Planned or unplanned, the MiGynae App guides you through it
Caesarean recovery, wound care, feeding and doctor-backed guidance in one place.
Your Caesarean Guide
Whether it is planned or decided during labour, here are the essentials and must-knows, so you feel prepared and recover well.
What it is. A safe, very common surgery that delivers your baby through a cut in your lower tummy. You are usually awake, with a spinal injection that numbs you from the waist down, so you can meet your baby right away. A tube (catheter) drains your bladder and stays in for a while.
Why it may be chosen. Sometimes planned, sometimes decided in labour, for reasons like a breech baby, a low-lying placenta, the baby not coming down, or signs the baby should be born quickly. It is a decision made for safety, never a failure on your part.
- It is major surgery. Full healing takes about 6 weeks, be patient with yourself.
- Start gentle movement early, it helps prevent clots and speeds healing.
- Support your stitches with a hand or pillow when you cough, laugh or get up.
- Take pain relief as prescribed, you do not need to suffer.
- Avoid heavy lifting, nothing heavier than your baby at first.
- Feed in positions that keep the baby's weight off your wound.
- Fever or chills
- Redness, pus, swelling or a gap in the wound
- Heavy bleeding, or foul-smelling discharge
- Severe or increasing tummy pain
- Pain, redness or swelling in your calf
- Breathlessness or chest pain
A caesarean is a real birth, and a brave one. If you feel any sadness that it did not go as planned, that feeling is valid and it passes. Your bond with your baby and your feeding are exactly the same.
Recover with confidence on the MiGynae App
Wound care, feeding, recovery exercises and warning signs, step by step.