I get that it helps for the mother to be awake and physically pushing during birth, but I was surprised to realize that even during surgical births like C-sections, women are usually still conscious (terrifying in my opinion)
It also made me wonder- does not being awake for the birth, or not giving birth at all (like with surrogacy or adoption), somehow mean a woman might not love her baby as much as someone who physically gave birth? Anyone have a personal experience with both?
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Not many people want to miss the first moment their child enters the world
Because those medications are dangerous for the health of the infant, so it’s not something done without extenuating circumstances. And you can’t administer them to the mother because they will saturate her system and continue to be secondarily administered to the infant via breast milk.
General anaesthesia is fairly dangerous – you have to put the person on a breathing machine, and they can’t communicate if something feels wrong or out of place. It’s gross overkill for something like a C-section, where a local anaesthetic works just fine (and maybe something for anxiety if you really need, though that depends on the practice).
> It also made me wonder- does not being awake for the birth, or not giving birth at all (like with surrogacy or adoption), somehow mean a woman might not love her baby as much as someone who physically gave birth? Anyone have a personal experience with both?
Not at all. They would absolutely put women under if it was warranted, there’s just no need to take that kind risk for C-section.
You can, my sister had 2 kids, c section under general
Because if mother is “asleep” the baby is asleep as well – they’re on the same blood circulation loop, with same drugs.
More because if Mum asleep it affects the baby as well.
With being awake I went to sleep during my emergency c-section I was so tired from being in labour so long.
So I went to sleep woke up to complain about that screaming baby it was my son 😂.
You can. General affects the fetus as well as the mother so it is less preferred.
They can and will in some emergency situations.
But a GA carries risk to mum and baby so if it can be avoided it will be
With every use of general anesthesia there is a risk of potential death using it during childbirth would be a risk both to the mother and the child, heightened risk with relatively little gain.
They used to. It’s called twilight birth. Because of the risks associated with it like prolonged birth and infant suffocation, it’s not a standard practice anymore.
Edit: spelling
I would hate it if someone put me under. I wanted to witness the birth of my children, to me the idea of going to sleep and waking up having a baby is what’s terrifying.
My girl friend had some complications during delivery that required an impromptu general anesthesia c section. It is a very fast procedure because the doctors don’t want to risk too much of the anesthesia making it to the baby, and rushing a major surgery such as c section has the potential to go down hill very quickly.
She ended up with internal hemorrhaging that required a couple blood transfusion over the next couple days. Both her and our daughter are perfectly healthy now, but it was an absolutely terrifying experience for both of us.
You can be. Some people get general anesthesia, say my friend has back issues and can’t get spinal or epidural.
But general anesthesia is hard on you and you missing first moments with your baby
You can in emergencies if epidural is not in place and you need c – section but other than that, no you don’t want to do that since it will affect the baby. Plus most women want to be awake for the birth of their child. Of course sometimes birth is traumatic but in general, when everything goes relatively smoothly, it’s a pretty magical moment
My mum was under general anaesthesia for both me and my sibling. She has scoliosis and the usual spinal didn’t work (she could feel her left arm and right leg type of thing). They do still use general if they have to, they just prefer not too. Mum was also out of it for a day or so after, because of her reaction to anaesthesia, which isn’t ideal for the baby.
My aunt had a stroke while under general for giving birth in 1972. She didn’t wake up when she was supposed to and that was when they realized something happened. She was in a coma for 2 weeks after, in the hospital for months after relearning everything.
I was put under general anesthesia for both of my c-sections. I can tell you I love both of my kids with every ounce of my being, I don’t love them any less because of how they were born.
Basically because general anaesthesia is actually quite dangerous and very difficult to do right, so they only use it if there is really no option. That’s why there is an entire medical specialty around it – anaesthesiologists.
I was under general for a c-section that was a whole mess. The biggest problem is the meds affect the baby way more than just an epidural
General anesthesia would be rapidly absorbed in the baby; C-sections are done very quickly. I was an observer during one (old AF medic) … not even a minute. Of course, repair surgery takes some time.
Later in life, I had two C-sections.
I was put under for my emergency c-section. (I think because I was on blood thinners, I wasn’t allowed an epidural? Not certain, it was all a rushed blur)
I can definitely assure you though, that I love this baby just as much as my first two kids who were born vaginally! They wheeled me into the NICU as soon as I woke up and I just fell inlove.
I gave birth under general anesthesia (I was knocked out). It didn’t really affect bonding with my daughter, but she had some issues from the anesthetic afterwards. And just an FYI, I may have been unconscious, but I still “physically gave birth”.
Emergency c-sections do require anesthesia and I can tell you that not being conscious during your baby’s birth is incredibly traumatizing. You wake up and your baby who was a part of you for 9-10 months is out. When you don’t take part in the pushing, laboring, etc. it’s hard to accept that you actually gave birth and you sit there wondering what TF just happened TO you (instead of an experience you were a part of). It robs you of so much.
It can be done, but has more risks than spinal blocks/epidurals.
General anesthesia means you get medicines that go into the bloodstream (either by breathing them in or in an IV), and those meds completely knock you unconscious. Because the mother’s bloodstream connects to the baby’s, general anesthesia will make the baby sleepy, which can cause the baby to need extra breathing help at birth. So if the c-section is done under general anesthesia, the OB will try to get the baby out as quickly as possible after the mom is put under anesthesia.
With spinal anesthesia, the medicine is just around the spine, blocking the nerves that carry pain signals up to the mom’s brain. So there’s no medicine in her bloodstream, and nothing in the baby’s blood. The OB can do the surgery more slowly and carefully, because they aren’t racing against the sedatives, and the baby is more likely to breathe on their own right away instead of needing the NICU. I’m
I had general. Everything was perfect and I was out for 15 min total, they told me it didn’t have time to get to the bany. He was born awake and got perfect marks.
RN here. General anesthesia affects the baby as well as the mother but it can be done in emergency situations. It’s MUCH faster to put someone under general anesthesia and perform a section than it is to place an epidural and do one with mom awake, so when time is of the essence it’s done. Normally the baby comes out pretty limp and sluggish in these instances, and APGAR scores may be a little low – and it takes a bit for it to basically wear off which they may need support with breathing during this time.
Everyone in this thread is talking about the concern for anesthetics reaching the baby, but there are a lot of physiological changes that happen to a pregnant woman that alters her risk of getting general anesthesia.
Pregnant women tend to have a lot more swelling everywhere, meaning that when you go to sleep and we place the breathing tube, it’s automatically more difficult than if you weren’t pregnant in the first place. In addition, the fact that there’s a baby in your abdomen means you’re automatically at risk of vomiting the second you fall asleep, and the vomit going into your lungs and causing a potentially fatal lung infection.
In addition, a difficult airway + active vomiting makes getting the breathing tube in MUCH more difficult and if we can’t get the breathing tube in, you die.
This is why we really, really try not to do general anesthetic unless we HAVE to.
Source: am anesthesiologist
It is always best to avoid general anesthesia when possible. It reduces risk. The risk goes up when delivering a baby because the baby gets the anesthesia as well. There are times when we use general for cesareans. The babies are born floppy and need assistance breathing. They often need reversal agents and extra monitoring until the drugs wear off.
As for bonding with the baby: It used to be routine for mom to be knocked out at delivery. My own mother didn’t see me until I was 8 hours old. We are still bonded. Dads used to be sent to the waiting room. They still bonded when they saw their newborns. Adoptive parents bond with their children. Bonding is much deeper than the moment of birth. It’s a human connection.
I was put under anesthesia when I had my c-section, they weren’t able to get the numbing/pain medication properly into my spine for whatever reason (details are kinda hazy at this point it was five years ago now). I think I was under for about 4 hours in total. It didn’t affect bonding or my son so I’m not sure.
Being awake during a C-section sounds like a horror movie, but yeah—standard practice.
And no, giving birth doesn’t unlock a secret love mode. Plenty of moms bond just as deeply through adoption or surrogacy. Love isn’t in the uterus.
No, we just keep people awake during surgery when possible because the medication can fuck you and baby up.
Has reddit for anyone else here recently suddenly locked on to showing you posts about whether or not it’s possible to love a child that isn’t biologically yours?
Dunno. But they wouldn’t do it even when my baby was dead. Refused a C-section too. Forced to go through nearly two days of labor. Baby was stillborn just 10 days before my due date. Fucking sucked.
I don’t have personal or professional experience, but I imagine being knocked out one second and waking up with a baby the next can be disorienting and potentially increase the risk of post-partum depression. Does anyone have any information on if that is actually a thing?
Dads love our babies as much as Moms do, and we didn’t give birth. Adoptive families love each other as much as biological ones. I wouldn’t worry about that part.
General anesthesia has risks that you don’t want to take on if not necessary, and most people want to be awake to hear their babies first cries.
I had General anesthesia for an emergency cesarean. Honestly, it turned out great. I woke up on pain meds with a swaddled baby. Husband held him while I was waking up. No issues for me or the baby.
I didn’t have a C-section when I had both of my children. I gave birth naturally.
But I don’t really think it matters if a woman is unable to have a child on her own and has to use a surrogate or adoption as the option for a child, I still think that she would love that child just as much as if she had birthed her own. That’s just my point of view on things. If a couple is wanting a child bad enough and is unable to have it on their own naturally or with certain options other than adoption or surrogate it is very possible for them to love the child just as much as if it had been their own birth child.
Sometimes they do have to put mom to sleep during an emergency C-section if there’s complications with the epidural and there’s a chance she’ll feel them cutting into her. They quickly put mom to sleep, as soon as she’s out they’ll cut into her as quickly as possible to get baby out before the anesthesia meds can effect the baby too much
I had a C section under a general anaesthetic. There was an issue with the epidural, and when I ended up needing a section, no matter what they did, I still had sensation. The baby really needed to come out at that stage, so my partner to leave theatre, and they put me under. It was fine, baby was with Dad for 45 mins and when I came to somebody handed me a baby 🙂
ITT: large amount of misinformation.
I was put to sleep for my last birth as I had a cord prolapse. Wouldn’t wish it on anyone, the fear, the unknown, wondering if I’d have a baby if I woke up. Met my wee man when he was 2 hours old and I was away with it. He’s defo a daddy’s boy and part of me thinks it’s cos they got all that time to bond first when it should have been me. Scariest time of my life 💙
I’m not sure most women would want to be unconscious when giving birth, even if it was risk free. I had a long, hard labour but I’m so glad I remember it all and was with it enough to remember the first time I looked into my newborn daughter’s eyes. The thought of waking up to it all having been done for me is really sad IMO.
Oh, goodness, here I go.
I was put under, but my case was unusual and one of my worst experiences.
With my first child, my water broke before I was in labor, sitcom style. Wake up at 3am, smack my husband, “I think my water just broke.” This happens in something like 8% of pregnancies, so not unheard of but not as likely. Typically, they want the baby out by around the 48hr mark if this happens due the infection risk for both mother and child. (Light research I did later)
I was induced initially. A pitocin drip makes labor come on faster and stronger, so in a way, it’s a bit more unpleasant that your body going into labor on it’s own. I was given IV painkillers that were wonderful but that could not be used when in active labor (7cm dilated through pushing the baby out). They also could not be readministered more than once every 2hrs.
Once we approached my limit on those drugs, we switched to an epidural that was put in wrong. The tech hit a nerve in my back and kept going, effectively killing any pain reduction in half my body. I couldn’t move from the waist down (standard) but I was only half numb in the bilateral sense (right side felt every contraction, left side felt nothing).
I labored 15 hrs. Active labor stalled. This is indicative that a woman cannot physically pass a baby through the birth canal. We waited, I labored, I got to 10cm. I pushed and my baby got stuck.
It was time for an emergency C Section. They removed the epidural and switched to a spinal (higher up on the body) and prepped for OR.
And because of the poorly placed epidural, the spinal didn’t take. I felt every. single. cut. they were making, and the deeper they went, the more I felt.
At that point, I was shaking from both exhaustion and the amount of drugs in my system. They had to tie me to the operating table and then, finally, knock me out with a third round of drugs
To answer your question: my son came out purple and unresponsive.
They revived him, thank God, but no, I couldn’t see him or hold or make any first decisions about his care because I was unconscious for another two hours. It did affect our bond. It worsened my post partum depression. I don’t think I felt more than perfunctory affection for him for months, and that builds on itself – do I even now love him like I should? I don’t know.
I have a severe needle phobia and my birth plan was general anesthesia to C-section my twins. On one hand, IVs are not my friend. On the other hand, I went to sleep and woke up with two babies. All went well, they’re teens now. I don’t mind not having experienced natural childbirth although I’d trade this phobia for just about anything.
I had a baby under general anesthesia. The medication crosses the placental barrier, which can lead to complications with baby. You are also at risk of aspiration, just like with any other surgery under general anesthesia. I believe it also significantly increases your risks of amniotic embolism, stroke, and blood pressure issues.
I will say, waking up without my baby and not getting to meet them for about 3 hours was pretty traumatic as well.
My mother was knocked out for my older sister’s birth. My sister was born white as a sheet, with sketchy breathing due to the sedative effects of the anesthesia crossing the placenta barrier. She also had apgar scores of 5-6.
I was born with absolutely no anesthesia, came too fast for it to be administered. I came out red, screaming, breathing great, with apgars of 8-9.
My baby brother was another non-drugged birth, that time by choice, and was in as good shape as I was.
General anesthesia is DANGEROUS.