear his first cry and DH was there to hold him right away and put him close to me as I was strapped down.

I did it straight away as well. I just had a spinal block so was awake for the whole process. As soon as they checked him out and brought him into me in recovery I started. I had an emergency C-section 3 weeks early so my milk wasen't in for a couple days but I had to continue Bfing him and using a pump in between. It's completely normal for your milk not to come in fully for around 3 days - putting your LO to your breast will help stimulate this and in the meantime, there's the rich colostrum there for them to enjoy. And when your milk does come in, you'll know it! Pumping in between does help if you feel the need - but putting bub to the breast every 2-3 hours will achieve the same result more naturally. I should have mentioned he wasn't latching properly either, he really wasen't ready to come out yet, the doc practically had to pull him from my neck...I remember hearing her say, he's really up there isn't he. The lactation specialist told me to pump in order to get the colostrum as it was really good for him so you can imagine how disappointed I was when I pumped for 15 mins and got about 1 tbsp full only to drop the %$#&^%* bottle trying to walk over to the sink with 10 staples holding my stomach together pulling a hospital grade pump behind me with what can only be described as a twin sized mattress between my legs... :\: Note to self....pack normal sized sanitary napkins in baby bag next time. Needless to say I sat and cried for the rest of the day because I was such a bad mother for losing the poor child's only bit of nourishment in the floor...nothing at all to do with hormones... ;-)

I did it straight away as well. I just had a spinal block so was awake for the whole process. As soon as they checked him out and brought him into me in recovery I started. I had an emergency C-section 3 weeks early so my milk wasen't in for a couple days but I had to continue Bfing him and using a pump in between. It's completely normal for your milk not to come in fully for around 3 days - putting your LO to your breast will help stimulate this and in the meantime, there's the rich colostrum there for them to enjoy. And when your milk does come in, you'll know it! Pumping in between does help if you feel the need - but putting bub to the breast every 2-3 hours will achieve the same result more naturally.

I did it straight away as well. I just had a spinal block so was awake for the whole process. As soon as they checked him out and brought him into me in recovery I started. I had an emergency C-section 3 weeks early so my milk wasen't in for a couple days but I had to continue Bfing him and using a pump in between.

Does anyone have any idea? Do you have to wait for a few days? i did straight away

Definitely don't delay :) Get bub on the boob as soon as possible to stimulate milk production! If there are issues and bub can't latch (for whatever reason) you can hand stimluate your breast to encourage milk production. I think there is a time frame for when it is recommended that you put your LO on your breast - but I think it's around 6-8 hours post delivery for optimal milk stimulation. I think meals means within 6-8 hours, preferably sooner rather than to wait 6-8 hours before trying right? Yes - sorry, wasn't very clear was I! But as LD says - your milk will come in regardless, this is just optimal time. If woman who have not even delivered a baby can stimulate their milk supply - there's no reason why you would have a problem should you be delayed putting your bub to the breast after delivery.

I recently delivered at City Hospital and my c-section was done under spinal epidural. "Typically" a general anaesthetic is not necessary unless it's a dire emergency as general anaesthetics are faster to administer thus acess to bub is faster. I see no reason why an electice c-section would require a general anaesthetic.

Honestly this is news to me. I thought all c-sections were done under general by routine. This means I have an option? kiwispiers and others who had non-general anaesthetic c-sections in Dubai may I ask which hospitals you delivered in? But yes, the first was an emergency c-sec so that could be why it was general anaesthesia. Gosh yes - it's now considered a last resort in the UK! They generally only do them in the case of a "crash c-section", where the life of mum or bubs is in immediate danger, and they have to knock the mum out and get bubs out within minutes. Everyone I know who've had c-sections, here and in the UK - have had spinals. Friends here went to Medcare and City, respectively... or was it American?

My c-section was spinal/epidural and I was lucky that my Dr let me have the baby to hold and keep as soon as the had done the Apgar (so 5 min after birth) while this is common practice in the west (and they will even help you to latch while in the theatre) I think it it was a first where I delivered in Doha and I had to insist. Lemondrops is right that your milk will still come even if you don't feed immediately after birth but if you have the opportunity to, it has been shown to reduce the chances of latching not going well by taking advantage of the babies instincts and of formula supplementation. I was just clarifying that Meals wasn't suggesting you needed to wait8 hours if you had the opportunity to do it sooner :). I would imagine that a general anesthesia might result in your baby being a bit groggy too since they would also be somewhat anesthetized so you might have to be persistent in waking them to latch. Usually they wouldn't do a general unless it was a real emergency so if its a scheduled you will have a spinal unless for some reason you would prefer not to.

Definitely don't delay :) Get bub on the boob as soon as possible to stimulate milk production! If there are issues and bub can't latch (for whatever reason) you can hand stimluate your breast to encourage milk production. I think there is a time frame for when it is recommended that you put your LO on your breast - but I think it's around 6-8 hours post delivery for optimal milk stimulation. I think meals means within 6-8 hours, preferably sooner rather than to wait 6-8 hours before trying right? Of course the sooner the better. HOWEVER, regardless whether BF commences within that window or not, the mother's milk will come in. No if's or but's about it. It is best to start earliest so that the LO can get as much Colustrum as possible as within the next 2 to 4 days it slowly changes to regular BM. With C sections sometimes things don't go as planned, and I don't think it helps the mother to stress about BF because she hadn't done so within the first few hours. In both of my births, I couldn't try BF/pumping for 24 hours after the birth as I was heavily, heavily sedated (both emergency c sections) and in both cases I have continued to successfully BF/pump.

As the others have said, there is no reason not to start BF straight after the birth. That said, if you do for any reason find that you can not BF straight away, don't worry about that either. In the first four to six weeks, milk production is hormone driven, not demand driven. So regardless if you breastfeed or not straight away, your milk will come in. However, in order to maintain your supply you will need to establish a regular BF schedule, and the earlier you do that the better. BFing early on is still highly recommended however as it offers many advantages mainly providing your LO with antibody and nutrient rich colustrum which is pretty much liquid gold, as well as facilitating mother/baby bonding. Good luck and congratulations with the impending arrival of your little one!

Definitely don't delay :) Get bub on the boob as soon as possible to stimulate milk production! If there are issues and bub can't latch (for whatever reason) you can hand stimluate your breast to encourage milk production. I think there is a time frame for when it is recommended that you put your LO on your breast - but I think it's around 6-8 hours post delivery for optimal milk stimulation. I think meals means within 6-8 hours, preferably sooner rather than to wait 6-8 hours before trying right?

Started BF'ing as soon as all vitals were checked and I was stitched up! So basically, before I even left the theatre :) DH stayed with me in hospital for all 4 days and he was amazing in helping with the Breastfeeds! He would literally hand DD to me every 2/3 hrs, pop her on the breast, and as soon as she was done feeding, came and took her from me again! Of course that all changed once we were back home, and I was flying "solo", as he had to return back to work ;)

As soon as they hand you your baby! I have a friend who was feeding her baby as they were sewing her up. Certainly don't delay. The first few days are crucial, both in terms of your baby learning to latch on properly and for your body to understand it needs to produce milk quick-smart. If you were to delay, you would need to start pumping to send the right signals to your body, otherwise it would conclude that your baby sadly did not need any milk and would shut up shop. As kiwispers says, your milk will "come in" within 2 or 3 days of having your baby, but your body *is* producing a highly concentrated "milk" (colostrum) in between time - it's highly calorific and packed full of antibodies, so you baby will be getting all the nutrition it needs. Trust your body to do what it needs to - it's built to nourish your baby - and boy will you know when your milk's in!

Immediately! The breastmilk producing hormones are activated when they remove your placenta just like in a natural labour. I started (as in tred to put the baby to the breast) in recovery (around 30 minutes after the surgery). It would take a little bit longer if you had a general probably but basically as soon as they give you the baby. Ideally you want to get the baby to try and feed in the first hour or so after being born as they have instinctive latching behaviors then and then get a bit sleepy later. You won't have milk for a few days just like with a vaginal birth but they baby will get colostrum in the meantime (which is really important for their health) so you don't need to supplement with formula while you wait.

Definitely don't delay :) Get bub on the boob as soon as possible to stimulate milk production! If there are issues and bub can't latch (for whatever reason) you can hand stimluate your breast to encourage milk production. I think there is a time frame for when it is recommended that you put your LO on your breast - but I think it's around 6-8 hours post delivery for optimal milk stimulation.

You can start breastfeeding straight after the c section - even in theatre or recovery.

I can't think of any reason why you would wait? You may find the rugby hold more comfortable so the baby is not lying across your tummy, otherwise try and get baby to latch on as soon as possible as you would after a regular birth. I spose the only time there would be a delay is if there was an emergency with the baby/mother didn't recover well etc. lots of advice here.. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/start/concerns/c-section.html