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Childbirth

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

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Original poster

How long did you stay in hospital after having DC1?

101 replies

ThePinkParker · 14/06/2015 16:01

I'm due early September but I've started to think about labour and the after effects of this. I'm giving birth at St Marys in Manchester which has a midwife led unit and a hospital unit in one building on a different floor (not sure if that makes a difference) so I assume ill be in the midwife led section as I am a FTM but no problems so far!
Anyway, to cut to the chase, how long were you in hospital after giving birth & why?
I want to be in & out ASAP as I can't stand the thought of being in the postnatal ward without DP!

OP posts:

tumbletumble · 16/06/2015 18:19

DS1 was born more than 24 hours after my waters broke so I had to stay in for 24 hours due to the risk of infection.

I started off in the midwife led section, but moved to the ward when I wanted an epidural (which was great btw!).

Buttwing · 16/06/2015 18:20

5 hrs. Had her at 4.45 and was sat on the sofa at home with a cup of tea at 11. I was desperate to go home straight forward delivery and I was discharged from the delivery room didn't go onto the ward.

ArseForElbow · 16/06/2015 18:22

2 days with the first until feeding was established and 4 hours after giving birth the 2nd time.

ToniWol · 16/06/2015 18:25

5 nights, but that was because DD had breathing difficulties and was in SCBU for 3 nights and then had to finish a course of antibiotics once she came down to the postnatal ward.

WhenMarnieWasThere · 16/06/2015 18:26

6 days as I nearly died from unmonitored blood loss. And because dd was jaundiced and needed light therapy.

WorldsBiggestGrotbag · 16/06/2015 18:27

3 1/2 hours. Would have been 3 hours but had to wait until id had a wee.
Really, really hoping I can do the same with DC2 due in 3 weeks. Staying on the postnatal ward is my idea of hell. We had such a lovely first night at home as a family.

DramaAlpaca · 16/06/2015 18:27

DS1 born early hours of Thursday, and I went home Saturday lunchtime.

Roseybee10 · 16/06/2015 18:38

I should have had a 6 hour discharge but no one was available to discharge is so we had to stay overnight grrr.

BikeRunSki · 16/06/2015 18:40

7 days
Emcs
I wasn't very well for 3 days, then DS lost loads of weight.

ohthegoats · 16/06/2015 18:42

I went in at 11am on Sunday, left at 3pm on Tuesday.

Normal birth on a delivery suite due to being high risk for a blood condition - in birth pool until the final two hours, at which point they wanted to speed me up with synto so I had an epidural.

Baby born 2am Monday, I wanted to go home that day but a) I missed the discharge round for some reason, and b) I hadn't sorted out breastfeeding. It was worth staying in - although I was very glad to be home.

wonderpants · 16/06/2015 18:44

Arrived at 4am (home birth transfer due to pain/ exhaustion), born at 4.20am, rang my Mum at 7am to pick us up and went home. Newborn checks etc were done by GP as if it had been a home birth!

Doilooklikeatourist · 16/06/2015 18:48

Delivered DS just before midnight on Thursday , home after lunch on Monday
I needed a blood transfusion following a PPH , and as DS had been a bit shocked by his delivery though not as badly as me and DH

Was desperate to go home though

Millie2013 · 16/06/2015 18:55

10 days altogether, as I had a few complications and had to have a few transfusions and then DD dropped weight. I had my own room, so it was ok.
^^ That's quite exceptional tho, my friends all seemed to be out in a matter of hours!

ohidoliketobe · 16/06/2015 19:18

21 hours. born 10 pm discharged 7pm next evening. Had a postpartum hemorrhage and was being monitored for a transfusion but didn't need one in the end. Started off in midwife unit but had to be transfered to delivery unit due to some minor complications (meconium in waters and baby heartbeat started to go a bit erratic). Being moved to a ward at 2:30 am from the delivery room and my dh having to go home until 8am wasn't ideal but it was fine in the grand scheme of things, and they don't do it for fun - they do it to monitor your health. I wouldn't get too stressed out about thinking about it in the lead up, things like being transferred between units are for your baby and your own health and that's the most important thing. You'll soon be home, it'll go so quick.
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

Tangoandcreditcards · 16/06/2015 19:21

4 hrs, 5 hrs after I arrived, 6 hrs after I was sent home for not being in active labour I was at home with DS.

Same as buttwing - discharged straight from labour suite (MLU and I FF).

LovelyWeatherForDucks · 16/06/2015 19:31

A week due to complications following c-section. One night on postnatal (hell!), 5 in HDU (pretty horrible but at least I had one to one support) then a couple of nights in a private room (luxury!).not the norm!one night is typical from experience of friends.

AliOh · 17/06/2015 06:34

Delivered at 12.34am on a Thursday, didn't go home until around 5pm on the Friday, I desperately wanted to go home but couldn't get BF established. I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole time hence opting for a home birth this time round

MrsDumbledore · 17/06/2015 07:12

Two nights with first (about 36 hours as she was born in evening). Had yo stay 24 hrs as needed monitoring for group b strep infection. I chose to stay the extra times as it was late on a very icy evening when they said I could go, and also i wasn't quite feeling ready to go it alone!

2nd time stayed 3 nights -would have been over 72 hours. Had a spinal anaesthetic and forceps (so catheter in for minimum of 12 hrs, then they have to check you wee with 6 hours), plus again baby needed monitoring - this time for gbs and low blood sugar as I had gestational diabetes. by the time all that was sorted there were concerns about my episiotomy wound they needed to keep an eye on, and then once that was sorted i wanted to keep an eye on ds feeding as hadn't produced many wet and dirty nappies!

In both cases I could have left the afternoon or evening before I did as far as hospital was concerned, but I didn't want to rush it either time. As much as I thought I would hate being in hospital before hand, in the event I actually appreciated having people there to ask questions, and also having some time just to think about the baby and me (even more so second time around! ).
So you never know til you are there how you will feel about coming home, and of course you have no idea how labour will go. Best not to have a preconceived idea of when you want to leave.

By the way I found it worked well to take a bag with enough stuff for about 24hrs post natal stay, and leave carrier bags car boot with extra stuff so dh could nip out and get things as needed.

inaboxwithafox · 17/06/2015 07:20

Ds born at 8am on Tuesday. Left 5pm on Wednedsay. Right into rush hour traffic, dual carriage way closure. Worst...journey...ever.

Julieb85 · 17/06/2015 14:24

8 hours, but I was ready to go after 3/4 hours and pediatric and hearing tests where complete. I had to wait on Anti-D which took ages!
I was admitted for induction in AM, but went into labour during the night - forceps and episiotomy.

morningsarepants · 17/06/2015 14:28

5 days. But had lots of complications, blood transfusion etc. had a private room though so not so bad.
4 days for DC2 after elective section, again a bit tricky, but again had private room so not so bad!

PenguinsandtheTantrumofDoom · 17/06/2015 14:31

15 hours. Epidural and forceps. Bank mw told me I had to stay overnight - registrar and ward sister agreed with me I could go.

HappyIdiot · 17/06/2015 14:34

went in to hospital early hours of thursday, dd born by emcs just before midnight on the Thursday, left at tea time on the Tuesday. So 5 nights in total once she was born.
I was probably well enough to go on the Monday, although it had taken me till then to feel vaguely human but we had to wait for paed tests and a scan on dd because a very late growth scan (that it turned out i was having contractions in!) picked up one of her kidneys was enlarged and they needed to check (she was fine).
post natal ward was great, only complaint was the heat.

Micah · 17/06/2015 14:41

You just can't predict.

All I will say is don't choose to stay in because you think you'll be "looked after", or get lots of help. Generally post natal wards are desperately understaffed, and you're expected to do most things yourself, like get breakfast, get to the toilet etc. The m/w really do their best, but I think on my ward there were 3 m/w on a 36 bed ward. They just can't be leaping to every buzzer or spend ages talking through your worries. The only breastfeeding advice I was given was "do you want a bottle if you're having difficulty?".

Much better at home where I had Dh on hand to pick up the baby for me, get me cups of tea, and help me out the shower. Any feeding worries were far better dealt with by home m/w, hv and breastfeeding groups.

WorldsBiggestGrotbag · 17/06/2015 14:44

I don't understand the 'you get help if you stay in hospital' thing either. When I got home I had DH to wait on me hand and foot, cook my dinner, run baths, look after the baby while I had a soak etc. Not sure id have got that treatment on a postnatal ward!

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