What to take to the hospital at caesarean section?

Assembled in advance of things for the hospital make the future mother more relaxed and balanced. The bag, which contains all the necessary, gives confidence. Therefore, doctors and psychologists recommend to pay special attention to the obstetric institution, especially if there is a planned caesarean section. In this article we will tell you what nuances you need to foresee what to take with you if birth is planned to be performed surgically.

Each maternity hospital or perinatal center has its own requirements for the contents of the bag of women in labor. Therefore, it is worthwhile to ask the staff of the maternity hospital of your choice to give a sample list, by which you could collect all that is necessary without any special problems and misunderstandings.

If such a list is not provided for some reason, be guided by average norms, but keep in mind that everything that will be packed in a bag should be conditionally divided into three groups:

• what is needed before and during the operation;
• what is needed for a woman for the entire period of hospital stay;
• what is required for child care.

Do not strive to grasp the immensity and put everything to the smallest detail. If you forget something, then you can ask your relatives to give it to you. Also keep in mind that the list for caesarean section is more than for a woman in labor who is sent to give birth on her own. In this case, there are points that can not be ignored. The bag itself, choose a comfortable, roomy, not too labeled, so that it was then easy to wash and dry.

For caesarean section, if it is planned, the woman is hospitalized in the referral from the antenatal clinic for 3-5 days before the expected date of surgery. Surgical labor itself is trying to hold after the full 39 weeks of pregnancy. Thus, between 38 and 39 weeks will need to go to the hospital. We need documents on which the pregnant woman will be sent to the chosen maternity hospital or perinatal center for hospitalization. In order to form a hospital in a obstetric institution without problems, a woman will need:

• passport or certificate from the passport office, if the passport is currently being changed, it is lost or damaged;
• the exchange card of a pregnant woman, which was entered in the antenatal clinic even when registering, where all the test data, scheduled doctor visits, screening studies were entered
• medical insurance policy;
• additional voluntary medical insurance policy (if any);
• birth certificate (issued in consultation with maternity leave at 30 weeks gestation);
• SNILS;
• a medical card of a woman (if she has chronic diseases that the doctors at the maternity hospital must be aware of);
• a package of ready-made analyzes of a partner if you are planning a joint birth.

Some perinatal centers are now ready to provide additional services and issue a birth certificate to the child upon discharge. If the selected medical institution does this, be sure to take:

• photocopy of the husband's passport;
• Marriage certificate.

In the process of preoperative preparation, the woman will need the following things:

• comfortable bathrobe for the season (in winter - warm);
• nightdress (from natural fabrics);
• several pants and 1 bra;
• toothbrush and toothpaste;
• soap in the soap dish;

• toilet paper;
• wet wipes;
• slippers on a hard sole, not fabric, which are easy to wash if necessary;
• bowl, spoon, plate;
• body towel and face towel;
• a bottle of drinking water without gas.

During the preparation period, you also should not forget about the mobile phone and the charger for it, as well as an interesting book that will allow you to pass the time while waiting for the availability of all tests and examinations before the operation. For all preoperative procedures, a woman will need:

• one-time new shaving razor (for shaving the pubic area before surgery);
• disposable diaper (lay on the couch during a cleansing enema);
• elastic bandage or compression garment (stockings) - put on before surgery for the prevention of thromboembolism.

The postoperative period will require other things. Home gowns and nightgowns will be replaced with a hospital shirt, and every day the medical staff will bring a fresh sterile shirt. In the home to be in the first days after surgery is impossible. For this period, a woman may need the following things:

• postoperative bandage (optional);
• sterile postoperative dressings (size from 15 centimeters) and bactericidal sterile plaster - for treating the suture;
• special postpartum pads (it will be possible to use it for its intended purpose from 4 days in the maternity hospital; before that, only hospital sterile pads are recommended, which will be issued daily with a reserve);
• «Bepanten"- for lubricating the nipples if cracks form when the baby is attached to the breast;
• a separate small towel for wiping the mammary glands after washing before feeding, after them and after decanting;
• breast pump;
• Children's cream for moisturizing hands.

The baby in the very first days of his life need not so much. But here too much depends on the requirements of the maternity hospital and the wishes of the mother herself. If she plans to swaddle the baby, she doesn’t need to take anything especially - the diaper provides the baby department (they are also sterile). But if you want from the first days to wear the baby in full-fledged clothing, and the administration of the obstetric institution has no objection, then should take comfortable things from natural fabrics:

• undershirts (5 pieces);
• sliders (5 pieces);
• hats (3-4 pieces).

Also for the care of the baby will need:

• waterproof diaper (for making a changing table on which the child will be changed and laid out during the examination by a doctor);
• thin diaper (lay on top of waterproof);
• diapers for newborns (small package);
• baby cream;
• powder;
• optional - pacifier;
• wet wipes;
• cotton swabs (for the treatment of umbilical sores);
• Zelenka;
• cotton pads.

If the obstetric institution does not imply a joint stay of the mother and the newborn, then it is not worth taking anything apart from hats and socks for the newborn. Children are swaddled and brought to feed at fixed hours, after feeding they are immediately taken back to the children's department. Most modern maternity hospitals have switched to the system of joint residence.

About what to take with you to the hospital at caesarean section, see the following video.