Anyone escaped from prison, er, I mean hospital before recommended time given by staff?

[scaryhairycat]

hate hospitals, hate staying in hospitals, dirty, smelly, yuk yuk yuk.

Just wanted to know, if anyone has walked out even when the staff want you to stay in?
Obviously I am not planning to do this if there are any real health problems with me and bubs, but if they are still reluctant for us to go when we both seem fine, I really do think we would get better care and support at home with dh and other family members anyway.
First time I instantly felt better the minute I was home with ds, knew I would be.

My midwife said to me today, " You have asked to be transfered to Bournemouth from Poole, it's a bit political but you need to make sure they don't just send you straight home."(!) Yeah, right!

[stuffitall]

yes
i had to sign a form saying i was discharging myself against doctors' wishes
i was in early labour at the time

[magnolia74]

Had dd1 12 years ago and very quick labour, she was born at 9.15am and I was home by 4pm. Hospital not happy as she was 1st baby but I went home anyway with no problems

[scaryhairycat]

Good for you stuffitall! (Love the name btw!)

[magnolia74]

Of course I was much more sensible with the other babies and stayed in till they kicked me out

[melpomene]

Have you considered a home birth, or is that not possible?

[scaryhairycat]

Not possible unfortunately - had emcs last time so i am now concidered a 'high risk'. Probably their fault in the first place - as soon as i got in hospital last time, I tensed up, labour slowed down and baby got destressed!

[mankymanger]

Hospital isn't prison and you are entitled to leave whenever you choose. As one poster said, they may ask you to sign a form - this is so there is a record that you left of your own free will if something happens.
I'm sure lots of people leave early.

[stuffitall]

scaryhairycat you are me

was ambulanced to hospital in strong labour for 2nd baby after Ist one was emcs -- and labour stopped instantly I saw a white coat. didn't get going for another ten hours.

Haven't had homebirth but 2 vbacs

I was originally led into vbac by the wife of a friend who had a home water birth after an emcs

if you really really want it.......!

I didn't want it but shot out of hospital afterwards.

[moominsmummy]

I bored them constantly with "can i go home now?" until they let me go DS born at 4am and I left at 4pm - still too long in that place IMO

The thing which was ironic was they took transferred me to post natal ward at 8am and told me to try and get some sleep and then in the next 8 hours they..

took my blood pressure 4 times
bathed the baby
told me they were coming to do newborn hearing check
came and did newborn hearing check
paediatrician did his check
bounty lady came
photographer came (and was told to go away)
they asked if i wanted breakfast, brought breakfast, cleared up from breakfast
repeated the above with lunch, tea and 2 lots of coffee/tea rounds
then everyone else's visitors arrived

at 3pm they asked if i had managed to get any sleep

they were reluctant to let me go home as a first time mum until i had "got settled with Breastfeeding". I then pointed out that my mum had been a bf counsellor for 22 years and they didn't have an answer for that...so begrudgingly let me leave at 4pm - wish i had left sooner

[scaryhairycat]

lol stuffitall "labour stopped instantly I saw a white coat." I would have liked to try a waterbirth but they don't really have adequate facillities for such new fangled ideas where I'm going!

[scaryhairycat]

moominsmummy - I will try that tactic! (In an annoying child like manner - they are bound to crack at some point!)
My midwife said "It's the only time you will get some peace and some time alone with the baby." After me saying several times over "I want to go home as soon as possible." Is she on another planet?! One of the main reasons I want to go home so soon is so I can do exactly that! My son is 8 fgs, he is at school all day and when he is home he does a lot of his own thing, dh will take him to play golf aswell so I will be completely alone if I wish - a luxury you never get in hospital!

[ManchesterMummy]

stuffital - that happened to me too!!! Arrived at the delivery suite at 9cm dilated, then nothing happened for hours...

I begged to be "let out" as it were from 7am the morning after I had arrived on the post-natal ward (at 11pm). Strange girl in bed next to me. Bottle-fed babies taken away by staff so new mummies could get some rest. I, on the other hand, had no sleep whatsoever. In pain following 2nd degree tear, only managed to get some paracetamol at 4 in the morning. Forced to lie down on right side to feed dd, obviously still had a bump and associated heartburn. Couldn't move dd or myself so frantic efforts not to throw up at at 3 in the morning. The only food I had eaten in 48 hours was two pieces of toast. 7.30am saw teacup of cornflakes and nothing else for breakfast. They wouldn't let me go until they were satisfied that bf had been established: cursory glance at boob, "yup, latch is fine, away you go", dd back in hosptial 5 days later starving, dehydrated and very ill not having fed for 5 days...

I was pleased to get home, but I wish I could have stuck it out for at least another day, might have been I'd have been able to fully bf, instead of the mixed feeding we do now.

[tiredemma]

Am I odd?

I LOVED everything about being in hospital having my children, I felt so safe there. Im sure the midwives wanted me out but I would probably still be there now given the chance!

I stayed in for 5 days with both and had normal deliveries ( although with ds1 I did have to stay in till my iron levels went up) But with ds2 I just told them that I felt to weak to go home and stayed.

Loved it.

[ManchesterMummy]

tiredemma - I liked the part in the delivery suite, best day of my life (and the best toast I have ever eaten!). Kind, attentive staff, fabulously motivating mw, wonderful.

Absolutely home birth for me next time!

[indiechick]

Yep, walked out after day four of stay in maternity ward, kept being missed off ward rounds, nurses 'forgot' I still had catheter in for over 12 hours so urine going backwards up tube giving me infection, blood pressure soaring due to lack of sleep, stress etc. Told them I'd take my chances at home. Did make sure dd saw paediatrician though. Needless to say by time midwives arrived following day, blood pressure back to normal and I was much more relaxed. Will be doing it again if I have to.

[mellowma]

Message withdrawn

[RedJools]

I was lucky- got a 6hr discharge with my last two, although was in a bit longer with my first. Had them early morning, then home in the aftrenoon. felt surreal to be sitting that evening with my chinese carry out instead of the corn beef hash that had been on the hospital menu!! But I never felt you got any rest in hospital, as you say!

[Housemum]

As long as there are no medical reasons to stay in, you are allowed to discharge yourself. I had DD3 2 weeks ago full details on this thread at 9.34pm and was home by midnight - I asked when I could go, the MW said "in the morning" to which I said " Can't I go now?" and she said Ok so long as we agreed to bring Amelie back for a paediatric check in the morning. The criteria were that she had to see her feed, and I had to have passed urine. I think they like you to stay at least a couple of hours in case of haemorrhage [sp?] but it takes them that long anyway to do the paperwork, and you will probably want to clean up a bit (I took a big pack of baby wipes for me so that I could clean my legs/hands as I remembered from before just that horrid feeling of not being clean - it was better than nothing, then I had a shower before coming home - the deep joy of the post bath shower and sanitary-towel-holding-whilst-drying-yourself-dance)

[LoveAngel]

Yes, 3 days post c-section, they wanted to keep me in for another day or two, I told them to stick it and left. The place was filthy and the staff were dangerously negligent on a few occasions. I was safer at home with MW visits, I believe.

[scaryhairycat]

b/f was hindered completely by hospital staff, as I have said on previous posts, they gave me a nipple shield to help with latching on less than 24 hrs after birth, (I didn't know any different at the time) but found I could not b/f without it in the end, and even then it was with great difficulty. Sometimes the staff didn't have the time to help and other times they just got short tempered (night staff) because what they were showing me wasn't working!
Better off with a good friend of mine to help with that one!

[scaryhairycat]

That's right loveangel, I think the same thing. Probably get more attention if there is a problem as for the time they are there they can focus entirely on you and your baby. Well done for telling them to stick it, I was in for five days - was climbing the walls after two! Wish I had the bottle to do what you did last time! Maybe this time though.

[ConnorTraceptive]

I loved my stay in hospital with ds - had a shitey birth so they gave a ward to myself, took ds off to the nursery each night so I could sleep, said lots of nice soothing things like "Gosh you did have a bad time my poor love" and best of all my friend is a tea lady on the materniy ward and brought me proper cups of tea in a real mug every hour!

I think they'll have to get security to remove me this time round!

[LadySanders]

i self discharged after 10 days in hosp when ds1 was born. ds was in NICU, they wanted to keep him in another 6 weeks to bombard him full of more drugs for the nothing they could find wrong with him other than a bit of a temperature. i primed my father in law to go get babyseat and wait outside hosp with car engine running... doctors in nicu were horrified. baby was fine from the moment i got him home. as a result am now about to have home vbac with ds2 due in a week or so. you do not have to stay in hospital any longer than you wish to!

[scaryhairycat]

Good luck ladysanders!

[merryberry]

wow, moominsmummy. you got offered food and refreshments? AND no one came and offered you information about contraception? laugh