What to expect immediately after birth?

[domuch]

The Childbirth section seemed quiet, so I thought I'd post here.

How long was it before you were able to get cleaned up etc? Were you left alone or was there always someone about? How did you feel physically? When did you let people know baby was here?

I know it will be different for everyone and complications can happen, but general pointers would be great. I don't really know what to expect.

1st baby was in hospital. Was stitched up and had shower about 1.5 hours after birth. Once dressed told immediate family. Was told I could leave after 6 hours as straight forward but no one was available to discharge me so I was in for 18 hours.

2nd baby was at home. Was stitched up and had shower 1.5 hours after birth again. Told immediate family. And midwives left after 2 hours.

The first few hours go so quickly. With my first I was due to leave at 9pm but couldn't be discharged and from then until home felt like a lifetime to be honest but we got home in the end. It was covid so I was alone which didn't help, it's much better now.

I would just say to pack lots of snacks. I didn't have enough and was starving and once I was on the ward, no one checked on me for 12 hours.

I thought exactly the same before I gave birth! Especially as I'm a single mum with my first baby. I was like... help me I am scared lmao. And then I ended up discharging myself 😂

I’ve never gone on a ward and I’ve had 3 hospital births and another at home. If it’s straightforward then you can be up and showered within about an hour then back to bed with clean pjs on for snuggles and like pp said the BEST tea and toast you will ever have 🤣 I was quite euphoric after mine, must be the hormones (and gas and air) we took lots of snacks in for afterwards too

Is it silly to say that I want the house all tidied for coming home? Is this what nesting is about?

I gave birth 5 times.
First :after 45 minutes got up,had a shower,stayed in hospital for 24 hours to establish breastfeeding.
Second:After 50 minutes i had a shower,went to the ward and out from hospital in 6 hours.
Third:in birthing centre,30 minutes after birth shower,home in 2 and half hours(quickest)
Fourth:Birthing centre,gave birth in water,but had a shower in 30 mins and went home 10 hours later.
Fifth:water birth,birthing centre,shower 40 mins after,and went home in 6 hours.
Easy births,no complications,no stiches,so its different if happening something.

I think the key is to just go with the flow and let the midwives tell you what to do.

You sound like you are trying to plan it all yourself when actually you will just get taken care of.

You will be in shock really but the midwives will take amazing care of you and THEY will make the call of when to give you food, when to move you to the ward etc

Try to relax and think of yourself as guest of honour - you just arrive and do what others tell you to :)

I was in the shower within the hour of baby being born... it went... birth... cuddles... placenta ... stitches. . tea&toast then shower. when I came out the shower they were there ready to take me to the ward.

Twice I was home within about four hours, third time it was more like 11 but that was more because they seemed short staffed so discharge paperwork took an age (was also in a side room and pretty sure they forgot about me for a few hours as no one came to check on me). Homebirth was by far my best birth though, just wonderful

I had two emergency sections but they weren't like crash emergencies, just failed inductions. If you do end up with a section you go down to theatre, meet lots of nice people, get a jag in your back, lie down, your partner comes in, they open you up and rummage around and produce a baby after five minutes or so. Baby gets checked over and handed to their dad. You chill for a bit while you're stitched up then go off to recovery which in my hospital is just the bit of corridor outside theatre. You get a bed bath in recovery and most of your tubes and wires removed then after an hour or two up to the ward. Where you will try to sleep but just spend the whole time staring at your baby and taking pictures and wondering how you even breastfeed. Catheter out next day and you have to pee into a big bedpan so they can measure your output. Walking to the toilet feels like the worlds going to fall out of your stomach! You can get washed then and go about your business as usual.

No epidural so didn't have to wait for that to wear off but did have a second degree tear that needed stitching. I think it was about an hour after birth that I went for a shower, then I went up to the ward because I had Gestational Diabetes so they like to keep overnight so they can do a couple of sugar checks on baby.

I did get toast but had to make it myself when I pointed out that I'd missed lunch and dinner due to having a baby and it was a bit like hard work so I was really quite hungry at 8pm. They pointed me to the ward kitchen so an hour and a half after pushing out an 8lb 11oz baby and getting a load of stitches in my nether regions I was stood making toast and coffee with a hospital crib on wheels next to me. It was bloody lovely toast though, cheapest white bread, loads of butter and jam, stood and ate 4 slices, drank a coffee then pushed DD back to our bed on the ward.

Gotta love post natal care in U.K. hospitals!

I had to go to theatre both times for manual placenta removal so ended up with spinal and catheter in until the morning ( gave birth just before midnight both times) . Nurses came round about 10am and helped me to the shower. The best shower ever, dunno about other people but but I stank after giving birth 😂. Bit mingin as blood just drops down your legs lol.

Completely agree. I'm a naturally anxious person so I really over-planned. Honestly? It goes how it goes. I guess you could say my delivery went "wrong" (I collapsed in the labour ward and ended up having an EMCS) but even in the extreme cases like mine... I don't care about how delivery went because I have my ds and he has a cool story to tell when he's older 😂

Oh and just a heads up, some people (me) get the baby blues really bad. Like really bad. Dark night of the soul type stuff. It should start to lift around day 11.

It’s impossible to say. One child I was in a terrible state, as was he, and stayed in hospital for a number of days. Second child I went home when he was 6 hours old

DS1 I had a spinal and we were in overnight. Straight from theatre into the recovery ward, then onto the ward a couple of hours later. Bedbound until the feeling came back in my legs but pretty much left alone. Managed a shower the next day. The shower room was down the corridor and I was too nervous to leave the baby until DH was back, and there wasn't anyone free to sit with him. There were people around if called and regular checks etc, and a really helpful feeding specialist midwife came by a couple of times to help get BF established.

DS2 was born at 12.45am and I stayed in the private birth centre room with shower/toilet etc and was discharged around 9am. I was brought tea, toast and breakfast. It felt like a hotel. I was up and about as soon as I'd been stitched up, had a shower, got changed and then had a nap, midwives checking in periodically to make sure everything was alright/do checks etc.

Truthfully, it wasn't what l expected. I thought it would be worse, there was so much fear as it was my first baby. I would say just go with the flow.

It's very important to look out for yourself in those first few weeks. PND crept up on me and l had to start medication at 5 weeks. So self care is paramount.

I can get anxious, especially when I'm tired, so I'm trying to be mindful of 'going with the flow'. I've not heard great stories about the care at my local hospital though.... generally knowing what might happen helps me.

Same. Know that everything you're feeling is normal and that the health visitors actually do give good advice so you can be honest (I was so suspicious of them, I was convinced they were looking for reasons to take him away 😂)

With myat baby, I gave birth at 4 am, went down to a recovery room within half an hour, waited for the pediatrician to check the baby, midwives check me and left straight after. I was at home around 8 am and went to have an AMAZING bath in my own bathroom. If you can I thoroughly recommend going home as soon as safe to do so. It is so much better to recover in your own surroundings!

Straight after birth, I was in awe of this little baby in my arms. She was so beautiful.
Physically I felt great (even with an episiotomy). The relief that it was over was amazing. I had some toast and tea, phoned and texted family and then I went for a bath while my husband cuddled the baby.

I stayed in the labour room for about an hour to an hour and a half then was wheeled up to the ward. My baby was a low birth weight so they took her up to the special baby care unit and I was given a private room in the ward. I would spend most of my time with her in the baby unit and go to my own room to sleep and shower. It was amazing to bring her home.

Recovery for me was quite easy. I didn't take any of the painkillers offered regularly on the ward. There was slight discomfort if I sat a certain way and the bleeding wasn't too bad, nothing a sanitary pad couldn't handle. Everything healed well.

Best of luck to you on your impending birth.

Imagine walking into a busy train station with all the hustle and bustle and noise, then putting your fingers in your ears and closing your eyes. My births were like that! Crazy manic excitement while labouring, then when baby was out, suddenly calm.

I spent about an hour after each birth (so from baby coming out) having cuddles with baby on my chest, waiting for placenta, stitches etc. You'll probably have a few people around you- your birth partner(s), midwives, nurses, maybe doctor. I think the most I had was about 6 people+DH. I was never alone, ever. And if you want to not be alone they won't leave you. They tell you what you need to do, when, what's happening next etc. There are no silly questions in a labour ward!

My orders generally are:
Birth, baby on chest, placenta, stitches and clean up/shower, tea and toast, up to ward, visitors.

Also, a midwife showed me with DD1 how to do a nappy on a newborn, bathing (demonstration, her first bath wasn't for a while but wiping eyes etc), feeding, how to carry a baby while walking and transferring between arms. If there's something you don't know, they will know it and show you how to do it. Youtube, tiktok, books etc are great for basic demonstrations of how to care for a newborn. Maybe watch some "day in the life" videos of newborn mums so you get a feel of what happens.

I felt like I had been hit by a bus the first time and the second time felt quite euphoric. As PP has said, its normal to feel all kinds of emotion and it's also normal to just think "what the hell just happened to me?!". Please don't worry if you don't feel an immediate rush of love - I just wanted someone to take my slimy baby away so I could sleep! It took weeks of growing feelings to get to the point of "I would die for you" and that's perfectly normal too

I was up and showered within the hour with all 3 of mine. I knew there would be blood but sorry if tmi but the shower seemed like a pointless task! Felt elated the first 2 times although I did get the major shakes. Third time I was sick during labour and for a couple of hours after delivery. Moved to the ward a couple of hours later with 2 and straight home from delivery suite with one.
Have never been offered tea or toast after any of my births

When I had mine, baby was born around 1pm and we were moved onto the postnatal ward around 530pm, we absolutely weren't rushed! My tea and toast went cold because I was so besotted having skin2skin 🙈 I showered (within 1.5hr ish I think) in the delivery suite still 🤔 MWs encouraged me to pee in the shower or take a water bottle with me to douse because of sore bits and stitches which totally grossed me out! We were in for a few days as baby had a spell in NICU. I moved ward rooms so many times before being discharged I lost count.

When you're on the ward you have a call button for the MWs - make sure you use it! So reassuring. I missed it when we got home!

This is really, really helpful, thank you.