Latest figures show 42% of babies in Wales were born by C-section in 2025, with just over half of those operations being emergencies.
Carys' first baby was born in 2022.
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."
Ceri Ann Roberts, 29, from Gwynedd, said the care she received at Ysbyty Gwynedd after giving birth to her second child in 2025 had left her "traumatised".
Ceri Ann had an emergency C-section and her daughter, Ania, was taken to neonatal intensive care because she was not breathing.
Ceri Ann said she was then left alone on the recovery ward, unable to move.
"I just wanted to see my baby but I couldn't, and the staff told me there was no-one available to take me up to see her."
She said it was seven hours until she held her baby for the first time, and that was when her husband arrived back at the hospital and took her to the unit himself.
"It was awful, I just cried and cried," she said.
Nicola Rous-Morgan is a pregnancy and postnatal yoga teacher and a trained midwife, who works with women recovering after childbirth, including those who have had C-sections.
She said women often tell her they feel left alone to manage their recovery by themselves.
"I think one of the biggest take-homes is they felt that once they had been discharged from hospital, upon coming home, that they were just left to get on with it."
She added: "The focus is on women who are recovering from vaginal delivery. It's not geared towards women who are recovering from major abdominal surgery."
Nicola said women should not have to rely on private services or social media to find basic recovery information.
"These things shouldn't be things that women have to pay for privately. What happens to the women that can't afford that luxury?"
The RCM said staffing pressures were one factor affecting the care available.
Richards said: "Our midwives are stretched, and quite often that is often impacted into the postnatal care, into the community settings."
The RCM surveyed its members in Wales in July, and 94% of respondents said they were not able to give the care they would like to give.
The organisation said midwives were working extra shifts and being moved to cover shortages elsewhere in maternity services.
Richards said more investment and a workforce plan was needed.
