Elective caesarean section

Breast milk is the best possible nutrition for your baby. Close contact with your baby – skin-to-skin bonding – not just in the first few hours of life, is the first step towards successful breastfeeding.

You will arrange the date of your operation at the antenatal clinic 2–4 weeks before your due date. The timing is individual, but where possible, the operation is carried out between the 39th and 40th weeks of pregnancy. Before you are admitted to the maternity hospital, you will need to arrange a pre-operative examination. You will be admitted in the evening on the day before the planned operation, via the delivery rooms on the 3rd floor. The midwife and doctor will complete the admission paperwork with you, and any missing tests will be carried out if necessary. You can then settle in and familiarise yourself with the postnatal care ward; if you have a superior room, your companion may accompany you. On the morning of the operation, following consultation with you, preparations will take place (enema, shaving, shower), the baby’s condition will be checked via CTG, and you will then proceed to the operating theatre, where preparations will be completed with the insertion of a urinary catheter and bandaging of the lower limbs. In most cases, the operation is performed under spinal anaesthesia (injection of the anaesthetic into the subarachnoid space within the spinal canal using a fine needle). The anaesthetist administers the anaesthetic. During the operation, you remain fully conscious and feel no pain from the chest downwards (you can feel touch and manipulation of your tummy, but it does not hurt). The operation itself takes 40–60 minutes, depending on the specific situation. As standard, we perform ‘early bonding’, i.e. placing the baby on the mother’s chest immediately after delivery, with the umbilical cord left intact and its clamping postponed. This procedure can only be carried out if the baby is in good condition and the umbilical cord is sufficiently long. The father may then cut the umbilical cord, following consultation with the paediatrician. If the baby’s condition does not permit this and urgent neonatal care is required in the neonatal unit, the baby’s father may observe the treatment. The father (or another accompanying person) may remain in the operating theatre throughout the operation. If the baby adapts well, continuous bonding with the mother or father is possible throughout the operation, and uninterrupted contact is maintained even during transfer to the postnatal care ward. In the case of a premium room and the father’s stay, rooming-in of the baby is possible immediately after birth, provided the baby’s condition allows it. This is an undeniable advantage over the ICU-post-operative care system in large maternity hospitals, where you can only cuddle your baby once they have been transferred to a standard bed. If the mother is in a standard room without the father, arrangements for feeding the baby are made with the neonatal nurse. The standard length of stay is 4 days.