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- Seabrin, can I ask you a question?
- Yes, Danae.
- What kind of delivery did you have?
- I had a vaginal.
- I had a C-section.
Do you know the difference between the two?
- I don't.
- I think I know who does, Dr. Arroyo at KC OB/GYN.
- Let's go talk to him.
Hi, I'm Seabrin Jensen.
- And, I'm Danae Young, and I'm here at KC OB/GYN
with Dr. Arroyo.
And he's going to kind of talk to us about
the overall postpartum care, focusing on the difference
between Cesarean sections, and vaginal deliveries.
- Well, thanks guys for coming, nice to see you both.
- Thank you. - Nice to see you.
- Well, I think, recovery from both vaginal delivery,
and C-section, goes really well for most people
just because you're celebrating the birth of a new baby.
- Yes.
- And we're very fortunate in that everybody who delivers
tends to do pretty well.
Now, with vaginal delivery, what we usually see is
that people are able to get around and move
a little bit easier than if they have a C-section,
because the pain of the C-section.
Fortunately, most of our patients do well with that,
simply because we have pain medicine available
to help them control the pain.
But, with a vaginal delivery, we have people,
really their main restriction is no heavy lifting,
nothing too strenuous for about six weeks.
But, they're able to drive, they're able to do stairs.
They're able to care for their baby a little bit
more easily than with a C-section.
Because, with a C-section, of course with the incision
of the abdomen, you're a little more limited.
Certainly for the first few weeks, the biggest restriction
is no driving, for two weeks.
And that's primarily because we don't want people doing
emergency avoidance procedures in their car.
If somebody walks out in front of their car,
they'll have a hard time because of the incision
on their abdomen, in terms of stopping
and moving their car quickly.
So they can ride in the car, but no driving, no.
- Okay.
- And they can do stairs, that's perfectly fine.
They just have to go a little bit more slowly.
They're also a little bit more at risk to have infection
post C-section, so we have them watch their incision
very carefully to make sure they don't have any draining,
drainage, excuse me,
redness, make sure that their pain is in check.
But, after a few weeks, with the C-section,
we see patients back in the office, and if everything
is going well in regards to the recovery,
we'll let them start driving, we'll let them start doing
a little bit more.
And then it becomes pretty much like the recovery
from a vaginal delivery.
For all patients at that six-week mark, we let you
do anything that you want.
Intercourse is fine, driving is already good,
but you can pretty much do any activity that you want,
at that stage.
- Okay.
- With a C-section delivery, will moms still, kind of,
have the vaginal bleeding as well?
- Yes, in general, bleeding from a C-section tends to be
a little bit lighter than it is with a woman who
has a vaginal delivery.
We tell most of our patients who have vaginal delivery
it's probably going to be five or six weeks
before bleeding subsides.
With a C-section, we usually see anywhere in the range
of two to four weeks, before the bleeding subsides.
It can last as long as six weeks, but usually not.
- And then, when can a C-section mama kind of get up
and start moving after the procedure?
- We really like to have out moms get up in about,
almost right away.
As soon as their pain medicine wears off.
Which most of them will have medicine
in the bag to kind of control their pain for the procedure.
But, shortly after that, within hours,
we want them up and out of bed.
Most of our patients are able to walk,
the same day of having their C-section,
and we think that's very important
for their recovery to go up.
- What's kind of like the eating difference between a
vaginal delivery and a C-section?
Like when can they start eating?
- You know, with a vaginal delivery, people can eat
and drink right away.
That's one of the things that they're always
looking forward to doing.
It's like, "Oh, when can I eat?"
With a C-section, it's a little more restrictive,
however, it's not as much as it used to be.
In fact, most of us will let patients drink
just a couple hours after surgery.
And if they're doing well,
we let them start eating that day.
As long as they have some evidence that their intestines
are feeling okay, and they're doing well, yes,
most of them can eat and drink that same day.
- Well, thank you Dr. Arroyo, for all the information,
we appreciate it.
You're very welcome.
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