Hospital refusing to discharge mum and baby?

[babsie007]

So I just had my baby on 27th at 4am. I have given breastfeeding a go but she just isn't latching and I don't seem to be expressing much colostrum to feed her with anyway.

I was under the impression that I would. E going home on 29th (advised by doctor that they were happy with the preeclampsia postpartum for me to go home), but one of the midwives on the ward has just told me that she would be surprised if I would be allowed home tomorrow when breastfeeding isn't established???

Tomorrow was going to be the last day I would be attempting to breast feed - I am already supplementing with formula on their advice as baby wasn't latching.

Can they stop my husband taking us home? If so, is there a way that I can discharge myself and daughter?

That sounds awful :-(. Did you get out?

I'm not going to challenge them on it until tomorrow - not really sure on where I stand to challenge them!!

Hi babs, congrats on your new DD! I left hospital 16hours after the birth of my DS, I had stayed that long as we were trying to establish bf but my son was very sleepy and kept falling asleep on the boob. I just asked them for a list of the bf support in the community and promised to come back / call for advice if I was concerned about feeding or if I noticed signs of dehydration.

I was desperate not to

Sorry, aforementioned DS just smacked post!

I was desperate not to stay the night as I have worked in that hospital for many years and the thought of trying to relax 'at work' left me cold

In short they can only advise you, but any decisions rest with you. I hope you get sprung soon

the hospital where I am going to have my baby won't discharge a pre eclampsia patient until day 4, because bp can potentially fluctuate and is still at risk of fits post natally and if your on medication then it needs to be amended accordingly!

As regards to your baby they need to see that baby is feeding well and if isn't then there isn't any underlying issues that's preventing a feed ie jaundice/tongue tie!

Basically you both need to be fit for discharge before they do it and if your not fit then you can go against medical advice but it's a risk you take yourself! Personally if I was pre eclamptic I would stay until I knew y bp was settled and at a safe level as potentially you can be re admitted if the bp doesn't settle!!

Congrats on your baby

Congratulations on your baby. Think I was on your Bp thread.

When I had high Bp on dd2 I was kept in for 4 days after birth. Breastfeeding was going fine but as previous poster said my Bp wasn't stable. When it started to go down I got very dizzy and felt unwell.

How much help are you getting with the breastfeeding? Has anyone sat with you to help or said why baby won't latch?

Has your dd lost much weight since birth?

The doctor has already said she is happy with my no as everything returned to normal after the birth, and I haven't been on any medication for it. I have already been in the hospital for 5 nights so I'm very keen to get home to my own bed!!

Baby is feeding fine on formula - has sucking reflex etc but just won't take my nipple. I did have the lactation consultant with me this morning and she was showing me how to self express and how to encourage dd onto the nipple. I have also had some support from the midwifes too who have offered to help try and get dd onto the breast although they believe the reason is that I have fairly flat nipples and it's causing her issues latching. She suggested that I might wan to try a nipple shield.

I'm just keen to get home - baby has already been seen by paediatrician and they are happy. Regarding her weight, they wouldn't be re-weighing her at this stage I would have thought as she is less than 24 hours old?

And purple, yes you were!

Your baby won't be weighed until day 5 so u don't need to worry about that!! I think ultimately the doctors decide if your bp is stable enough for a discharge that they are happy with!

Yes you may have been in hospital for 5 days but your body reacts differently ante natal and post natally! I don't believe pre eclampsia settles so quick as I've seen people not so well 3/4 days down the line that's why they like here to keep ppl in 4days!

Sounds like your mind is made up regardless of what others may say so good luck and enjoy your baby

The doctor has already cleared me for discharge based on pre eclampsia. I have been told by one of the midwives on the ward that they won't discharge until Brest feeding is established and I'm showing confidence with it,

Is that not reasonable though,to not send you home until you know your baby can breast feed properly? It wouldn't be sensible of them to send a mum home,at just over 24 hours old,who's baby isn't feeding well, as your baby would just be read kitted with weight loss and dehydration. It makes more sense to get feeding properly established so that you can get home and stay at home? If you are deciding to go down the bottle feeding route, and your baby is doing well with it, then they will be happy for you to go home. It isn't a prison though,you can leave if/when you choose to,they are only advising you on what is best.

readmitted

I was discharged yesterday as I plan to express breast milk when home but at the hospital I just used formula. Now I'm home I'm expressing and baby gas it from bottle. Just be firm if you gave made up your mind it's your choice but if you want to keep trying best to stay in so they can help you. I don't get on with breastfeeding at all never have and I was clear about that. No one questioned me at all but I think if I was FTm they might have. Good luck I was desperate to leave!

Hi crazes - i wasn't aware that they kept first time mums in for longer? They don't let the dad stay over so it's a bit unfair to have the responsibility on the mum alone when my dh will be taking on majority of caring responsibility in a few weeks when I go back to work.

I hve made it clear to the midwives that I'm not totally committed to breast feeding as I returning to work soon, but I did want to give it a go even for the first few days as I know there are massive benefits for baby. As it turns out, I don't seem to be producing anything anyway and since she won't latch, it's going to be bottle!

The community midwife will be out to see me every day too and with the amount of support available I. The community, I'm certain that baby won't go hungry.

Discharge is being processed as we speak!! :-)

If there is no facility for your dh to stay then that's nobody's fault! The hospital isn't aware of your personal circumstances! I've just spent three nights in hospital at 26 weeks and my dh wasn't allowed to stay, it's my problem my hospital is 45 min away on the bus!

Glad you have plenty of support from community midwife upon discharge

Just wanted to make sure that you are aware that you won't be producing much at this stage anyway - just drops - that may be difficult or impossible to express, at least until your milk comes in at anything from day 3 to day 5.

You can discharge yourself against medical advice if you want, but it is just that - against medical advice. But up to you!

Could I suggest you pop over to the feeding threads for some advice if you do want to give bf a go. It sounds like you have not been given good info in the hospital! Milk doesn't normally 'come in' till day 3 (expect mega boobs then!) and if you 'top up' your body wont think it needs to make milk so you will make less. Latching can be hard for the baby to learn.

I think your MW is talking nonsense. I had pre-eclampsia with both my DC's and I was told to FF straight away with DS as he was so small (4lb) they couldn't risk him waiting to take to the breast. I don't think being able to BF or not comes into the clinical decision to discharge a post-natal woman.

As long as your BP and proteins in urine are medically acceptable and swelling has reduced, i'm sure you will be discharged

Thanks all.

I know I will be a bit over emotional just after giving birth anyway, but I'm so frustrated with hearing so many conflicting opinions!

Firstly regarding breast feeding - I was told by the lc how to express my colostrum and how to give it to baby from my finger... I was then told by the midwife that I was
Doing it wrong and I shouldn't be giving her anything from my finger!

Regarding formula feeding, the health visitor in our area comes to see you when you around 36 weeks )I'm not sure if this in the same in all areas). She had covered feeding with me and I explained that would be long-term formula feeding but that I did want to give bf a go. She explained that formula feeding is done in much the same way as bf and they recommend on demand feeding. No need to force feed baby a set amount of formula and you allow baby to set the timetable - unless they are obviously being very greedy and gaining too much weight!

The hospital have sent me home to stock to a 4 hour feeding schedule of 20ml of formula, and 20ml doesn't seem very much when looking at the cow and gate feeding instructions.

According to baby friendly all babies all feeds are baby led so they dictate how often and when unless there is a reason your baby needs to be on requirements fr example small weights! I've
Never known anybody to feed from their finger either and I've seen many ppl regarding feeding I've even dropped in on a support group!

I was also taught how to express this way: good vigorish rub of breast, feel for lumpy tissue, or place finger 2 cm above areola then place thumb there, then directly underneath like a "c" shape place index finger and squeeze and release in a Rhythm as if baby would suck, it can take around 3 min to stimulate and you will see (if u have any) your chlostrum! Then change as to 6-9 position on a clock and repeat!

also told if u want to express it needs to be done 8-10 times over 24 hours including overnight to release the lactation hormone!

Good luck

Pop over to the breast and bottle feeding thread when you get a chance. Lots of lovely ladies will give you some advice if you need it.

The main thing I can say is do not stick to 4 hourly feeds. Baby needs to be fed on demand. When they are that small their stomach are the size of a marble so fill quickly but can also need re-filling quickly after.

Hope you both get home soon and congratulations