About length of stay on the postnatal ward?

[csectionsoon]

I had my ELCS today, honestly brilliant care through the procedure and in the PACU recovery unit.

We are now on the postnatal ward overnight and I can’t see how we will sleep at all. It is extremely hot, noisy (someone arguing on loud speaker and three babies who won’t stop crying the poor little mites) and I am in a lot of pain.

They are so slow at coming around with pain relief, even if I buzz it can be a long time before anyone comes. Thankfully DH has a recliner chair so is staying the night and can chase this for me.

Baby seems to be feeding well and the midwives earlier said we should be discharged tomorrow all going well. However, baby’s latch is toe curlingly painful for 10 seconds at the start of feeding. The pain subsides after this. I don’t think she’s got a tongue tie.

I know people talk of staying an extra night to help establish feeding but don’t think the help is to be found at the hospital. Already had a quick 121 with someone from the infant feeding team which was good for pointers and they can do a home visit on Monday, plus we have the community midwife coming Sunday anyway.

I feel daunted as I don’t feel to know what I’m doing but equally baby is having a good number of nappies and seems contented. Hardly cries at all.

AIBU to go home tomorrow asap rather than staying here with the chance of learning a bit more about breastfeeding?

Also. My mum was discouraged from breastfeeding. They advised wrapping the breasts.

Ref the painful latch, I had the same issue but just on one boob - it honestly felt like baby was sucking needles through my nipple; I swear I could feel it in my shoulder blade!

I had an ELCS on the Friday with baby born at 5.30pm and spent my entire time on the recovery ward as there were no beds available elsewhere. I was home by Saturday afternoon and the community midwife came to see me on the Sunday - she checked baby's latch which was fine and like others have said, one day the pain just stopped. I'm currently awake feeding my three month old from the very same boob and no issues 😊

I think if the midwives are happy with the latch and baby is feeding well then there won't be much more you could gain by staying in anyway and it's so much better to just be at home.

Congratulations on your new arrival ❤️

I’d not be staying in hospital another night to try to get breast feeding help, that may or may not materialise.

congratulations on your baby

id look at la leche for breast feeding help

i would also buy a Hakka to pop on your other boob to catch the let down milk - freeze it for extra milk. You’ll be surprised how much you collect

Assuming this is your first child, I found the sensation of a latch and a let down is painful initially but this self remedies quite quickly. It’s also easier when your milk comes in.

In terms of pain relief can you have a suppository put in to slow release for 12 hours? Can your partner provide you with paracetamol so you don’t need to wait for that?

If you need support breastfeeding (doesn’t sound like you necessarily do) then a possible compromise is to discharge yourself and book a lactation consultant to visit you in your home.

Congrats OP!

I found the post natal wards horrific. I'm glad your partner is there to support you, it's horrible being there alone. I would go home as soon as you feel able. See if you can get strong painkillers - I was given a regime of strong ibuprofen and co dydramol iirc - to take away with you.

However if you need stronger pain relief, or if you need it by canula or suppository because the c section bothered your bowel, I would stay a bit longer.

BF hurt at first too but it stopped on its own.

Congratulations OP.

Definitely make lots of noise about going home today- I tried to be a good patient and it got me nowhere. Had to take my own paracetamol and ibuprofen and got discharged at 2.30am! The lady in the bed next to me was a 'more noisy/difficult' patient so they were more inclined to get rid of her and she was discharged at around 6pm.

I was out of hospital 12 hours after DS's birth. Too many people on the ward, ur was noisy and it was Christmas...so went home as soon as possible. DS was born in the UK. Not a c-section, though. Breastfeeding was awful from the start. I had different health visitors come round at home and they all said something different. I was shattered and in pain and dreaded every feed. It eventually settled after two bouts of mastitis after about 4 or 5 months.

Roll on DD. She was born in Germany. You are meant to stay 3 days after a normal birth and 4 to 6 days after a c-section. I mostly had my own room or shared with one other lady (didn't request a private room but could have). I left 2 days after the birth...mostly because I had DS at home and I had already been there 4 days for the induction. My personal midwife came frequently to see us at home. She advised on breastfeeding and just gave general support. DD feeds like a dream. No pain at all and I'm way more relaxed with her. She's nearly 4 months now.

My eldest was born abroad. Standard hospital stay was 7 days, but you could ask to go home after 3. They let me out on day 5. I barely slept a wink or ate anything in that time... I couldn't relax, baby still wasn't feeding properly. They only let me go as DH was going away in a few days so it was better I had support for a few days. However being home, good food and proper rest and we turned a corner. Breastfed that baby for 16 months, before milk dried up in pregnancy!

You need to feel comfortable. For a lot of women, that is home.

@StandingSideBySide I think it was from the late 1960s that home births were gradually phased out in favour of hospital births.

When I was having my babies, in the early 1980s, I was discouraged from having a home birth, was told it was much safer in hospital. My GP was strongly against it and actually told me (during my 2nd pregnancy when I mentioned I was considering home birth) that he wouldn't support me and I would have to find another GP who would be willing to be on call during my labour. He said he'd seen too many disastrous home births during his training and that had convinced him that all births should take place in hospital. I was a bit shocked by that and agreed to forget about the idea of a home birth.

I know it's different for everyone but I found it easier to feed at home. I couldn't really do.it in hospital (in 1 night but not Caesarean) and went home the next day and found it quite easy.

Same here. If I could I’d have gone home after the first night. I was in for 48 hours. The first night was good. I was still on the catheter so mws were very helpful. Second night I was expected to feed and wind and change and generally get on with it. I would have been much better off back at home with DH to help. DHs were not allowed to stay.

Congratulations on your baby! I breastfed for 14 months and the latch was painful for me at first. I used to have to count down from 10 when I put him on as a newborn. You will get people saying it shouldn't be painful but I think that's the same as "once you have the baby in your arms you forget the pain" (bit of a lie) Keep going with it and it will get easier and eventually you'll just be able to latch immediately with no pain or fuss at all.x

Just wanted to add lanolin nipple cream helped me x

AIBU to go home tomorrow asap rather than staying here with the chance of learning a bit more about breastfeeding?

I think going home for some proper rest, and then seeking out breastfeeding groups if you need them would be the best thing. Partners weren't allowed to stay where I was, and I was delirious from lack of sleep on the ward.

With both of mine I found the feeding painful for the first few seconds like you describe. Just for maybe a few days to a week.

I was born in 1956 my brother is a few years older. Both born in hospital, mum had 2 weeks in hospital to recover from his birth and 10 days with me. Both of us lived in the same house, same circumstances. 2 different hospitals though. I was born in a new hospital, which now no longer exists! Mum breastfed us both and donated milk to the milk bank both times. I don't honestly think there was a standard procedure in place for the whole UK. Other friends of the same age have told me that it was different where they lived.

You're probably right. I too was born in hospital in the 1950s, as was my sister. However, my youngest sibling, born in the early 1960s, was born at home. We had recently moved to a different area at the time, so it probably was a local thing.

I was kept in for a second night for feeding support after EMCS. I got none. Midwife was run off her feet with mums and babies struggling much more. I had a second night of pacing the ward with no sleep with a screaming baby (eventually CMPA diagnosis). By time my DH arrived next day I was a mess. He took the baby while I passed out with a pillow over my head. When someone did eventually come to check on us it took several attempts to wake me. They wanted me to stay a third night to actually get some help but I refused and went home. There was a local charity that was much more helpful.

It's a risk leaving before feeding established. Only go if you know what support you can get. Lots end up discharging for same reason and end up right back in with jaundiced baby. Issue is staffing so shit you aren't getting the support anyway in there.

Another vote to leave. I left 26 hours after a ELCS with twins. They were doing very little for me. The heat, bright lights and noise were driving me insane. It was way better at home. Plus my milk didn’t come in until day 5 and there was a certain amount of eye rolling about me using formula. Cool, l will let my small 37 week twins starve then!

But if you would never do it, how would you know? People only ever share the negative stories imo.

My stay on a postnatal ward was absolutely fine. It was warm, but not too hot, 6 of us on the ward, all respectful of each other. The babies all slept pretty well and I managed to get a great night sleep. DH had a recliner chair, but we're both quite small, so we shared the bed which was fine. The midwives were as quiet as they could be when doing their observations.

And if you give birth in a MLU in our trust, you stay in that room for postnatal recovery, which is ensuite and with a double bed (desperate to the labour bed) for partners/to share.

YANBU. If you don't have an experienced female relative/friend to assist with feeding queries, you can hire a lactation consultant to come to your home. There are plenty of wet nappies, 10 seconds of "pain" at the start of a newborn latching on, and no tongue-tie concerns... I can't see a reason to linger unless you have complications from the delivery.

Honestly, it initially feels like a vacuum has been applied to your boob - the suction from a newborn is nothing compared to an older baby. If you have another baby while still feeding the previous baby, or after a small age gap, it will be a shock to the system when you get the initial vacuum latch again. (Also, the "pain" might be from an earlier bad latch position - it can take a while to heal if you let your baby continue to feed in a painful (to you) position. Always break the latch asap if it doesn't feel comfy real quick; it's not worth the after-effects. Make sure the nipple is fully inside the baby's mouth. I cannot stress the vacuum effect enough!)

Two c sections and I always wanted to stay a week!! Felt so safe and cared for! Quite enjoyed hospital meals. Also no toddler to look after second time.

i stayed 1 day first time and 3 days second time.

would have loved a week hahaha

This is probably not helpful at all but a few years ago I had nipple trauma and it was excruciatingly painful when my son breastfed but I found it hurt less if I lay on my side to feed him (so his face was 180° to my nipple)

I always managed a good latch (no guidance) when the breastfeeding people were watching me but never on my own! Nipple shields saved us, they get a bad rep but I had no other options.

It’s actually normal OP for the latch to hurt briefly at the beggining but for no longer than a minute. Something to do with the let down I believe. If it goes on longer then something isn’t right eg latch / tongue tie.