Hello, and welcome to episode three of ‘C section support’ by ‘OT in Motherhood’ podcast. So great to have you back again. Today, we are going to talk about the role of the support person before your C-section birth. So who is the support person? Basically, your support person can be anyone you want it to be. It could be your partner, it could be your mum, a friend, whoever you want really. And it's someone who's with you during the birth and with you at home as well during your recovery.
Having someone you trust as your support person can make a huge difference to the experience of your birth and your recovery, and also how you're feeling leading up to the birth as well. Your support person can help provide you with comfort and reassurance. They can help you learn about birth leading up to the time, and they can advocate for you. They can help you recover by giving you information and supporting you practically at home and just overall, really add to your birth experience. It may be possible to have a professional as a support person during your birth, but that's something that you'll need to discuss with your hospital in advance if possible. So for example, this could be a doula. A doula might be able to attend your birth during a C-section, it could be a birth photographer, or it could even be an additional support person.
The reason this needs to be discussed in advance is that the operating theater is already quite a busy place. There's quite a few health professionals in there already, and they all have their specific roles that they play. They want to minimize the additional people in there because space is at a premium. Have those discussions with your obstetrician or midwife in advance, and you might have to get written approval. If you happen to have a student midwife, normally they are able to attend the birth without prior approval as they are counted as a staff member during your birth.
All right. So before your birth, there's a number of things that your support person can do. They can attend appointments with you at the hospital so this means obviously being there in person, but also helping you prep for the appointments. Thinking of questions you might want to know the answers to. Helping you emotionally as well with those appointments, especially if you're feeling anxious, and helping you to remember the information. Maybe they could even be your scribe during the appointment to help you remember the information.
Another major thing that support person can do is educate themselves. This could be attending formal birth classes with you or birth preparation classes, whether that's in person or maybe they're online. They could also do their own preparation, however they like. It could be reading a book, reading articles, listening to this podcast. This is not just around the birth itself, but around your recovery. If you are planning to breastfeed, I really recommend that they also educate themselves on breastfeeding so that they can help you get breastfeeding off to a great start. There is a lot of information out there, which I guess can be hard to navigate, but it's important to do the best that you can to feel informed before birth because afterwards, you’re generally sleep deprived, you've got a whole new normal to get used to. So you have less time and energy to educate yourselves after your beautiful baby has arrived.
Another thing is, working with you on your postpartum plan. You might've heard this term before, postpartum planning, and basically it's coming up with a plan for after your baby has arrived. It's not just looking at what items you need, you know, do you need a cot? Do you need nappies? Do you need all that sort of thing? It's more about what support you need. So this could include what professionals you might access, what information sources you trust, it could be, how are you managing childcare if you have other children, and how are you going to manage meals? All the things that need to be done around the house, who is doing what, are they aware of your post surgery restrictions in movement and activities and how can you collaborate on them supporting you during that time of recovery. So you can come up with that together. You can write it down if that helps, there are a few resources around. There's also articles and things you can access about how to actually make a postpartum plan. And there are also some professionals who offer that as a service.
Related to this is also your birth plan. And yes, even though you're having a c-section birth, and it is surgery, you can definitely have a birth plan. There are certain things that you have choice over and control over, and hospitals will generally do all they can to support you in having choice and preference during your birth. Obviously within the limits of what needs to happen on the day and the policies and procedures of the hospital. So, that's something to be aware of before time as well, what your options are. And then collaborate with your support person to think about things that are really important to both of you. And are you both aware of what those are so that on the day your support person can advocate for you, to ensure that those things happen.
Hospital bag, that is something that is talked about a lot, what needs to be packed in your hospital bag. There are so many different opinions, but it's important that your support person has some things with them as well, especially if they will be with you in hospital after the birth, whether they are staying overnight with you or maybe they're going home again.
With my two beautiful kids that were born, I gave birth in a public hospital, which meant that my husband was only able to visit during the normal visiting hours. Both of my births were during the day, so that was fine. But obviously if you have a C-section during the middle of the night, then your support person can stay with you for a little while after the birth before going home. Obviously if your support person is staying overnight, then they will need an overnight bag, you know, toiletries, clothes, all that sort of thing. Phone charger is a very important thing to have. For the birth itself, there's some items that I recommend. And while you will have a hospital bag packed and probably in the car a few weeks in advance, it's a great idea for your support person to have a little bag packed in advance as well.
So a few things, when your support person comes into the theater with you for the birth, they will be given scrubs. So a top and pants, that they need to put over their normal clothes and generally a hat as well. Something that can be useful if your partner does have long hair is to have a hair tie available so that they can tie their hair back easily.
Another thing is to make sure that they've got enclosed shoes, they need to be worn in theater. If it's the height of summer, you know, I gave birth to my first daughter in summer in Western Australia, where I think the day before I gave birth was about 40 degrees Celsius or something. So, you know, closed in shoes aren't worn very often. So make sure that you have those in the car so that they can be worn in the hospital.
The other things to have with them on the days, obviously a phone, or, or separate camera. But generally phone is a good idea, as you can take photos on there. You can also have music that you might be able to play during the birth, if that's your preference. So make sure that, I guess it's a great idea for your support person to have pockets in whatever they're wearing so that they can have their phone or maybe your phone in their pocket as well.
Another thing that was recommended by a midwife before I gave birth was to bring a beanie with you, a baby beanie. Hospital will often provide a beanie and put one on your baby, but if you bring your own, the advantage of that is that you could have worn it down your top for a few nights before birth so that that beanie has your smell already on it. So your baby has that smell on it associated with you. And this can be especially important if your baby does need to be separated from you for whatever reason. If they need to go to NICU or they need to be checked out, then they've got that little item of you.
Something else that was suggested is a hankie, which I know is a bit old fashioned and I don't know if everyone really uses these these days, but having a hankie or a cloth flannel, whatever it is, with some perfume or favorite scented oils on it, that can be brought close to you during the surgery. There is occasionally a bit of a smell in theater that you might be sensitive to, or you might not be familiar with. I didn't actually notice this during my births, but my husband did. If you do notice it and you're finding it a bit unpleasant, then that can be something that's brought close to you so that you can smell it. And smell is a really powerful association with memories as well, so that could be a really amazing link that you can link in with your birth for future.
Alright, so far we've talked about the role of the support person, attending appointments with you, educating themselves, whether personally or through a formal class, collaborating on your postpartum plan, helping you with your hospital bag, and prepping their own hospital bag.
And then the last few things, helping practically on the day. So remembering what time you need to be at the hospital, what you need to bring, what is the process or preparation before you come into the hospital. So sometimes you might be given a wash that you need to use in the shower before you come into surgery. So, remembering all those things that can support you with that, as I'm sure you will be feeling a little bit overwhelmed and have lots to think about on the day. Arranging childcare for other children if needed, be responsible for that.
And the last thing is helping prepare you emotionally and mentally for giving birth. Obviously, this is more so if you're aware in advance that you will be having a c-section birth and maybe, you know, you have some negative feelings about it. You’re anxious or overwhelmed, your support person can be really vital in helping you on the day, deal with those emotions, keep you calm. So in advance, it can be amazing if you talk about some strategies. So maybe during the surgery, your support person can talk about some favorite memories that you have together. They can maybe ask you questions about, what is our baby going to be like? Can we, you know, imagine what our life is going to be like? They can tell you how amazing you are, help you with breathing techniques or relaxation techniques. So have a chat beforehand about what this could involve, and have them on board and ready to go with calming you down on the day if needed.
Okay. So we've talked about a few things that your support person can do to help you in the lead up to your birth. And in another episode, we'll talk about what they can do in hospital during the birth and at home during your recovery as well. But for today, I just wanted to talk about some initial things that they can do.
Your homework for today, chat to your support person, whoever they may be. Chat to them about their role, their expectations and knowledge about what will happen on the day. Collaborate together, make a plan so that you can both have an amazing experience because it is a shared experience and even if it's, you know, maybe not the way you had planned or hoped to give birth, having a c-section, it can be a really beautiful experience and can be really personal. And you can have your choices respected. So talk about what that might look like.
Thanks for listening today. Don't forget to subscribe below, check out the show notes and I will see you next time. Bye.