Can they actually stop me

[Rosebel]

I've been in hospital with pregnancy problems since last Sunday. Had the baby on Wednesday and every day they say I can go home tomorrow but still can't.
They are waiting for a Covid result which might be tomorrow but probably not. This is for the baby not me.
The doctor said they can't let me go but I'm sick of being in hospital. Every day is a reason why I can't go home. Can they actually stop me leaving with my baby?

So what’s happening with the other mums and babies on the ward?

Are they all getting held up leaving too?

I signed myself out of hospital when I had my first. Being in the sweaty hellhole of postnatal damaged my mental health. If your baby is fine you can leave if you want to.

Are they testing all babies?

I was in and out with DD and often delays in discharge was because there was no doctor to be found to do discharge paperwork.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease- ask every half hour when it is you get to leave. They'll soon get bored and prioritise your paperwork.

I ended up leaving after midnight with DC1 because they kept postponing discharging us.

I think that often, paperwork is the problem and after a certain time of day, it is easier to keep you in for one more night and get your stuff sorted with morning rounds.

With both DCs who were born in the UK it was a struggle to get out. With DD, they said at 6:30am that I could go as soon as my iron tablets came from the pharmacy and I was still there at 6pm.

I'd leave if I was you, good luck OP, keep us updated.

Slight boredom? Have you ever been stuck in hospital for a week with no end in sight. They aren't going to do anything tonight anyway. My depression is affecting my baby already, my older children are missing me and their brother, my husband is missing out on bonding time with his son and you think I'm not putting the baby first.
As,you'll see I didn't ask if I was being unreasonable or not. I posted here to get some fast responses.

In a similar situation where a test was repeatedly delayed, I told hospital staff I would be leaving at x time and would bring baby back as an outpatient for the test.

Miraculously they had the discharge papers ready for me but I would have left without them if necessary.

I could go as soon as my iron tablets came from the pharmacy

Madness. Bloody iron tablets, that can be easily obtained from any chemist. Weighted against how bloody horrible postnatal care is for some people and how important the first days are for bonding, recovery etc.

I did this with DD2. They did the same thing to me again and again, we were in for what I estimate to be three nights too many - DD was not jaundiced, she fed well, pooping and weeing and my CS scar was healing nicely.

I felt awful having to lay down the law to the midwives and team who’d been lovely but there was a break in comms somewhere and as I was getting my stuff together at the time I said I was leaving through came the fragmin, paracetamol (WHY) and discharge notes.

Good luck OP. I completely empathise, knowing my older two were at home me and eager to see their little sister. I had also really missed my husband and edible food too.

*missing me

I really feel for you it's so horrible being stuck in there

NO THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CALL SOCIAL SERVICES
I have twice been told by nurses that I can discharge my child from hospital against medical advice, but if I do they will be obliged to call social services. Both times I have said, Fine, call them then. They didn’t though, they brought a doctor who said I was fine to take him home.

They can't stop you discharging yourself but they can hold the baby. Hope you're home soon! This is only a short time - shit though it is - and will be over soon. Use it to rest, get all your meals cooked and establish feeding so you have no worries when you're finally out. Ask for a side room if you're not already in one.

I really sympathise. It’s actually really hard to get our once you’re in the system. I found it really frustrating. Can you find a sympathetic nurse or doctor to advocate for you?

Just go
Save the midwives a job really if they aren’t doing anything anyway
Covid swabs in my hospital are back by 24hrs so results on a newborn taking that long sounds odd if they have concerns

I feel like there must be something else going on here. Either OP isn't telling us something (entirely her prerogative ) or, more worryingly, the hospital aren't telling her something. Contacting PALS usually helps to move things along.

I once discharged my son from hospital (long story but around a missing heart pill of my dad's which it transpired he, nor his cousin, had taken).

I had to sign the form stating that I was taking him against medical advice and I did get a call from social services the next day. However, that was the end of the matter and totally different circumstances than this situation - you have my sympathy in trying to be discharged after giving birth, it can take ages...

Hope you have got home and enjoying some time bonding as a family OP.

you had the baby on wednesday, congratulations
you would probably get the Baby blue at this point anyway op

make the most of the peace

I got told with DD2 that they would "really rather I didn't leave when it was snowing" (was late snow that year). When I asked if "OK, so what do you do when babies are born in ACTUAL winter?" they accepted I had a point and put the requests into pharmacy to get bits and bobs I needed to leave (the ubiquitous iron tablets as I recall) - and told DH to come back in 5 hours time to pick those up as our hospital pharmacy is ridiculously slow!

They can't stop you, I'd tell them you're leaving and to call you when the results come back. What difference is it going to make now? Have they got any reason to suspect baby is positive or is it just routine testing? If the latter I'd self discharge.

Can the people who say the hospital can detain the baby post some links? It's just scaremongering!

As I said earlier, you can leave. You can't be stopped and nothing bad would happen. As PPs have said, it's down to staff and admin, the waiting game isn't down to anything medical in this case.

The key is to voice your intent, not ask for 'permission'. State you're leaving and when (if there is any staff around).

@YukoandHiro

They can't stop you discharging yourself but they can hold the baby. Hope you're home soon! This is only a short time - shit though it is - and will be over soon. Use it to rest, get all your meals cooked and establish feeding so you have no worries when you're finally out. Ask for a side room if you're not already in one.

No they really can’t! Midwives and hospitals have no power to stop a parent discharging their child. If they want to do this, they have to call the police or social services to get a court order. And there has to be a good reason for them to refuse the parent removal.

For some reason - this hospital does not want the OP leaving at the moment with her baby.

I suspect that social services may have been called but SS so busy that there is a delay.

If the OP does leave of her own accord with the baby, I suspect there will be consequences.