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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

home time

16 replies

flowerpotgirl12 · 06/01/2014 21:24

Hi all,

probably been done to death but forgot to ask mw today. I am pregnant with my first and was wondering how long the hospital kept you in for after giving birth (assuming all is straight forward).

For some reason the thought of giving birth and being sent home within a couple of hours is scaring me.

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ActualAl · 06/01/2014 22:31

Hi there,

Both times I've given birth I've stayed in hospital for at least one night afterwards.
With DD1 I gave birth at 6 am on the tues and went home at 5pm on the wed. DD2 was born at 4am on the tues and I went home at 2pm on the wed.
With my first birth they wanted me to stay longer as I was having trouble with breast feeding but I just wanted to get home to my own bed, with the second I had the option of going home within 7 hours of the birth but wanted to stay in to establish feeding.
It also depends on the type of birth you have, with an epidural they like you to stay in long enough to get over it, and get the catheter out and make sure you can wee ok!
In my experience and that of friends is if you want to get out quickly and the birth and baby are all fine then you can get out, but if you want to stay in for a bit then that's perfectly ok. I found that 24 hours was plenty for me, the wards were quite noisy at night and if your baby wasn't crying and you were stressing about the noise, then someone else's was crying and keeping you awake ! ;-)
Don't worry about it now, see how you feel at the time.
Hope that helps, sorry it's so long.

Lj8893 · 06/01/2014 22:36

Think it depends on the hospital.

My hospital had a minimum of a 6 hour discharge but most mums stay overnight, espessially if they are breastfeeding.
I had to stay 3 nights but that's because my dd was in special care. 3 nights was far too long!!!

WeeTeaJenny · 07/01/2014 03:08

As above our local hospital has a minimum 6 hour discharge . I used the minimum time , was home by 9pm to my own bed but my recent birth was straight forward with no intervention / stitches / tears etc plus I was bottle feeding .
My first baby (2011) I was in for 2 nights , but that was a ceaserean so different after care .
The six hours felt ages the second time as I felt fine and had my shower , gave baby bottle and got him and myself all dressed and then felt as if we were just waiting on the paperwork ...

hazchem · 07/01/2014 04:23

I was out within about 10 hours as DS had to be seen by a peds doctor.

What is scaring you about going home? Feeding, changing, sleep??? It might be good to work out what is worrying you so you can address it.

CrispyCrochet · 07/01/2014 04:33

I had heard this "six hour" discharge thing but I can't imagine them being organised enough to discharge someone that quickly! I had DS1 on the 10th at 1pm & was told I had to stay overnight as I'd had an epidural & there had been meconium in the waters. I was told we'd be discharged in the morning... By 4pm it was still looking like potentially hours before being discharged but after a night of no sleep on the ward I was so ready to get home. A hysterical crying fit soon made them realise what I meant & was discharged by about 5pm.

If they do try & discharge you after only a few hours & you don't feel ready to go home - just say so.

WeeTeaJenny · 07/01/2014 07:42

Yes if you want to stay in, just tell the midwife . Second baby - They did give me the option of staying but I knew the wards were noisy so wanted to get some peace and quiet at home.
I definetely needed a few nights with my first baby as the nurses/ midwives/ assistants gave me loads of help .
I had never held a baby , changed or bathed etc before and I got help and guidance with all of these .

Shente · 07/01/2014 07:47

I wanted to stay in but they were quite clear that I shouldn't and it was about 7 hours in the end (straightforward birth with a few stitches). My community midwife said I should stay but really wasn't given the option in hospital but it was totally fine and they were probably right that I was better off at home.

Noodles123 · 07/01/2014 19:13

My best friend was recently discharged with second baby at 2pm - she gave birth at 11.20am after a 6.5 hour labour start to finish, and had only gone to hospital at about 8am!! So wasn't anything like 6 hour minimum. Straightforward birth though, healthy baby and second time around all helps I guess.

stargirl1701 · 07/01/2014 19:17

I decided to stay for 4 nights at the MLU where I gave birth. It was just lovely! If I have another baby they'll struggle to get me to leave

jojane · 07/01/2014 19:18

1st-born 1.30am, could have gone home lunchtime but he didn't do a poo til 7pm hen we then went
2nd, born 4.30am but had to stay overnight due to high bilirubin levels, they wanted me to stay longer but convinced them to let me home and just come back daily for baby's blood tests
3rd- born 9pm and went home next day around lunchtime

NewBlueShoesToo · 07/01/2014 19:24

First baby. You do as you are told.
Second baby. You rush home because the other child needs you.
Subsequent babies. Stay in as long as they will have you because you know the chaos and effort required at home!

Frizz1986 · 08/01/2014 10:45

I gave birth at a MLU and their policy is that you can stay for up to 24hrs after birth if you want to (it was one of the reasons I chose to birth there) but the minimum is 6 hrs just to check all is ok and baby is feeding well etc.

Unfortunately I had a bad tear so had to be transferred to hospital for surgery and that meant staying overnight (on xmas eve) It wasn't great and would have preferred to be in the MLU where dh could have stayed with me or gone home (couldn't due to tear)
I am a first timer and its funny how your instincts to look after a baby kick in. You just go with it.

MistletoeBUTNOwine · 08/01/2014 10:59

I was home 4 hours after dd's births 8 years ago. Breasted straight away, got hold of a dr to do baby check then we legged it!
The policy at our hosp (if midwife led) is discharge after 2 hours if all ok can't wait!!!! I'm 39+3 with dc2

Iwillorderthefood · 08/01/2014 22:39

I hated being in hospital, stayed in one night with my first they wanted me to stay another night, as they wanted me to have more bf support. However their support was terrible, and as it was so busy on the post natal wards I was stuck in a delivery suite amongst a load of equipment, largely feeling ignored by the staff. DH could not stay, and so I discharged myself against their advice (could have been bad), never did manage to bf, but felt safer at home than in hospital.

DD2 stayed the night, great bf support, discharged in afternoon next day. Had to stay in as had to have mechanical removal of placenta.

Pg with DC3 have slightly heightened risk of repeat of retained placenta and /or PPH, moe relaxed about it now, so will just take it as it comes.

TooTryHard · 09/01/2014 10:27

I went home the same day both times but that was only because we pushed and pushed them to discharge me. Ime they're far more likely to keep you in because it's easier than sending someone over to sign you off.

They'll definitely let you stay in that's what you want.

lorenzo1984 · 09/01/2014 21:21

I gave birth at 4.35pm and stayed one night. Went home about 2pm the next day. It was my first and was a normal vaginal delivery but baby had done poo in womb so had to be monitored for 12 hours. I also lost abit of blood during delivery so I had to wait for my blood levels to return to normal.

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