How is C-section performed?

When a decision is made during labour to proceed with a C-section, there is usually little mucking around, and if staff are available you are whisked straight into pre-op, then the operating theatre. In the theatre, there’s quite a bunch of people busily doing all different jobs. If you don’t have an epidural you will be given strong spinal anaesthesia, or an existing epidural will be topped up significantly. You will be laid onto a crucifix-shaped bed, with it tilted to the left (to improve blood supply to the fetus while you are lying flat). Then everyone is ‘poised’, ready for the 5–15 minutes of operating time it will take for your baby to be delivered, then the 20–40 minutes to sew things back up (so close to an hour all up in the theatre). Then you’ll go through to post-op for another hour or so, then finally to the maternity postnatal ward. But getting the baby out can take as little as four minutes in an extreme emergency ‘crash’ Caesar (typically under general anaesthetic).