Birth by c section exposes the child to several risks. Compared to babies born vaginally, the c section babies are at risk of health complications. The risks rarely face the child born vaginally. The chances are high, especially when the mother did not experience labor. These babies can most likely develop breathing problems.
However, when you compare the head, babies born vaginally tend to have distorted or elongated heads. But the c section babies come out with perfectly round shape heads, though rarely. Also, the c section babies’ skull may appear flat mimicking the womb.
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Selecting Bassinets For C Section Babies to Use
What is the C Section?
A c section also referred to as cesarean section, is a mode of delivery where surgery occurs. The c section option is viable when the vaginal delivery might put the mother or baby at risk.
Some of the reasons to reach out to a c section delivery are:
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- Breech birth
- Twin pregnancy
- Smaller mother’s pelvis, especially the under-aged mothers
- Obstructed labor
- High blood pressure in the mother
- Umbilical cord or placental complications
C section can occur when medically necessary or upon request by the mother.
Are C Section Babies Different?
C section babies tend to come out differently to born babies vaginally. Babies delivered through c section have chances of health complications, primarily when the mother did not labor even after labor induction.
The labor may prolong and go off after a certain period when the baby is now tired and can no longer move. At this point, the baby may develop lung and muscle complications. These complications expose them to health risk factors.
Head. The head of a baby born by c section comes out naturally perfect round, unlike the head of the baby born vaginally, which appears distorted and elongated. However, the difference rarely occurs to many of either baby.
How Long C Section Takes to Heal
The c section takes almost six heals to heal under proper care. You will have a scar, but it will fade over time. Pain feelings may be lost but come back over time.
Therefore, you should babysit your body, take pain medication, and avoid strenuous exercises that may affect the wound.
How Much is a Cesarean Section
C section is a significant operation, costs almost 50% more than the vaginal birth. Although, the vaginal delivery with complications can surpass the cost of c section operation.
C sections are generally expensive. The national average cost of a c section, together with pregnancy care, is about $26000. Compared to vaginal birth cost with pregnancy care bills, which is about $20000.
How to Recover After Cesarean Section
Recovering from a c section requires a lot of care and treatment of your body. You need to get enough bed rest time for the wound to heal correctly. The following are tips for faster cesarean recovery.
Get plenty of rest
Just like it is in other surgeries, your body requires enough healing time. A c section is a major operation and needs enough body rest. After your delivery, you can stay in the hospital for around four or more days if there are complications.
You should rest whenever your baby is relaxing and also sleep whenever the baby is sleeping.
Baby your body
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- Take extra care when moving around.
- Avoid moving up and down, especially on stairs. Keep everything you may need close to you, like baby diapers, drinking water, medicine, and food.
- Do not try to lift more substantial things than your baby. Always seek help from your caregiver.
- At any time you feel like coughing or sneezing, always hold on the abdomen to protect the incision wound.
- Avoid exercises that strain your body. A gentle walk is preferred.
Relieve your pain
Depending on the level of your complication, the doctor can recommend a pain killer for you. Or you can get advice to take over-the-counter pain medications like Tylenol. Always take precautions of specific drugs to take during breastfeeding. Also, you can use a heating pad to relieve pain at the incision site.
In case of any complicated signs, you should call a doctor. The signs include:
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- Swelling, redness, and pus are oozing from the c section wound.
- Prolonged pain around the incision site
- Heavy vaginal bleeding
- Bad smell and discharge from the vagina
Is Cesarean Delivery Safe?
C section safety is not easily measurable. But with a c section, you can take a longer time to heal than the virginally given birth mother who heals within three weeks and is good to move. But you should know the importance and disadvantages of a cesarean section.
Benefits of C Section
There is no risk of:
- Vaginal injury
- Abnormal vaginal bleeding after giving birth.
- Losing bladder control function.
- Pain during birth
- The vagina and womb, pushing against the vaginal wall
Risks of C Section
Having a c section can pose you or your baby to some risks. The risks do not happen often, but you may have a higher chance of them occurring than in vaginal birth.
C section risk to mother
- Bacterial infection to your womb or wound
- Problems of getting pregnant in the future
- Complications that may lead to womb removal or blood transfusion
- Pregnancy complications like miscarriage and stillbirth
Effects of c section on baby
C section poses several effects on babies compared to babies born vaginally. C section babies might develop respiratory complications.
The c section effects to the child include:
- Cut skin that may occur during surgery
- Risk of being taken to the neonatal unit or Intensive Care Unit.
- Breathing complications. Especially “transient tachypnea” which is a breathing issue diagnosed by fast breathing during the early days of birth.
- Mother-infant attachment delayed. Skin-to-skin contact technique, between baby and mother, is encouraged to reduce newborn stress.
- Delay might be due to surgery operations ongoing.
- Increased risk of asthma. Asthma may develop later in life. Because babies born by cesarean get intestinal bacteria through surgery.
C Section Complication to Baby
The complications to your baby are far fewer during c section.
Babies delivered through c section develop breathing complications. The risk is high if the c section is before 39 weeks, and when the mother did not undergo labor pain. Labour pain helps in clearing the lungs of your baby off fluids.
When a c section is performed before your labor, the fluids might still be in the lungs. But it can later clear on its own after a few days.
Another complication is surgery injury. These are just accidental scrapes and bruises to your infant during c section procedure.
How to Feed the Newborn Baby After C Section
Make good use of the additional stay in the hospital.
The extra rest in the hospital gives you an excellent opportunity to interact with nurses and ask any burning questions. The time also allows you to bond with the newborn, breastfeed frequently, and concentrate on nursing and bonding with your baby.
Feed your newborn frequently and as many times as they want.
Frequent feeding means that the baby is getting the correct amount of milk and at the right time. Also, it will stimulate the production of more breast milk.
Try different breastfeeding positions to avoid injuring the incision site.
You can tuck the bay under your arm on the feeding side if holding them under your belly is uncomfortable. You can also lie on your hand parallel to your child and support your incision with a pillow.
Eat nutritious food, rich in proteins, and drink plenty of water. Stay well-rested and allow some family friends to help you in carrying out house duties.
Create a nursing station.
Gather all accessories you will require while feeding your baby in one basket that you can easily carry. Having all these supplies in one place will help you minimize unnecessary movements.
Is C Section Safe for Babies?
The risk to the baby is very minimal. Quantifying if the c section is safe for the baby is not easy.
The c section may securely deliver the baby, but if the delivery is before 39 weeks, the baby is not 100% safe because they may develop respiratory complications.
Also, the baby might get surgery injury, which is very rare, though.
The baby exposure to sterile conditions lowers the immune system because of a lack of exposure to essential bacteria in the vagina that helps their immune system fight future events.
>Check more on Basic information on C Section Baby Care and Choosing Ideal Gear For C Section Babies
Does C Section Affect Milk Production?
Mothers who give birth naturally or through cesarean have the same hormonal function that stimulates breast milk production. The biological process is the same for both mothers. What affects milk production is less skin-to-skin session of the mother with the baby and delayed breastfeeding.
For you to stimulate milk production after the c section, you should observe the following tips.
- Breastfeed the baby as soon as possible after c section. If breastfeeding is not possible, consider using a breast pump.
- Nurse the baby frequently. Ensure the baby feeds as many times as possible to get enough milk.
- Avoid any other unnecessary supplements. Only breast milk is safe for the baby. Unless advised by the doctors due to some complications.
- Ensure the baby is nursing well. Good nursing involves grasping the nipples well to suck the milk well.
Breastfeeding After Cesarean Birth
After a cesarean section, you may experience challenges during breastfeeding. The challenges include delayed breastfeeding, incision pain, emotions, sleeping baby, and even emotions after surgery.
Breastfeeding might be challenging, but you can try several tips to feed your baby after cesarean.
Start breastfeeding as soon as possible after the c section. Try to feed your baby after your c section. If you have general anesthesia, you can hold your baby on the skin to skin until you recover.
Get a proper feeding position for your baby. The positioning will help you to protect your incision. The nurses can show you comfortable baby breastfeeding positions that are safe for you.
Ensure you breastfeed the infant frequently. At least after every hour or two,
Keep the baby close to you every time. You may not be able to get up every time to feed the baby.
Use a breast pump. In cases where you cannot be near your bay, use breast pumps every two hours to stimulate breast milk production.
Take pain medication. The pain medication helps you be off the pain. When you are out of pain, you will feel comfortable during breastfeeding. The body can also relax and concentrate on the healing and production of breast milk.
Can I Use A Formula For C Section Baby?
Babies born through c sections have a higher risk of health problems. A new study has found that babies also have fewer good bacteria in their digestive tract. The research also shows that c section babies who have been partially or fully formula fed have a different digestive gut containment than those who purely breastfeed.
C sections interfere with the baby’s exposure to bacteria in the vagina tract. The bacteria is essential in training the immune system to react to any events in the future. Late breastfeeding will lead to the uptake of antibiotics, which also affect the baby’s microbiome.
The formula is proven to improve the immunity system of the c section baby because the ingredients in it feed on the gut’s no good bacteria. After feeding a probiotic formula to c section children, there was a significant improvement in the immunity system.
Therefore baby formula is essential in developing the immune system of c section babies. Because of babies’ exposure to sterile conditions during birth, thus their gut microbiota is different.
Hence these infants require a particular need like a formula to stimulate their gut bacteria because they are delivered with a sterile digestive tract.
Conclusion
Are c section babies different? The c section babies and babies born vaginally are not much different from each other. Although the c section children are exposed to some fewer health risks.
Before you make up your mind to go for a c section, you need to understand what it is, the cost, the risks, and benefits involved. The understanding will help you make a wise decision as a mother unless it is a medically decided c section by doctors.