At National University Hospital (NUH), mothers can request a “gentle C-section”, which brings elements of a vaginal birth into the operating theatre.
It was introduced in 2024 “so that a Caesarean would feel less like a procedure performed on a patient and more like a birth attended by expectant parents,” said Dr Sarah Li, consultant at NUH’s Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
“A Caesarean is major surgery, but it is still your child being born. Women who have had an emergency Caesarean often describe feeling like a spectator at their own baby’s birth, and that sense of dislocation can last for years.
“A gentle Caesarean is our attempt to give that moment back to the family, without compromising an inch of safety,” said Dr Li. “Nothing about the surgery itself changes. What changes is the experience around the operation.”
During C-sections at NUH, the father is present throughout the surgery and the mum may request for music to keep her calm. Also, clamping of the umbilical cord is delayed by at least one minute, allowing more blood to pass from the placenta to the baby, allowing the baby to adapt better to life outside the uterus.
In a gentle C-section, the experience is personalised further by giving her the option to “push”.
“Instead of the obstetrician simply lifting the baby out, we let mum take part in the birth,” Dr Li explained. “We bring the baby up from the pelvis, then ask her to push so that with her effort, the baby’s head gradually emerges through the uterine incision.
“She’s awake, involved, and gets to participate in that moment of birth. Usually, the analgesia isn’t so dense [as to prevent the mother from pushing].”