Cesarean Section: A Case Study

Mothers and newborns have a physiologic need to be together during the first moment of birth. Interrupted skin-to-skin attachment between mothers and babies can be harmful and can negatively impact short and long term health outcomes and breastfeeding success. Evidence supports instant skin-to-skin care after the birth, vaginally and C-section, during and after cesarean surgery for all stable mothers and newborns will enhance limitless opportunities for care and breastfeeding. Skin-to-skin contact after delivery is golden opportunity. Many studies validate that mothers and babies should be skin-to-skin promptly after birth. Not only promotes healthier baby and successful breastfeeding outcome, it is also

Skin to skin contact in the delivery room and breastfeeding are best for mothers and infant. Skin to skin contact helps mothers become confident with their infants, decreases the mother’s anxiety toward motherhood, helps produce more breast milk, and helps them become aware of their infant’s cues, not to mention an incredible lifelong bonding experience. As for the infant’s benefits of skin to skin contact, it helps with temperature regulation, stabilization of the heart rate, control of the infant’s blood sugar, and helps with weight gain. When initiating immediate skin to skin contact, infants should be placed on their mother’s chest for instinctive skills. The infant begins to smell their mother’s breast and look at their mother, which

The author is a nurse in a level two trauma facility in a community of approximately fifty thousand people in Oregon. The community is a college-town surrounded by a large agricultural area. There is a minimal ethnic diversity within the community. The diversity present occurs mainly from internationally students and faculty from the college. There is a growing population of women who desire low interventional births in the community. The author has worked on the labor and delivery unit of the hospital for the last 14 years. The hospital is the only one in the area to offer trial of labor services to women who have previously undergone a cesarean section. The unit on average experiences around 1000 deliveries annually.

In the past, in the United States the majority of women delivered at home with no anesthetics; women might have received assistance through a family doctor, including midwife care (Thomas, 2011). A radical change happened by the 1960s, when hospital childbirths had become the norm, the pain of the experience was reduced by epidural anesthesia controlled by a physician. Pregnant women received education on breastfeeding and other topics during their medical visits (Thomas, 2011).

The intent of this paper is to examine effective solutions for reducing cesarean deliveries. Cesarean deliveries involve more risk to both the mother and baby than vaginal births do. Cesarean deliveries have a higher potential of complications than vaginal births. Cesarean deliveries cost more, require longer hospital stays, and require more resources—both human and systemic—than vaginal births.

Over the years birthing methods have changed a great deal. When technology wasn’t so advanced there was only one method of giving birth, vaginally non-medicated. However, in today’s society there are now more than one method of giving birth. In fact, there are three methods: Non-medicated vaginal delivery, medicated vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery, also known as c-section. In the cesarean delivery there is not much to prepare for before the operation, except maybe the procedure of the operation. A few things that will be discussed are: the process of cesarean delivery, reasons for this birthing method and a few reasons for why this birthing method is used. Also a question that many women have is whether or not they can vaginally

Cesarean section (C/S) births can occur in the hospital for several reasons. Some women choose to have elective C/S birth and others require C/S births out of infant or maternal safety, complications, or by necessity. This paper discusses both elective and emergency C/S deliveries and reviews both National Guideline policy and Carilion Clinic policies on C/S births. The problem statement is: in pregnant women (population), does C/S delivery following National or Carilion policies (IV: exposure vs. none-exposure) differ in terms of patient care and outcomes concerning maternal and neonatal health (DV)?

The model of care I observed at the hospital was the patient centered care model. The nurses worked with the patients, typically on a one-to-one nurse-patient ratio. The nurse helped and tended to the patient’s needs, drew her blood, inserted a catheter, and watched the monitors on the baby to ensure everything was going smoothly. It surprised me that a number of the patients I saw were being induced, and according to the nurses, a lot of patients have planned C-Sections. The two soon-to-be mothers that I encountered in the labor and delivery area were being induced. The first one was in the middle of the induction, and she had Pitocin already infusing when I got there, so her contractions were getting stronger. When she needed to use

The article, Gentle Caesarean Delivery by Jackie Tillet, starts by explaining how Caesarean deliveries are reforming to be more naturalistic or “gentle”. This is done by having a family presence in the delivery room, and by providing an ambient environment. Many hospitals have implemented procedure changes not only to promote the family ambiance, but also to imitate the feeling of coming out of the birth

Within the March problem of OBG Management, Dr. William Camann, director of obstetric anesthesiology at Brigham and Women's Medical center in Boston and a co-employee professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical College, co-wrote an editorial, "Mom-, Baby-, and Family-Centered Cesarean Delivery: IT'S POSSIBLE," where he explained a few of the choices which may have become available within the last year or two.

An argument for the case of minimal medicalized intervention during birth can be made in terms of low-risk pregnancies and reserving medical interventions for high-risk deliveries and emergency situations. The purpose of this paper is to ensure that members of the childbearing community, including healthcare professionals, are familiar with alternative interventions to cesarean section and thoroughly consider the risks and benefits of said interventions so that natural child-birthing methods can be promoted in low-risk situations.

As stated by Penny Simkin, April Bolding, Ann Keppler, Janelle Durham, and Janet Whalley, the authors of the number one best-selling book, Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide, “While maternity care practices are continually changing the way women are helped to give birth, childbirth itself hasn’t changed. How a women’s body functions during pregnancy, labor, birth, and the postpartum period—and what she needs during these things—hasn’t changed since the beginning of humankind.” The process of birth is one of God’s greatest miracles. Although all babies go through the same stages of conception and development while in utero, that “average gestation period is 280 days, but it can be shorter or longer by as many as 14 days. At the end of the gestation period, the fetus has reached full term and is positioned for the birth process. The process, generally referred to as labor, includes three stages” (Wittmer, Petersen, Puckett, 2013, pg. 103). However, not all babies are born through vaginal births and as technology has increased many doctors are beginning to see a trend of patients asking for elective C-sections for non-medical reasons for convenience and avoiding the pain of labor, as well as concerns about vaginal tearing, incontinence, or other complications.

Not too long ago, the term Cesarean Section would strike fear into the heart's of expecting mothers because of the number of risks involved with the surgery and not to mention the ghastly scar it leaves behind. Today, however, physicians give their patients the option to go through with natural delivery or chose a natural delivery. This may be due to the increase in celebrity trends or because women are having babies later in life and advanced maternal age comes into play when making the decision. Regardless of the increase of this type of delivery, one thing remains true, it is surgery and the

Providing continuous physical and emotional support during labour can reducing maternal fear, stress, and anxiety and protect physiological birth (Steen, 2012). Research shows that fear and anxiety during labour and birth can be detrimental to physiological birth. An environment that women feel unsafe in may stimulate a surge of neuro-hormones that can influence both fetal and maternal physiology, causing irregularity of contractions, fetal distress and subsequent medical inteverntions (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Conversly, maintaining an environment where women feel safe, protected and supported can facilitate favourable physiological performance (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Midwives can do this by giving women one-on-one continuous support and placing her at the centre of care throughout childbirth (Steen, 2012). As observed in practice, by constantly reassuring the woman about her progress, her baby’s health and addressing any of her concerns, the midwife can provide a calm and relaxing environment that is conducive to the labouring woman (Buckley, 2015; Steen, 2012). The midwife worked with the woman, encouraging her throughout labour and birth by telling her that she was doing extremely well. The midwife also breathed in-tune with the woman while giving her a back massage, inducing a sense of comfort. The atmosphere was calm and this contributed to the woman garnering confidence in her ability to avoid medical pain relief. Downe (2008) noted that the positive impact of

Vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC) is the name used for identifying the method of giving birth vaginally after previously delivering at least one baby through a caesarean section (CS). A trial of labour (TOL) is the term used to describe the process of attempting a VBAC. An elected repeat caesarean (ERC) is the other option for women who have had a caesarean in the past. The rates of women choosing to deliver by means of an ERC has been increasing in many countries, this is typically due to the common assumption that there are too many risks for the baby and mother (Knight, Gurol-Urganci, Van Der Meulen, Mahmood, Richmond, Dougall, & Cromwell, 2013). The success rate of VBAC lies in the range of 56 - 80%, a reasonably high success rate, however, the repeat caesarean birth rate has increased to 83% in Australia (Knight et al., 2013). It is essential to inform women of the contraindications, success criteria, risks, benefits, information on uterine rupture and the role of the midwife in relation to considering attempting a VBAC (Hayman, 2014). This information forms the basis of an antenatal class (Appendix 1) that provides the necessary information to women who are considering attempting a VBAC and can therefore enable them to make their own decision regarding the mode of birth.