Coping with life after C-section

As families celebrate a new life brought into the world, have you ever taken a moment to think about the battle that a woman who gave birth through surgery, otherwise known as C-section (caesarean section) went through? The entire experience is something that only those who’ve been through it can explain, in detail. Coping up after the surgery is a whole different journey.

According to a gynaecologist from Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) Living Colman, C section or caesarean delivery is the use of surgery to deliver babies, it is a procedure that’s done a s a result of various reasons, some medical, others out of choice.

When Lucia Alfred, 38, a banker got pregnant with her first child 11 years ago, she never thought she’d have to undergo surgery in order to hold her baby in her arms.

Lucia is now a mother of three children, all of them having been brought in to this world through C-section.  She gave birth to babies who are relatively big in physical size, a situation that made vaginal birth a risk.

“Ever since I started giving birth through surgery, my life has never been the same. My body is filled with scars from the medical procedure and I’ve been left with multiple health complications. I am not complaining, but I am stating the fact that I’m living a life that a woman who gave birth the normal way is spared from,” she speaks.

Lucia says it took her more than four hours to regain consciousness after her surgeries. What followed was a difficult time with limited mobility. All she did was sleep on her back all the time.

As a result of the surgeries, Lucy now experiences back pain and headaches at least twice a week. Her doctor has advised her to get about 10 hours of good sleep a day, find time to exercise as well as eating a well balanced diet.

“C-section is very traumatizing,” she says, adding that a prospective mother is filled with excitement for the life that she’s about to bring in to this world, but at the same time it’s a moment that involves so much pain. “One can't manage to sit, eat, sleep, or even walk properly,” Lucia says.

Sometimes even taking care of your own baby becomes a daunting task. This is all due to the pain. It takes at least six weeks for a woman to start feeling well and manage to walk properly and enjoy parenting.

Commenting on the importance of the medical procedure, Dr Colman says C-section is only necessary when normal delivery is likely to put the baby or the mother at risk.

“There are a lot of reasons that may cause a woman to deliver via C-section but here are the major reasons; your labour isn't progressing, your baby isn't getting enough oxygen, your baby or babies are in an abnormal position, you’re having multiples, there's a problem with your placenta, there's a problem with the umbilical cord, you have a health concern.

However much C-section is commonly performed when medically necessary, it can also be performed when a mother requests for it.

Dr Colman says women who deliver more than once via C-section face an even harder time due to repeated incisions on the same scar. This makes surgery technically harder as the internal tissue start to fuse together.

Farida Mashaka, 35, is a mother of one. She went through a C-section that left her with just one ovary after she got an ectopic pregnancy.

Gynaecologist Egbert Mbaga, based in Morogoro, explains that ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg attaches itself in a place other than inside the uterus.

He says majority of ectopic pregnancies occur in the fallopian tubes which cannot hold a growing embryo, as a result one has to go through a caesarean.

This is what happened to Farida three years ago. To her, the experience feels like it happened just weeks ago.

Farida says it took her doctor about five weeks to know exactly what the problem was as the several ultrasound scans never showed if it was an ectopic pregnancy. Farida would go through serious stomach pain during the entire time of her pregnancy.

After her surgery that lasted about 45 minutes, Farida could not work for two months to give room for healing.

“I was put under anaesthesia, when I woke up I felt so much pain and dizziness. I also realised I had a catheter to help me not have to go to the toilet ten hours after my surgery,” she says.

The recovering patient was instructed to strictly sleep on her back seven hours a day, she couldn’t turn side to side. When she was allowed to exercise by just walking, the pain was too much for her to bear. It was through her husband’s support that she managed to turn around on bed as well as gaining some mobility.

After surgery Farida would experience intense desire to sleep, one which she never wanted to wake up from. However her doctor warned her that oversleeping could result to the wound not healing and it could instead rot.  

Health effects to the baby

Dr Mbaga says that it’s not just the mothers who are affected by C-section. The baby, too, may develop some breathing complications. This may occur because the baby is not being squeezed through the narrow birth canal.

“These health complications may occur to the baby due to the multiple medication that the mother takes, such as sleep medication. During the process of administering the medicine, some of it may be passed on to the baby,” says Mbaga.

Adding to that he says, if some of the medication, such as sleep medication is passed on to the baby, that baby will be sleepier than other newborns.  

The doctor says that women who undergo caesarean section are also at a risk of going through hysterectomy process, which may result from surgical complications from the procedure.

A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of a woman’s uterus. It is often done because of pain and/or bleeding.

He also says, women who go through C-section tend to be forgetful. This is a side effect of the medication used to induce sleep.

Farida and Lucia have had to live with medical repercussions of their respectful C-sections.  

Agnes Tarimo, 45, also gave birth through C-section 20 years ago. She decided to have only one child as a result.  

The mother of one says she has memory loss issues. In order to make it easy for her to remember to do everything she’s required to do, she makes a very long ‘to do list’ in her diary and ticks the things she does.

“Sometimes I forget to carry my diary with me whenever I go and it becomes more challenging to do or make follow up calls to my clients. I have told them that I have memory loss issues and asked them to be lenient with me and call me every now and then to remind me of their orders two days before delivery date,” says Agnes, who works as a business woman importing goods from neighbouring countries and delivering them to clients.

Agnes, who became a mother twenty years ago, could not manage to deliver her baby the normal way due to the baby's position in the womb in the third trimester not being supportive.

She says after her surgery, when it became cold she felt pain on her entire body and about a year after the surgery her scar developed some fluid which was so painful to remove.

She says the treatment involved no anaesthetic injection and the process to pull out the fluid using injection took about half an hour. It is an experience she never wishes anyone to go through due to how painful it is.