are c/s less invasive now than 30 yrs ago?

WiggleBaby

i know very little about c-sections, since i did not have one.  but my mom had both of us kids by c/s, only 14 months apart, and i can't imagine having a toddler AND newborn, plus recovering from a c/s.  (respect to all of you who have done it!)

anyway just wondering if c/s have become any less invasive/painful/etc in 30 years?  is recovery any faster?  does anyone know?  i heard about how incisions have changed, but that's about it. 

or as my DH says, is there only one way to cut a baby out of a belly...

 

Myheart1297

yes, much less invasive! My scar is so little and below the bikini line. MIL has one going up her stomach, not cool!

I had DS 3yrs ago via emergency c/s and DD was a repeat c/s and everything was great. Healing the second time was even better than the first. I had no problems either time. The only thing was this time around I couldn't lift DS for about 5/6 weeks but that was ok, we snuggled on the coach or in the bed and he was potty trained when I was about 5mths pregnant so we didn't have to deal with diapers with him either.

amos2006

yes!!!! much less invasive, my mothers c/s scar from my 33 y/o sister is up and down from the belly button, because of this she has had a hernia repair because the muscle wall is much weaker after healing from the way they used incise moms. 

Also, pain control has improved dramatically over the past 30 yrs.

As long as you follow instructions for lifting, activity, etc....you would most likely be just fine in no time.

Mama Jan

I don't know, my mom had 2 30+ years ago - her incision is just the same as mine (transverse).  She had a spinal headache but otherwise it sounds like her recovery was just as easy as both of mine were!

They still do "classic" incisions (vertical) in some emergency cases, but they did do them a lot more often "back in the day".  It's pretty rare nowadays.

lite-bright

IMO -- heck yes. 

My mom had my younger brother almost 30 years ago by c/s because they found out when she was in labor that he was footling breech.  My DD2 was breech as well (although I knew from 30 weeks on) and I had a c/s when my water broke and she hadn't flipped. 

My scar is horizontal, so low that I could wear a bikini (if my belly was in better shape!) and it wouldn't show, and only about as long as the distance from the tips of my fingers to the base of my palm. I had no external stitches, only dissolvable staples; and I was up and walking (although in a lot of pain) within 24ish hours of surgery, and home on day three. 

My mom has a huge, vertical scar on her belly that is probably more than twice as long as mine. She stayed in the hospital for a week and I don't think she walked until the day she went home (although the difference in hospital stay has as much to do with insurance differences than recovery, I think). 

When she came to help after DD2's birth, I got the impression that she was downright floored that I was walking so soon, went home so soon, and that I wasn't completely bedridden and helpless for at least a week to 10 days afterwards. But it was a very different kind of surgery & recovery for me than it was for her.