Hi fellow Bloggers,
I am currently in Women's Health, and fortunately have had the opportunity to see a Caesarean Section birth. I was extremely apprehensive in the hours before the operation, however, it was definitely something I wanted to see.
It is quite a brutal procedure really, and the strangest thing I found was that on one side of the curtain the patient is fully awake, but is completely oblivious to the deep incisions, and trauma that her body is enduring on the other side.
What is important to understand, for people who aren't interested in Women's Health, is the amount of tissue and muscle that must be cut, before the baby is expelled. In addition to this, the epidural insertion is quite a procedure in itself. Often the pain described by women that I have seen post-natally that comes from the suturing of the abdominal incision is greater than the pain experienced by natural, vaginal deliveries. (Post-natally of course!).
The entire caesarian process took a lot longer than I initially anticipated, and was very different to what I had pictured it to be. The majority of the time was spent on suturing all the different layers of muscle, and other tissue back together (It was half-way through this process that the excitement wore off and I needed to leave the room for fear of passing out!).
I have learnt from this experience how best to relate to post CS patients in a more intimate way as I know the extent of the surgery they have recently endured. When patient's complain of pain over their incision site, as well as pain in their back where the epidural was inserted, I can certainly understand why. It brought home the importance of the education I have been giving up on the ward, in relation to the simple procedures like getting in and out of bed in the correct manner to avoid placing strain over the incision site. Additional education such as avoiding lifting anything heavier than the patient's baby, avoiding heavy housework like vacuuming, avoiding heavy exercise or walking uphill, and even avoiding driving for the first 6 - 12/52 following the CS becomes so important.
The experience has definitely assisted me in being able to deliver better Physiotherapy treatment to this patient group, in a post-natal setting, not only for the remainder of this placement, but also for the future.
Ange.
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Hi Ange,
I know exactly what you mean! I was fortunate enough to see a Caesarean birth and a standard vaginal delivery and some uro-gynae surgery whilst on my womens health placement.
Before seeing any surgery, I didn't really think the experience would be of value to us as Physio's...as we don't perform the surgery! But all of the post-op advice makes so much more sense when you've seen what goes on in theatre. I found that after seeing various procedures I was able to answer patients questions more confidently as I knew exactly what their bodies had been through.
If anyone has a chance to see any form of surgery on placement I strongly suggest you accept...even it does turn you completely off ever having that procedure performed on yourself - I know I'd be opting for a vaginal delivery over a Caesar any day!
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