No,they weren’t pinned but it was odd to have my arms in that position! I was lucky to have had my doula there with me (and my husband as well) because they kept me calm. I’ve never heard of strapping arms for a vaginal birth!!! It does seem as if we (in Canada) are more security conscious than in the UK!

Hi again Lisa. But you said in your post that your doctors gave you the choice of whether or not you wanted them to strap your arms down. So I assumed you said no and they did not do it.
If that had been me I would have told them no but to just hold my hand and that would be better.
Here in the UK hospitals they don’t use the arm boards they just your arms on your chest but they are not strapped down. They do sometimes use the arm boards but only if you have a lot of IV’s but your arms are just laid out on the arm board but they are not strapped or tied to it and you can move your arms if you want.
Also you have the midwife and the anesologist and maybe another nurse by your side for support so that and the fact that your not strapped down probably makes the mum calmer. And if the mum should accidentally touch her stomach which is unlikely because of the sheet or drape. They just put her arm back on her chest but they don’t strap her down. I read somewhere that there in the US they used to strap the arms for vaginal birth back in the 1970’s but they never did that here either. So maybe in the US hospitals are more security conscious about contamination than some other counties.
But the curtain the front just below the chest stop contamination. And as you are numb from the chest down you cannot move.

I didn’t feel as if I was mistreated at any point and even though it’s uncomfortable to think of having your arms pinned down I can understand the reasoning behind it! It was just overall not a fun experience for me, considering my first was natural and went ‘according to plan!’

Thanks Monica! I’m feeling much better but still need to take it slow!

Thanks! To be honest I look the same as I did when I went in for the c-section because I didn’t have to do anything. The doctors did all the work for me! Lol! Also, my husband did a pretty good job at wiping the mascara off my face from crying so much when she was born! 😉

Really? Breech, c-section and all? Not fun! Thanks for the encouragement!

Thank you Lauren! After 6 days I finally feel somewhat well…recovery is so challenging and I hate not being able to do anything!