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What happens

Caesarean sections are carried out in hospital. If there's time to plan your caesarean, you'll be given a date for it to be carried out.

You'll stay in hospital for 3 or 4 days on average.

Preoperative appointment

You'll be asked to attend an appointment at the hospital in the week before the caesarean is due to be performed.

During this appointment:

  • you can ask any questions you have about the procedure
  • you'll be given some medicine to take before the procedure – this may include antibiotics, anti-sickness medicine (anti-emetics) and medicine to reduce the acidity of your stomach acid (antacids)
  • you'll be asked to sign a consent form

The operation


You'll need to stop eating and drinking a few hours before the operation. Your doctor or midwife will tell you when.

You'll be asked to change into a hospital gown when you arrive at the hospital on the day of the caesarean section.




It also means your birth partner can be with you.

General anaesthetic (where you're asleep) is used in some cases if you cannot have a spinal or epidural anaesthetic.

Your birth partner will not normally be present in this case.

What happens

During the procedure:

  • a screen is placed across your tummy so you cannot see the operation being done
  • your baby is delivered through the opening – this usually takes 5 to 10 minutes and you may feel some tugging at this point
  • your baby will be lifted up for you to see as soon as they have been delivered, and they'll be brought over to you

The whole procedure usually takes around 40 to 50 minutes.

After the operation


Once you have started to recover from the anaesthetic, the medical staff will make sure you're well and continue to observe you every few hours.

You'll be offered:

  • painkillers to relieve any discomfort
  • treatment to reduce the risk of blood clots – this may include compression stockings or injections of blood-thinning medicine, or both 
  • food and water as soon as you as you feel hungry or thirsty

The catheter will usually be removed from your bladder around 12 to 18 hours after the operation, once you're able to walk around.

Find out more about recovering from a caesarean