Caesarean section numbers hit record high in Wales as mothers warn of support gap

Carys’s first child was born in 2022.

Content creator Carys said after she required an emergency caesarean section she was left with many unanswered questions about her recovery.

“I think I was thrown into the deep end and I didn’t really know how to deal with it,” she said.

It was nearly three weeks before the 29-year-old said she felt physically able to leave the house.

“And even then I only walked to the end of the street and back,” she added.

Since then, Carys has had two more caesarean sections and said each experience was completely different.

Both times she said the care she received at the hospital and from the local midwife was good. But after returning home, she was left with questions about how her body should recover.

“You’re thrown into the thick of things and you don’t think, ‘Oh, this is what your scar should look like. This is quite normal for this kind of time.”

She remembered taking the bandage off the wound and passing out in the shower.

“I didn’t know – should my scar somehow heal, should I really feel like this?

“The fact that you’re caring for a child afterwards and recovering from major surgery just doesn’t hold up, and recovery looks completely different for everyone.”

She shared her experience online in hopes of helping other women and said expectant mothers often turn to her for advice.

“I wish I had more stories I could have read to be a little more informed before I gave birth this way.”