Discharging yourself from hospital

[Happilymarried155]

Has anyone done this? What was the reaction?

Obviously, if baby needs extra care I wouldn't discharge us. However last time I had to stay in for 2 nights due to bad tear. By the third day I didn't get discharged until 6pm and I felt awful. I hadn't slept in days, eaten a proper or had a proper shower I was so close to tears for the whole day. As soon as I got home I felt normal again! Added to this I now have a little boy who is only just 2 that I will want to get back to. How easy is it to just tell people you are going home!

I used to work on the postnatal wards and in our hospital anyone with diabeties the baby would need at least 24 hours of observations plus blood sugar tests. It's not as simple as just discharging yourself, and just walking Our with baby would definitely mean ss getting involved I would think.

As a midwife I promise we can't legally keep someone's baby until ss arrives. Not unless there's a court order.

Just tell the midwives you'd like to leave asap after delivery. When I had my dd a long time ago it was policy to have to stay in for five days. I buzzed on the second morning and politely asked the midwife to sort my discharge out as I would be leaving that day. There was slight muttering about it being non standard but I was polite and firm and left with my paperwork two hours later.

Don't walk out without paperwork. It doesn't help the community midwife!

Oh, missed the diabetes post.

They'll want to check baby's blood sugars, our hospital say three normal blood sugars in a row 3-4 hours apart. I would really, really recommend staying for this. Babies of diabetic mums can drop their blood sugars quickly.

It's a secret in the NHS, but we often keep women in for fun

We do not look after one woman and her baby. It's as frustrating for us as it is for you, but there's a discharge procedure to be completed once you're both fit for discharge. We can have 6 of these happening at once, and unfortunately you're not always the priority.

You're an adult and not a prisoner therefore you're well within your rights to self discharge, but also the NHS has a finite amount of time and resources and doesn't spend them keeping women in without good reason.