Recently I had the opportunity to support a gal who was having a planned c-section. At first, I wondered what I would do to support her so we just let the support evolve as the pregnancy progressed.
To begin, we looked a good practices for good positioning for baby and for good posture for mom so she felt comfortable throughout the pregnancy. I gave her a couple of rebozo sessions to take the pressure off of her back. We looked at exercises to do for good health throughout pregnancy. I shared links with her with specific exercises and yoga for pregnant women. We looked a good nutrition as she was diabetic.
I shared a book from my doula library about what to expect in a c-section. This helped her formulate questions for her doctor and gave her good information around what to expect.
We talked about birth preferences such as skin to skin and delayed cord clamping that could happen even in the operating room. I answered questions from personal experience about the healing process after the c-section in terms of incision care and good healthy practices like walking after surgery so gas doesn’t build up.
Early in the pregnancy, her hubby wasn’t sure he could “do” the surgery part and it looked like I would be the one supporting her in the OR but I gave her good reasons why he should go in and she convinced him. He was really glad he decided to do this!
After the baby was born, I headed up to the hospital to offer postnatal support. We talked about breastfeeding and got the baby latched on. We talked about good nutrition for breastfeeding mommas and how important it was to keep him nursing and why he would NOT need formula (this was offered by the hospital). We looked at the comparison of size of baby’s new born tummy and that was a surprise to mom.
I have checked in with mom on a couple of occasions since she went home to see how things are going and all is well.
I believe she was happy with the support offered in this situation and I would definitely do this again. I think all mommas need support and a doula can be helpful even in a planned c-section.