Planned Sections

Transcript

Pre op 

  • On the day of your surgery, you should arrive at the hospital at the time given to you. It’s important that you pay attention to all instructions, including making sure you don’t eat or drink any food at least 6 hours before your procedure, and clear fluids (such as water) at least 2 hours before.
  • This is important to protect your lungs if we need to get you off to sleep with a general anaesthetic.
    • In some hospitals you might be given a carbohydrate drink to have before surgery.
  • Once you’re at the hospital there are lots of people for you to meet and talk to before you go into the operating theatre.
  • These are some of the people you’ll meet
    • A staff member such as a nurse will talk to you first, and show you where to get changed and where to put your things.
    • You’ll also speak to an anaesthetist, an obstetrician and a midwife – who will check on your baby before you come in.
    • You will sign consent forms for both the operation and the anaesthesia.
  • You are allowed to have one support person of your choice in theatre, this might be your partner, a friend, or someone from your whanau. They can be with you every step of the way including sitting next to you while your baby is born. It is ok to take photos of your family and baby.

In theatre

  • When it’s time to go into theatre, a staff member will come and get you and do some more checks.
  • When you get into theatre it might seem like there are lots of people. Everyone has a specific job to do looking after you and your baby.
  • There will be some more safety checks too – your anaesthetist will confirm your details again, and you’ll meet the anaesthetic technician who helps your anaesthetist.
  • You’ll be asked to sit on the edge of your bed with your feet flat on a foot rest.
  • You will have an IV line placed and the technician will put an oxygen monitor on your finger and blood pressure cuff around your arm.
  • Your anaesthetist will then get ready to place your anaesthetic.
  • You’ll have to drop your shoulders, put your chin to your chest, and curl up into a ball, opening up the spaces in your lower back.
  • Alternatively we might have lying on your side.
  • Don’t worry, your anaesthetic technician will help you.
  • Once you’re in position your anaesthetist will wash your back with a cold sterile wash, place some numbing medication in, and then place your anaesthetic.
  • As soon as it’s in you might start to feel a bit warm and tingly.
  • The theatre staff will then help to lie you down on the operating bed and put the final parts of your monitoring on. The bed will be placed on a bit of an angle, to help keep you and your baby comfortable, but don’t worry, you won’t fall off.
  • You’ll then have a catheter placed in your bladder, which shouldn’t be uncomfortable.
  • Your anaesthetist will then check that your anaesthetic is working. We know that if you can’t feel temperature then you won’t be able to feel pain, so we start by using a cube of ice, but we check with a pinch test too.
  • Once we are happy that your anaesthetic is working properly, then the obstetrician will perform another safety check called a Time Out and start your surgery.
  • You will be able to feel some pulling + pressure, especially while your baby is being delivered, but you should not feel any pain, and your anaesthetist will be there to support you the whole time. If you start to feel sick, let us know early.
  • The team will talk with you about progress and there will always be someone to ask questions.
  • Once your baby is born, the surgeons will need to finish the operation, usually this takes less than 45 minutes.
  • Your baby will quickly be checked by your midwife, but we try and have your baby with you as soon as we can, and we encourage skin to skin.

Post op

  • Afterwards you will go to the recovery area where a nurse will look after you and your baby. You will have pain relief available.  You’ll be given regular pain relief, and have stronger pain relief available if you need it.  In some hospitals this might be pain relieving device that you can push, and in others it will be tablets you can ask the midwives for.
  • When we are happy that you are both comfortable and stable you will be transferred to your postnatal ward.
  • Your anaesthetist will have written you up for pain relief and anti-sickness medication, and then someone will visit you the following day to check you’re comfortable.

Enhancing your recovery

  • To help speed up your recovery it’s a good idea to:
    • have something to drink and eat as soon as you get to the ward
    • get out of bed after about six hours
    • and to have your catheter taken out once you’re walking around.

It’s a good idea to have the regular pain relief charted for you, and to use additional breakthrough pain relief if you need it.

If you have any questions, you can talk to your anaesthetist on the day. Thank you, we look forward to meeting you and your baby.