What’s a ‘Gentle C-Section?’
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When Stephanie Branly of Atlanta, Georgia had her first emergency C-section three years ago, there was nothing warm and fuzzy about it. She was under general anesthesia (which is commonly used during emergency cesareans). She didn’t remember parts of the birth. She didn’t get to hold her son right away. And her recovery was long and painful.
She was grateful, of course, that her son was born healthy but when it came time to have her second birth last year, her hospital offered something new: A more “baby friendly” C-section. That meant her husband was with their daughter as soon as she was born, doctors didn’t whisk the baby away for a bath, and Branly got to hold her newborn cheek-to-cheek. Branly’s healing process also went much more smoothly.
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The “gentle C-section,” as it’s called at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where the procedure is being pioneered, affords women undergoing C-sections some of the experiences common to vaginal births – immediate skin-to-skin contact and no arm straps. The monitors women normally wear during C-sections are also moved so babies can be placed on the mother’s chest just after birth, which offers a better start to breastfeeding and bonding. And in some hospitals, the curtain dividing mother and baby is clear or even lowered so mom can watch her child emerge.
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"We already have good evidence that C-sections can lead to more postpartum depression, decreased breastfeeding outcomes and bonding issues," Caitlyn Legros, a certified nurse midwife at the University of Rochester Medical Center, tells Yahoo Parenting. “‘Gentle Cesareans’ seem like a simple option to fix some of these issues.”
Known as the “Family Centered Caesarean” in England, the procedure is becoming much more common in the U.S., Dr. Janis Fee, a board certified OB/GYN at St. Joseph Heritage Medical Group in Southern California, tells Yahoo Parenting.
Over her 22 years of practice, Fee says she’s watched the C-section evolve from major surgery — that excluded even the father from being in the room — to something far more family friendly. And best of all, moms feel like they’re in control of their delivery, a feeling that typically lacks during standard C-sections.
“After my second C-section, I was up walking around within the next day,” says Branly. And while she’s not exactly sure why, the truth is, it doesn’t matter. It was just better. “For major surgery,” she says, “it was actually a pleasant experience.”
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