• Give it importance! Sleep needs to be prioritized. We have discussed more on this under the section called ‘Sleep Hygiene’ (below).
• Drink a lot of liquids during the day, especially water, but reduce liquids before bedtime.
• To avoid nausea, which can interrupt your sleep, try to eat bland snack items during the day like crackers or biscuits.
• Sleep on your left side to improve the flow of blood to your baby.
• Install a mild “night-light” in the bathroom instead of turning on the full light – this will be less arousing to your eyes and help you return to sleep. This is relevant because in pregnancy, you will get up frequently to pass urine and that will disturb your sleep.
• Add daytime sleep or short naps to compensate for poor night-time sleep, as much as possible.

Sleep hygiene:

The following points are important in pregnancy, as otherwise. One or more techniques may help you get better sleep, although every case of sleep deprivation is different and unique.

1. Know how much sleep you need. The recommended duration is 7-7.5 hours
2. Sleeping daily at the same time is critical to maintain the biological clock. Avoid bedtime procrastination, which means delaying your sleep time at night.
3. Set an alarm for the morning – at the same time daily – and get up at that time! This is critical, even if you had a disturbed or interrupted sleep the previous night. This ensures that your clock is not changed on a daily basis due to varying sleep times and duration and the brain sees its consistency.
4. A quiet bedroom is important. If there in unavoidable ambient noise due to TV, children, pets or outside noise, use a ‘white noise’ mobile application. Choose from nature sounds, meditative music or quiet ambient sounds. These have proven benefits in causing a sound sleep.
5. A dark room tells the brain that it is time to sleep. Keep your bedroom dark and cool. Reduce the brightness of your phone to avoid distractions due to notifications.
6. The best temperature for falling asleep is 16-18 degrees Celsius.
7. Use your bed only for sleeping. Use a comforting mattress and a blanket. 
8. Important: Keep the clutter away such as laptops, phones, tablets, TV remotes and chargers. Any kind of electronic distraction is against sleep hygiene! Perhaps the only useful item is the AC remote!
9. You may be tempted to use gadgets but try not having any screen time for an hour before sleeping. 
10. Follow a bedtime routine such as turning off all electronics, taking a warm bath and/or reading a book before sleeping. This helps the brain adapt to a predictable ‘cycle’ before falling asleep.
11. Avoid heavy meals before sleeping. They may make you feel “full” but they can cause a disrupted sleep in the middle of the night.
12. Staying hydrated during the day is very important for a good sleep later at night. But avoid lots of fluids soon before sleeping as it may cause increased urination that is common in pregnancy, which can disturb your sleep!
13. Coffee and alcohol intake should be reduced. Coffee should be avoided between 4 pm and 10 pm as latter-day caffeine levels in your blood can interfere with your night sleep.
14. Light exercise will physically tire your body by the time you are ready to sleep. Brisk walking in the evening is an example. But avoid strenuous exercise, especially 3 hours before bed-time.
15. Getting sunshine is equally important to set the biological clock and tell the brain that is time to be awake (not the artificial light of electronic devices!). So, try for a morning walk to combine physical activity with sunshine. This will energize you for the day and tire you by evening for a timely sleep at night!

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A C-section is a major surgery involving a surgical cut (wound) and a suture to close the wound. In all likelihood, you will feel pain in your wound for the first few days and discomfort in your tummy for at least the first seven days after the operation, while your body recovers. This may affect your daily activities. In some women, abdominal discomfort may last for a few months.

Infection

Infection can occur in three locations: a) the surgical wound, b) the uterus and c) the urinary tract. 

An infected surgical wound can become red, may pain, or discharge a liquid, or at times, may separate causing intense pain and discomfort, especially in the case of a pregnant woman with diabetes or who is overweight. Infection in the uterus can lead to bleeding, smelly discharge, or a fever after delivery. Infection in the urinary tract may occur due to the thin tube called urinary ‘catheter’ inserted during the C-section and left for at least 12 hours after the surgery. This can cause lower abdominal or groin pain, high temperature and chills. However, it is uncommon to get this infection if you deliver in any major hospital with standard precautions taken by doctors.

Bleeding

C-section leads to MORE blood loss than a straightforward delivery, although one may perceive the opposite. This is because, it is a major surgery. Bleeding will mainly occur during the surgery so it will be controlled by the attending doctor and the medical team. Rarely, a blood transfusion may be needed in case of heavy bleeding.

Blood clots

Any surgery can cause blood clots. These are normally removed but at times they may lodge in certain places such as your lungs, which can be life threatening. You may experience cough with shortness of breath, or pain and swelling in your calf, so call your doctor if you notice these things after your C-section. In any case, post-surgery, the doctor will give you drugs to increase blood flow (and lessen the chance of clot formation) and elastic stockings to improve the circulation. It is also important to move about as much as possible, after the C-section to increase blood flow in the limbs.

Adhesions

As you heal after undergoing a major surgery, bands of soft tissue may glue the abdominal organs to each other or to the inner wall of the tummy. These are called adhesions. These are uncommon and may not cause symptoms but in severe cases, they can cause problems with bowel movements or in fertility if they impinge on neighboring organs (e.g. such as the intestine in case of bowel obstruction).

Effect of anesthesia

You may experience a severe headache, or rarely a nerve damage (lasting for a few days or weeks). 

Surgical injury

Although rare, injuries to the bladder or bowel may occur. 

Risks to the baby

These are minor such as temporary fast breathing during the first few days after birth (in some babies) or an accidental cut to the baby’s skin during the surgery, which usually heals without causing any harm.

Risk in future pregnancies

There is a likely risk of low-lying placenta or placenta previa, or another condition where the placenta becomes abnormally attached to the wall of the uterus (placenta accreta) This can lead to significant blood loss during childbirth and a need for blood transfusion. There is a rare possibility of the uterus tearing open along the surgical scar line from a prior C-section (uterine rupture) if the woman attempts a vaginal birth the next time. This is rare as in most cases, the next delivery would have to be done through a C-section.

The post What are the side effects of Caesarean delivery ? appeared first on careMother.

Urine pregnancy test:

This can be done at home and it is easy, inexpensive and gives faster results. Due to the increase in levels of a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the body of a pregnant woman during the early stages of pregnancy, the test is able to detect this hormone. 

To do this test, remember the following:

1. Buy the urine pregnancy test kit from your chemist when you are planning your pregnancy
2. If you miss your period, take this test 5-10 days after your expected period date. 
3. Collect the morning urine in a clean container.
4. Collect the urine ‘mid-stream’ i.e. exclude the initial part of the urine flow.
5. Add the urine sample to the marked pit using a dropper. Leave it undisturbed 
6. Check the result after the stated time only. If you let the test remain for longer than the stated time, then the results may be invalid.
7. If you cannot understand the results, please consult a gynaecologist.
8. Please read the instructions in the test kit.

Remember that a ‘negative’ result may mean that you are not pregnant, or you took the test too early or improperly. If the body has not produced sufficient hCG, then it will not show up in the test. Urine tests also have 97% accuracy, when done correctly.

Important: If you get a negative result but you still have symptoms of pregnancy such as a missed period, nausea or vomiting, breast pain or tiredness, then please wait for a week and do the test again. Another option is to contact the doctor, who will recommend a blood test, which is more accurate than a urine test.

Blood test:

A blood test is more accurate but more expensive and takes longer time than a urine test and it must be done at the doctor’s clinic. The blood test will also detect the level of hCG in your body. It may happen that your doctor will advise you a series of blood tests to measure hCG over a period of time. This will be done based on his assessment and the specifics of your case.

An ultrasound scan is done 6-7 weeks after missing the period and it confirms the presence of pregnancy, its number (single or twins), location (uterus or ectopic/in a different place near the uterus) and its viability (health).

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