How long did you stay in hospital post C/S? Was it too short?

[mears]

The reason I ask is that a lot of you seem to go home at 2-3 days. Are you fit enough?
We advise women to stay 5 days but I am sure that will change soon more due to shortage of beds. Midwives worry about women going home too soon. What is your experience?

I had DS at 1.20am on the Saturday and went home on the Wednesday. Would have loved to have gone sooner, but as he was my first I was too scared! Didn't get the stockings (this was in 2005), but I do remember injections every day for a while. I was woken at 7am on the Saturday morning (having got to sleep at 5!) and told to get up for a shower, and after that I was up, dressed and walking about all day, in fact I think I'd have got more rest at home.

dd1 - 5 days
dd2 - five days
dd3 - 2 1/2 days.

Mears I found that with dd2 I was ready to go home after about three days but dd2 had jaundice and they put her under lights - not sure if that is why they kept me longer.

Dd1 - I stayed so long as dd1 was in scbu and I found it hard to go home without her.

Dd3 - had her last fri and was home by lunch time sunday. I have dh at home to help out with the dds etc. I also find now i am getting more rest at home than I did in hospital. Yesterday I got almost 4 hours uninterrupted sleep.

Unlike my c-section in the UK - I was not sent home with strong painkillers - just panadeine which you can buy over the counter.

DS1 4 days (3 nights)

DS2 3 days (2 nights)

With DS2 I would have gone home after 24 hours but DS1 kept jumping all over me in hospital so I reckoned I was safer in hospital!

Hospital was great; chnace to rest (especially with DS2) but I felt too institutionalised. Was delighted that, with DS2, the docs were happy to let me go when I felt I was ready.

the first time i signed myself out within 24 hours dreaded Bath hospital
the second time i stayed in 2 nights but because of a blood transfusion otherwise i would have been straight out the door again
third time couldnt face Bath hospital again so changed hopspitals, had private room all very nice stayed 4 nights

I stayed 6 days, but had awful back trouble and couldnt get out of bed without assistance for 4 days or lift dd myself. They offered me to stay longer though.

don?t know whether my info is of interest to you mears as I had both dds in France but it might be useful for comparative purposes

dd1 ?normal? emergency c-section in 2004. normally kept in for 5 days but I was let out after 4 for good behaviour Had those lovely stockings and injections everyday I was in hospital. Had Mum to help me at home for 10 days and recovered very quickly.

dd2 (2006) emergency c-section followed by haemorrage of uterus. should have been in for 5 days but stayed in for a week as I wasn?t up to going home sooner. Had Mum to help for a week, inlaws for a week and then had to wing it..........took ages to recover.
oh, and had a nurse come to my house to give me those injections for 5 days after leaving hospital (no stockings this time though!!)

Thanks everyone. Interesting the variations isn't it?

Mears, I always say it should be called the RHS (R=regional) because it does vary from region to region.

I had an emergency cs on Wed tea time. Might have got home on Sat, and was ok till Friday when an infection set into my wound leaving me terrible pain and unable to even sit up by myself. I got tons of anti-bis which seemed to throw off breast feeding. Having been latching on, LO started refusing my breast, so once I was well enough to go home, we had to stay longer to try and get feeding sorted out. Eventually I had to agree to bottle feed EBM with formula top ups as LO was continuing to lose weight and was starving and dehydrated. Paedeatrician was threatening to keep us longer, but after 7 days on a ward in pain with a frequently screaming LO, I really needed to go home.

Staff at the hospital were all lovely and very much trying to help as much as poss, but we were on a 4 person ward, with some of the other patients being a bit crazy and maing me feel rather unsafe. It was boiling hot, very noisy and the shower was broken so I had to go to another ward, leaving LO with someone else, if there was anyone free. I was feeling horribly undignified all the time with various people every day grabbing breasts for feeding and spending hours on a double expressing machine. DP was allowed in from 2-8 each day, but I still felt quite alone the rest of the time. In the end up it was quite stressful being there. Once I had recovered from the section enough to move around I really wanted home, even though I was quite nervous about how I would cope with still being very sore and with only over the counter painkillers.

I am pleased to say that once I got home and out of the the stressful environment the b/fing improved and he finally started feeding properly about 3 days after I finished the anti-bis. The wound has improved too, however is still not healing properly 6 weeks later.

In retrospect I think I was in the hospital for right amount of time for my circumstances, I don't think I could have coped at home any sooner than the 7 days. But it was stressful being in hospital which I think drives people home before they are ready sometimes. Some others on my ward went home after about 48 hours which seemed really quick to me after such major surgery. I wouldn't have done that even if everything was fine.

this is quite a long thread now but I will add my bit....!

I live in Switzerland and here for a CS it is standard to stay in hospital for a week (not including the day of birth, that is an extra day). They would be very reluctant to let you go home before then and if you don't feel ready they are happy for you to stay longer (depends on your doctor/hospital though, they have to justify it for the health insurance to pay up).

for me the time in hospital was really invaluable. You are encouraged to rest and use the maternity nurses to look after you and help with the baby/ies. I was also given a lot of help with breastfeeding, if I had gone home after 3 or 4 days I would not still be breastfeeding my twins now. On the other hand though I did have my own room, I'm not sure how I would have felt if I was sharing with several other mothers and babies.

I think people underestimate how big an operation a cs is and the recovery from that as well as looking after a new born, not getting enough sleep and perhaps being expected to fit back into normal life with other children etc, at home for me would most definitely have been too much if i had gone home earlier.

I had my son at 7.30pm on Friday by c-section and was out Sunday at 11am! The hospital was busy and happy for me to go. I was fine, supported by homeopathy, arnica etc no pain killers and was fine, couldn't wait to get home to relative peace and quiet. I was driving after the 1st week with the ok from my insurance company and back doing tap dancing at 5 weeks, so anything is possible!!

I had blood clot injections for 5 days and had to wear the lovely socks for the whole time I was there.

I had a C-section on a Monday morning (having started contrations the previous thursday afternoon) and they sent me home on the thurday evening. They have changed their policy I believe so now I would be sent home a day earlier. Would have left at lunchtime on the thuirsday but they asked if the baby had urinated, and I had no idea, as a new mum whether any nappies had been wet, as they were all poo! If they had asked on any other day I could have looked out for it.

Trouble is there is NO rest at hospital. If it happened again I would be out as soon As I could.

Was anyone else amazed that on day 1 you thought you'd never be able to move again and then on day 4 you can bend down and pick up your towel in the shower room (admittedly slowly!)

I was in four days and for me it was too long. DS slept all day (when DH was around) and was up all night when I was knackered and didn't have any help except the midwives on night shift who had a whole ward to worry about. Had I been at home I'd have got a lot more rest and DH could have picked up DS for me for breastfeeding etc. If I had a c/s next time and no complications I'd definitely want to go home after two days tops.

After a 19 hour labour, traumatic birth culminating in an emergency c section, I begged to go home after 3 nights with no sleep in hospital. It was boxing day after all.

I left after 2 nights second time around because I knew I'd get more sleep and support at home. It was probably too soon because I had a horrendous headache reaction to the spinal block on the next day and was bedridden for a further 3 days.

I had an elective C section. I stayed in for 5 days and a midwife visited me every day at home for about 5 days (?) to give me my injections. Was very happy as the hospital was fab as were the staff. A very positive experience for me

both times i was desperate to go home as I could not sleep in the noisy ward

i could hardly walk, was bleeding, on painkillers, but i felt a MILLION times better being at home

5 days with dd1 (elected) way too long, she was sleeping but no one elses baby was so I didn't get any rest
dd2 5 days but had private room and was very ill , signed myself out on day 5 but they weren't happy .

No. 1
Emergency crash section under GA
Midwives really busy and ward very noisy so got no sleep
Mixed messages from midwives and had to ask for everything three times!

Went home after 5 days (as little one had infection) wanted to leave after 4 days!

Not much support available at home.

No. 2
VBAC - Left after 2 nights - just a bit of rest before being at home with 2 kids.

Much more support available at home.

OH MY GOD! You left hospital after 2-3-4 days? You people are Superwomen! I had a very calm and controlled CS due to DS being in trouble, and I stayed in bed (thankfully in a private room) for 10 days. That's normal, and if 'd wanted to leave after 5 days, or God forbid, 2 days, I wouldn't have been allowed. I don't think I was able to walk or get out of bed for the first three days, so am just in shock at the thought of being encouraged to go home then.. A friend in Ireland had a CS last week, she was out of hospital after 4 days and I couldn't believe it. I know several people here who had normal VBs and stayed in a private ward for 10 days, one still refers it accidentally as her 'hotel' when she means hospital, she liked being fed and looked after that much! I don't live in the UK (I live in Luxembourg) but are all women expected to stay in shared wards after giving birth? Then I can understand leaving early, but the pain... Wow, hats off to you all. I clearly am a wimp.

Seems the same wherever you go! I was in 5 days after my emergency c-section - but the wards were sooo noisy, whats the point as you can't rest or sleep. They said i was anaemic and not eating (not surprising - have you seen the food they serve up?)
Almost killed the Specialist Registrar on the third day. Told him i planned to tie the bed sheets together and climb out the window, so he arranged for me to have my own side room.

Another 'wimp' here Lux mum. I live abroad too and I stayed for a full 8 days in a private room with my husband allowed to stay 24/7 on a camp bed alongside me at all times! It was great actually; I'd had a fairly difficult operation even though it was planned and I couldn't walk properly until the fourth day (but I was a very old first time mum!). Dh was taught by the nurses to change dd's nappy, bath and dress her and then he taught me (1st child)! The overall experience was really terrific. The staff were busy but attentive, everything was spotless and although I generally loathe hospitals, I actually had to be given gentle encouragement to leave!! Couldn't have coped if I'd had to leave after 2 or 3 days though.

Meant to add that, medically speaking, they said I couldn't leave until I could walk fairly steadily and upright, had peed a litre's worth of pee (the nurses measured this) and had, ermm, done a poo (sorry if tmi!)

I really take my hat off to you stalwarts.

countingthegreyhairs - wow...i wish my hosp was like that as i was sooo pining for my Dp as i was in agony trying to breastfeed and my mum moved to France as planned when my DD was 1 day old. I was in hosp for 5 days, couldve of went home on the forth day but my BP was too high. the Hosp was very understaffed but the girls on the ward were lovely. i was on the antenatal ward as no beds on the postnatal ward. All the girls were there had been in hosp for weeks due to health probs, i thought i couldnt handle that and i was lucky. By the time it got to the 4th day all the food start to taste the same - lunch and Tea.

i think it all depends on how much support there is at home.

after my first cs i heammoraged (sp?)and had to have 4 blood transfusions over the next day or two. my face was so white and puffy i looked like a different person! i was given a private room but i still went home on the 4th day.

the second cs was a good one for me, but the hospital was so noisy i had to get out of there. on the second night the baby next to me needed light treatment for jaundice all night. poor little baby, but it made for a sleepless night for everyone. the next night i'd drifted off to sleep and woke to find a crowd of people chatting in the cubicle on my other side. it was past midnight and they were giving the parents a demo of how to bath their baby! apparently the midwife who could speak their language was only available at that time! so i had to get out of hospital to get some sleep. luckily my dh did everything for the next couple of weeks so i could rest in bed at home.

i think a lot more women would stay in hospital a bit longer if it was quiet and dark at night.