UCLH Birth Centre

[anna2101]

Got a bit of a random question. I'm in the second trimester and hoping to give birth at the UCLH birth centre. There is one small thing that keeps worrying me. It says that if everything goes without complications then you will be discharged within 6 hours of giving birth (without the need to go into postnatal ward which is what I really hope to avoid - ie you stay those 6 hours in the birth centre). Now what if I give birth say at 9pm. Will they make me leave at 3am? Or let us stay till the morning? The reason that's a worry is we don't have a car and were hoping for friends or family to pick us up which might be a bit more difficult at 3am then at even 7am.

If they desperately needed the room, they may move you (I assume postnatal ward) but they definitely wouldn’t make you leave hospital at 3am if you weren’t able to

Chance of them needing the room aren’t high from my experience of having 2 children there - there were sometimes women waiting for the rooms with pools which women but enough regular rooms to go round.

No idea about this but as someone who had two premature babies at UCLH and thus spent days and days there, the post-natal ward is fine. Totally understand you hope to get home without going there, but FWIW if you have to, it's fine. And it's very reassuring to know that if anything is going wrong you are at a Level 4 (I think it's called) neo-natal unit and NICU.

I had my second child at UCLH and was made to stay in for 24 hours. I was literally waiting at the doors waiting to be released!

@morechocolateneededtoday @SummerInSun @moanymoe thank you!! All of that together gives enough reassurance and also happy to hear you had what sounds like positive experiences :)