[I sent this message last week but it never showed up...here goes again]

Thank you for posting this. It gave me a lot to think about regarding
my own and my baby's experience in the hours after my cesarean. I did
not have a repeat CS (only 1 child so far). My midwife ensured that my
daughter was brought to me in the recovery room to initiate
breastfeeding. I remember my daughter suckling at the breast and my
midwife and husband holding her to my breast given my
weakness/anesthesia. I do remember the nurse manipulating my breast
and baby's mouth. I was just thrilled to see my daughter since they
told me she would be in the nursery until my anesthesia wore off. My
midwife ensured she was in a little basinet next to my bed and
received her check up next to me. She was then taken (with my husband
following) to the nursery for a bath.

Given that we planned a homebirth and transferred during labor, I
certainly was not expecting to NOT be holding my baby within minutes
of birth, skin to skin, allowing breastfeeding to initiate slowly and
of course to not have my daughter bathed within hours of leaving the
womb. The pictures of her first bath still horrify me. She is
obviously screaming. My husband said the whole thing lasted less than
minute or two, but I still hate the thought of being half-dazed while
my child was somewhere else being handled and "washed" instead of next
to her warm, familiar, and oxytocin producing mother. I digress a bit...

To return to the topic, I think it is very wise to bring these
questions to mothers minds given that there is a chance of a surgical
birth even when we do not expect or plan for it, as in my situation. I
would have liked to be more prepared with my list of priorities for my
own care and newborn's care in the event of a change of plans. Thank
God for my midwife and her help, but honestly I think she was almost
as physically and emotionally drained as I was.

Another thought is the importance of beginning labor in order to allow
as much of the natural process to occur as possible, and as much of
the good hormones to do their work. Can someone who has a medical need
for a CS such as placenta previa, like the original person asking the
question, try to start labor in order to wait for the body to say when
it is ready and to start the flow of hormones? I ask also because I
know a lot of planned CS (medically necessary or not) occur before the
due date. My labor began 16 days after my due date and my daughter did
not appear a bit "overdue" to the docs/midwives. If I had a medical
reason for CS during my pregnancy and went in a week or two early, she
would have been 3-4 weeks early although no one would have ever known
that since the due date is often the one of the last possible delivery
days for many docs.

I forget if I have even introduced myself on this board, but I do
enjoy reading and am hoping to make a meeting.

Aileen

--- In icanofbuffalo@yahoogroups.com, "Rachel" <rzeller143@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Ladies,
>
> I came across this article and thought it was a good one. I was also
> hoping it might prompt some discussion!
>
> My question is, for those of you who have had repeat cesareans, what
> are some things you did to prepare for it (even if it was unexpected)?
> Did they help? Anything you would change?
>
> http://mothering.com/sections/experts/buckley-archive.html#oxytocin
>
> Q: I am 35 weeks pregnant and was working with wonderful midwives with
> the hopes of a VBAC. I, unfortunately, have placenta previa, so my
> hopes for a VBAC are gone. After seeing "The Business of Being Born",
> my question is this: All the talk of oxytocin makes me a little
> worried. Is there anything that I could do to compensate or balance
> the lack of oxytocin because of the cesarean? Do Braxton Hicks
> contractions create any levels of oxytocin that cross the placenta?
> Would nipple stimulation work? My midwife suggested that I start doing
> daily stimulation, but would that work? Thank you so much; any ideas
> would be helpful.
>
> A: It is wonderful that you are thinking about this with your upcoming
> birth. It is true that your own oxytocin levels will be lower with a
> cesarean, but perhaps it is helpful to remember that one of the roles
> of oxytocin is to contract your uterus to birth your baby, which will
> not be necessary for this birth.
>
> Equally important are the psycho-emotional effects of oxytocin, which
> is released within your brain during labor and in the minutes and
> hours after birth. These are also very important as they will ensure
> that you fall in love with your baby (and vice versa) and will also
> help with early breastfeeding.
>
> You can help to increase your oxytocin (and therefore pleasurable,
> calm, and connected feelings after birth) by keeping your baby skin to
> skin after birth and, I would suggest, for the following days. This
> will help to soothe your baby also, increasing his or her oxytocin
> levels and reducing stress hormone levels. You may find that your baby
> is slow to wake up to breastfeeding, but you will help to prepare for
> this also with skin-to-skin contact.
>
> Note that it is your baby who will initiate this when ready. I would
> recommend that you are very sensitive and respectful toward this
> important action, and not allow anyone to force your baby on your
> breast. If things are slow, you can encourage your baby to use his or
> her early newborn reflexes to crawl up your body and find your breast
> when you are both skin-to-skin and settled. This will be much easier
> if both you and your baby are unwashed because the smell of your
> breasts will help to guide your baby.
>
> Some of the problems with immediate and ongoing skin-to-skin contact
> are the hospital protocols: often the baby is sent to the nursery, so
> you may need to discuss this with your care providers and formulate a
> specific plan for the hours after birth. You would need close support
> to hold your baby, either from your husband or perhaps your midwives,
> because you will be affected to some extent by the anesthetics used
> for the cesarean.
>
> There are other suggestions for having a good cesarean in my new book,
> and I also recommend the following websites:
>
> * Sarah Buckley, Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctors Guide
> to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices (Berkeley,
> CA: Celestial Arts, 2009)
> www.sarahjbuckley.com/html/new-gentle-birth-gentle-mothering.htm
> * "Caesareans: Making Informed Choices":
> www.birthrites.org/BookletIndex.html
> * International Cesarean Awareness Network www.ican-online.org
>
> Many blessings for a beautiful cesarean birth.
>