Birthrites: Healing After Caesarean.

Caesarean Birth:
Making Informed Choices.

What to Expect After a Caesarean.

Pain relief after a caesarean.

Some women really need good pain relief after experiencing a caesarean; others are up and about within a few days, and report experiencing hardly any traumatic pain at all. This could be based on each individual's pain tolerance, or what happened during the caesarean, or preceding it, or it could be related to the Mother's attitude towards the whole experience.

Women can feel traumatised (emotionally and/or physically) by their caesarean experience and then may have more difficulty coping afterwards, as they will have emotional issues to deal with as well as the physical pain associated with a surgical birth.

There are several medications, taken individually or in combination, which will offer pain relief after your caesarean. Your midwife, or anaesthetist, will recommend which drugs will help you best to cope with any pain experienced. If you continue to experience pain, then you should alert your midwife to your condition so that she can help alleviate your distress.

Please remember that it can be better to 'stay on top' of the pain, as some of the drugs work best once they reach a certain level. If you force yourself to cope with pain until you desperately NEED pain relief then you may not get the full benefit of the medication. So, don't be a martyr!

Then again, it's worthwhile checking how your body is coping using lower doses of medication, as the days pass. As all drugs may have some effect on your baby if you are breastfeeding -> either passed through your milk, to your baby, or possibly affecting the flow or production of your milk supply. Your midwife/doctor should guide you towards a reduction in pain relief over the time until your discharge.

Relying on too much pain relief, gained through medications, can actually give women a false sense of wellness. This can have the undesirable effect of encouraging the Mother to do too much, too soon. Women must be aware of some pain, so that they will remain in tune with the healing that their body is performing. If the Mother over-exerts herself too soon after the caesarean, then this may prolong the whole healing process.

Please remember that you have the right to be informed about the possible side effects of any drugs that you take to help you manage pain after your caesarean. If you have any concerns about how any of these drugs may affect you, or your baby (especially if breastfeeding), your worries should be discussed with a relevant person (i.e., the midwife, doctor, anaesthetist or the pharmacist associated with the hospital). Below is a list of drugs commonly used.

The types of pain relief offered are:

  • Narcotic medication. Specifically Pethidine and Morphine. They can be given by injection, each 3 -> 4 hours, intramuscularly (an injection in your leg) but may also be given as a 'fixed dose infusion' through an I/V line into a vein in your arm, via a Patient-Controlled Analgesia Pump, which enables you to self-medicate as needed (you are instructed how to use this pump) or in small doses through the epidural catheter, which may still be in place from your surgery. Another way of receiving this medication involves a single spinal injection.

  • Suppository. The suppository contains an anti-inflammatory drug that will help you cope with pain while it reduces any abdominal inflammation you may be experiencing. This drug is inserted into your rectum, and is quickly absorbed. It is usually given twice a day.

  • Paracetamol, or a Paracetamol/Codeine combination. These are usually offered in combination with the other drugs listed, in the early days, helping to reduce the amount of drugs needed. They can then be used alone as time passes, especially as the time of discharge approaches.

*Note that Codeine, Morphine and Pethidine (all narcotic drugs) can cause constipation, and this is not something you would want to experience after a caesarean, so use these medications moderately if possible, drink lots of fluids and keep mobile.

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