C-Section at Queen Mary?

M

myfavoritebags

Registered User
Wondering if anyone could share their post c-section surgery experiences at Queen Mary? Specifically, I am curious to know if nurses helped you to the toilets, etc. afterwards or if they left you to fend for yourself and if strong pain medication was given if requested (beyond Panadol)? Thanks for your help!
 
I had an emergency c-section at QMH in Sep...my experience was that they will help if you ask them to ( for example going to the toilet). It is of course a busy hospital and what I found hard was trying to lift the baby up in the night to feed him - I should have asked more but I was trying to be as quiet as possible, which was a bit silly really. In terms of pain relief, I can't remember what I was taking but whenever I asked for some they gave it to me and sent me home with plenty for the next couple of weeks!
I found some of the nurses to be realy kind and helpful and others not so much but I think that would be the same anywhere. What I will say is that I was shocked at the recovery period after the section and if you can aviod it do! If you can't then take it as slow as you can!
 
I also had an emergency c-section about 1 year ago in Queen Mary & besides that it was an unexpected emergency everything went very well. They gave me a lot of painkillers, although after I took the first 2 (as recommended) I felt very dizzy, so I started to only take 1 when I felt the pain coming back. We were really content with the overall experience in Queen Mary, but as it is a very busy public hospital, it is better if you can help yourself. I didn t have any complications, they sent us home on day 2 (best decision ever) & my recovery went really fast.
Only one thing: if you want to brestfeed, you should insist that you start right after the operation, we had a little bit of a battle because of that. Finally I had to wait 2 very long hours in the recovery room & then they wheeled me up to the baby ward to brestfeed our son...
Good luck!
KUC ;-)
 
i've had two c-sections in 2 years at QMH.

excepting one or two, the nurses are FANTASTIC! i was hospitalised about 15 times total for the two pregnancies and i was able to get to know the nurses/orderlies quite well.

my second experience (4 weeks ago) was much better than my first.
i found that my healing time this time round is 1/10 of what it was the first time. it was not nearly so painful and i was even able to sleep on my side after 3 days (the first time it took me almost a month!)

if you need help, ASK for it! they will do their best to make your stay more comfortable. i hate the feeling of the lochia expelling, so i was asking the orderlies to help me about every 3 hours. not only did they help my with bed pans and changing the pad, but they'd come around with warm water and clean me down there too. at first i was a little embarrassed, but in the end, i figured that we are all women and most of us have been there.

good luck!

ps. please remember to take (1) ear plugs; (2) eyepatch; and (3) an ipod or something to keep you occupied.
 
Ladies, thank you so much for your insight. I feel much less anxious about delivering at QMH. Just curious, what did you think of the doctors there? And, did they do a good job regarding your c-section incision/scar?
 
Does anyone know if Queen Mary allows elective c-sections?

I'm expecting twins and at the moment all the evidence is pointing toward a c-sect (I'm small, babies relatively large, one is breach, I had premature + difficult labour with my first baby).

If I get past the 34 weeks, then I'll aim for the Matilda and an elective c-sect, but my concern is if I go into labour prior to 34 weeks (in which case I'll have to go to QM). What I don't want is to go through 27 hours of labour and then end up having a c-sect anyway!

Thanks
 
my second was clasified as an elective...after discussing the possiblities with the high risk team, they agreed with my request.

i have no regrets whatsoever. my second was SOOOOOOO much easier than the first!
 
My understanding is that QMH do not allow C-section without medical reason.
I'm pretty sure that twins are covered under this.
 
I'm sure Cara will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that in cases where they do allow elective C-sections, they don't normally agree to this a long time in advance. I guess they are trying to discourage wastage of public money. If you go into premature labour they may want to evaluate you then, rather than agreeing in advance what they will do. I have friends who have suffered a fair amount of anxiety because of not knowing in advance what was going to happen, when they had conditions which they thought warranted a planned C-section.

But I don't think they are very confident delivering breech babies naturally - not many doctors have experience of that nowadays - and I suspect their C-section percentage for twins is also rather high. So if one of the babies is breech I doubt they will let you labour for long. Once you are at the hospital they will also be monitoring the babies closely and if there is any cause for concern then I am sure they will want to get them out ASAP.
 
i started talking to the high risk team at QMH around 20 weeks and told them then and there that i wanted a c-section.

i had 2 terribly complicated pregnancies and i developed pre-eclampsia during the last day of my first pregnancy when they rushed me in for an emergency(for many reasons, i was VERY unhappy with the way they handled the first delivery). with my second pregnancy i was already developing major complications by 20 weeks. i told them that i didn't even want to attempt a natural delivery. they agreed that it was probably not in the cards anyway and said that i could have an elective c-section. they didn't book it until after i'd made it to 30 weeks though. i ended up delivering by elective c-section, under general anesthesia (completely asleep and unaware) at 36 weeks.

the second delivery was one SOOOO much better than the first that you can't even compare. i was disappointed not seeing the baby until the next day, but it was what was best for the health of hte baby and for me.

i would just talk to the drs. i've found them EXTREMELY helpful and i even went with a list of about 15 questions that the head of the high risk team took about 30 minutes to answer in detail for me.

i can't say enough about how wonderful the high risk team is at QMH!
 
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