Question abotu c section/ epidural

[Anonymous]

Random thought/question - what happens if you have to have an emergency c section but you havent had an epidural yet?

[Anonymous]

They will either give you a spinal or they will give you general anesthesia. They will not operate on you unanesthetized if that is your worry?

[Anonymous]

I asked the doctor this once out of curiosity. She said in general they give you general anesthesia because there isn't time to do an epidural.

[Anonymous]

If it’s a true emergency, like your life or baby’s life is in danger, you do not get an epidural. It’s one reason you get an iv when you get there. They will push something into your iv. Most people will say they had an emergency c section, but it’s not a true emergency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They will either give you a spinal or they will give you general anesthesia. They will not operate on you unanesthetized if that is your worry?

They sometimes cut without anesthesia. I’ve seen it happen.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the reason for the csection. If you or baby are in distress, they’ll do general to get both of you safe as quickly as possible. If you’ve been pushing for a long time or are t dilating, then they’ll do a spinal because it’s less of an emergency.

[Anonymous]

I had an emergency C-section. Early on in the induction we started losing his heartbeat. They did a spinal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will either give you a spinal or they will give you general anesthesia. They will not operate on you unanesthetized if that is your worry?

They sometimes cut without anesthesia. I’ve seen it happen.

Seriously?? Knowingly cutting someone open when they can feel it? And that’s documented?? Because that sounds a lot like medical malpractice. I have heard of women not being believed when their anesthesia wasn’t adequate (one of the reasons I was adamant not to have a c-section) but not that they didn’t have any...

[Anonymous]

I'm not 100% sure about the answer to your exact question, so I'll let others fill in, although I think you may need a general anesthesia.

But one thing that I didn't know until my childbirth class - people tend to drastically overuse/misuse the phrase "emergency c-section."

There are three kinds of c-sections - planned, unplanned, and emergency. The vast, vast majority are planned or unplanned. Very, very few c-sections are actually emergency c-sections. So, almost everyone you talk to who says "oh, I was in labor, but then I had an emergency c-section" actually had an UNPLANNED c-section. In those cases, you still have time to confer with your doctor and/or partner, ask questions, get an epidural, etc. Generally, there's something like 30-60 minutes between deciding to have an unplanned c-section, and the c-section actually taking place.

With an emergency c-section, you're talking about just a few minutes, because every minute counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it’s a true emergency, like your life or baby’s life is in danger, you do not get an epidural. It’s one reason you get an iv when you get there. They will push something into your iv. Most people will say they had an emergency c section, but it’s not a true emergency.

gotcha! Thanks for the info. Was curous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an emergency C-section. Early on in the induction we started losing his heartbeat. They did a spinal.

Was the decrease in heart rate due to the induction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will either give you a spinal or they will give you general anesthesia. They will not operate on you unanesthetized if that is your worry?

They sometimes cut without anesthesia. I’ve seen it happen.

Seriously?? Knowingly cutting someone open when they can feel it? And that’s documented?? Because that sounds a lot like medical malpractice. I have heard of women not being believed when their anesthesia wasn’t adequate (one of the reasons I was adamant not to have a c-section) but not that they didn’t have any...

Youve "seen" it happen? Are you a nurse or work in L&D?

[Anonymous]

I had emergency, not planned or unplanned due to rupture.

One minute they were looking at the monitor the next I was waking up after my c/s.

They knocked me out via IV, intubated and cut. It took all of a few second and happened in the labor room not OR.

If you had an "emergency c/s" in OR or with a spinal it was an unplanned one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had emergency, not planned or unplanned due to rupture.

One minute they were looking at the monitor the next I was waking up after my c/s.

They knocked me out via IV, intubated and cut. It took all of a few second and happened in the labor room not OR.

If you had an "emergency c/s" in OR or with a spinal it was an unplanned one.

damn. Were you induced?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had emergency, not planned or unplanned due to rupture.

One minute they were looking at the monitor the next I was waking up after my c/s.

They knocked me out via IV, intubated and cut. It took all of a few second and happened in the labor room not OR.

If you had an "emergency c/s" in OR or with a spinal it was an unplanned one.

So happy you and the baby survived. This is why I want to give birth in a hospital.