Mothers have described being left to recover from caesarean sections with "no support" as the number of babies being born via caesarean reaches its highest rate on record. A caesarean, or C-section, is a major operation to deliver a baby through a cut made in a woman's stomach and womb. Carys Louise Brandon, from Swansea, had an emergency C-section to deliver her first child in 2022 and said she was completely unprepared for what came afterwards.
Latest figures show 42% of babies in Wales were born by C-section in 2025, with just over half of those operations being emergencies. The Welsh government said every woman should receive high-quality postnatal care tailored to her needs. After needing an emergency C-section, Carys, a content creator, said she had many unanswered questions about her recovery.
"I think I was thrown in at the deep end and I really didn't know how to deal with it," she said. It was almost three weeks before the 29-year-old said she felt physically able to leave the house. "And even then, I only walked up to the top of the street and back," she added.
Carys has since had two more caesareans and said each experience was very different. Both times, she said the care she received in hospital and from her community midwife was good. But after getting home, she was left with questions about how her body should be recovering.
"You're thrown so into the deep end and there's no sort of, 'Oh, this is how your scar should look. This is quite normal for this sort of time'." She recalled taking the dressing off her wound and fainting in the shower. "I didn't know - should my scar be recovering in a certain way, should I really be feeling like this?
"There's just no support around the fact that after it, you're looking after a baby and recovering from major surgery, and everyone's recovery looks totally different." She has shared her own experiences online in the hopes of helping other women, and said expectant mums often contact her for advice. "I wish I'd had more stories that I could read to be a bit more informed before I gave birth that way." The latest figures from the Welsh government showed that 42% of births in Wales were by caesarean section in 2025 - the highest rate on record - while in England around 45% of babies are delivered in this way. According to the NHS, external, a caesarean may be recommended as a planned procedure or carried out in an emergency if a vaginal birth is considered to be too risky.
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