how long in hospital when the baby is born?

[jan2011]

hi!
i am just wondering how long people normally are in for after the baby is born. my midwife told me that at the hospital ive registered for we are to leave after 6 hours assuming things are ok. is this pretty standard? my hubby thought it was very quick. do you think its better this way?

6 days for me, mainly because I was anaemic and then DS got jaundice.

I think most people stay in overnight, and about 3 days after a c-sections.

I had dd3 12 weeks ago and was in for about 12 hours but she was born at 1.30 am, with my first 6 years ago I was in for 3 nights but she was born in the early hours as well, with dd2 - 2 nights. Where I am it used to be the hospital kept you in, for one full night after the baby was born. If you are breastfeeding make sure you get the proper help and support before you leave. Personally I would rather stay in, I don't mind shared wards, and have 2 little ones at home so hospital was quite relaxing to me

DS1 I went in on Saturday evening (His due date) and came out on Thursday

DS2 went in 8.00am Monday morning came out Tuesday afternoon.

Depends on how you and the baby are. With DS I was in after he was born for two nights. Possibly shoudl have been more but I had been in for nearly a week before he was born and wanted to go home :)

With DD I stayed in for a night - could have gone home that day but quite wanted some time for just her and me.

Ds1 I was in 3 days - no real medical reason but he was sleepy and wouldn't bfeed very well. Never felt under pressure to leave, though the bfeeding support was variable.

Ds2, arrived at midnight, had him at 2 am, left at about 4 pm, so technically we were out on the day he was born.

6 hours sounds like a minimum to me, esp. with a first baby. And if it arrives at 10 pm, I can't see them discharging you at 4 am!

Hard to say what's better, it depends on you, the baby and your circumstances at home, aswell as how you feel being in hospital.

With my first he was born just after midnight, and I left by noon the same day. He wasn't feeding great, but my sister is a midwife so I think they were happy for her to help me.

With 2nd 18 months later he was born just before 9am, we were ready to go home fairly soon after but he had a hydrocele (enlarged testicle), which had the paediatrician and midwives debating whether I could go. We were home by 5pm, which gave us all day just the 3 of us, before being able to go home and let eldest meet little brother.

On both occasions the 8-12 hours seemed sufficient, although if breastfeeding is really important to you I'd personally advise staying in hospital until you feel comfortable that it's established. I was lucky to have my sister, but in truth I was let out of hospital without him feeding properly, so without the support at home I'd probably have resorted to the bottle by the evening. This to me is the biggest reason or advantage to staying. Don't be afraid to ask for longer, even if you feel pressured to leaving

You will probably find, other than any health issues for you or baby that arise, feeding is an issue that will dictate if you get to leave 'early'. If your baby is feeding well, either frombottle or breast, you can go home, but any feeding issues and usually the staff will want to see them resolved before you go.

DS was born at 5am on the friday and we came home at 4pm on the Saturday. Would have been earlier but it took them all day to do the paperwork so we could go home.

I would have loved to go home the same day, wouldn't have been ignored there!

Good luck wityh it all though! A pair of those pyjama bottoms that can pass as 'leisure wear' and a vest top are good for the maternity ward as you need to be comfy but remember other ladies partners are there quite often, so the short nightie i wobbled round in wasn't such a good idea...

I've just had my baby last week. Went in at 8pm on the thursday night. He was born at 5am on the friday and we came home at 11am. 1st baby. Think it all just depends on how you are both doing. They were happy to let us go home, as I had got up and walked around, showered and eaten, and baby was breastfeeding well. Plus they were VERY busy!!

At my hospital the bare minimum they'd let you stay was 6 hours. In very exceptional circs they would consider letting you home before 6 hours, but they actually preferred you to stay a bit longer. If the baby arrives in the evening, they don't let you leave until the following morning.

Most people did one overnight. I stayed two nights to make sure I was happy with bfing. Glad I did as on the second night DD fed for about 5 hours without a break. I ended up in tears as I still hadn't managed to sleep since she was born, which took me to a grand total of 72 hours awake If I'd have been at home, me and DH would have been in meltdown and probably would have stopped the bf. As it was, the midwives were there to step in and take DD next door for a couple of hours while I slept, ready to start again.

Had DS at 7:45pm and was home by midnight! Had planned a homebirth but things didn't quite go according to plan so no way was i staying any longer than necessary!

I gave birth at 5:30pm, straight forward birth and healthy baby. I missed hearing the midwife say I could go home that evening so ended up staying the night. I wish I had heard and had gone home that night, instead the lady opposite me was on her phone until late, the did a check/interview at 11pm, I was woken by the Midwives at 2am talking loudly at the end of my bed, and by the family of the lady from 6am onwards who had given birth shortly before. As I had no problems no one bothered with me and I ended up last on the list to see the Doctor to leave at 3pm.
I think it depends massively on how it all goes and on how you feel to how long you should stay, I couldn't wait to get out, but that's me

It'll depend on the time of day you give birth probably.

Bear in mind that maternity wards are pretty hellish places - crying babies, exhausted new mums & so few staff. IMO you'll be better off at home. I got much more help from DP at night than I ever did on a maternity ward. There isn't usually an offer to take the baby on a post-natal ward so you can get some kip.

6 hrs wouldn't have been long enough for me with me first, but I guess it must work for some. With my first I went in on the Tuesday morning, had her Tuesday evening, and then stayed 3 nights till the Friday afternoon (actually would have gone home on the Thursday though, but they 'lost' some bloods they had taken from me - I am rhesus -ve - and that delayed things till the next day).
With DC2 I was in and out in one day, she was born at 3pm and was home 9.30pm, but we still had to go back into the hospital the next day for the doctor to do her baby check. I loved leaving after 6 hours as didn't have to go to the postnatal ward (which was noisy and busy when I was there with my first) - just got to stay 6 hrs on the delivery suite in my private room!

I don't know how it is in the UK now, DD1 (17) was born on a Saturday morning and I stayed 36 hours (one hour for each stitch!), DD2 (16) I stayed for 4 hours, DS (14) was an emcs at 28 weeks so I was in for a fortnight (he was pretty ill, but so was I!).

Had DD3 in Spain 2 and a bit years ago, elective CS and stayed 3 days.

You're right Jet - but I yelled told them it was a case of they take her for a walk to see if she would calm down without me, or I fall asleep trying to continue feeding her and drop her on the floor

When I woke up two hours later, she was back in that crib beside my bed fast asleep, and I'd bet she'd been there since about 5 minutes after they took her. Then I watched her sleep for another four hours, in case she woke up again and I missed it . I'm surprised I can even remember half of this!

My boys were born late Sunday afternoon and, despite me being anaemic and attempting to breastfeed twins, the midwives were happy for us to go home lunchtime on the Monday but I opted to stay in for another day to make sure feeding was going well. Needn't have bothered cos we were readmitted to a different hospital on day 3 as they'd lost too much weight .

This time we're thinking of having a homebirth and the midwife told me at booking in that if we were to end up giving birth in hospital then the minimum stay post-birth is 2hours. Don't know if it would be any different for a first birth.

I was in four nights but my dd was jaundiced. I was lucky enough to have my own room and my husband got to stay every night on the sofa so I was happy enough, however when i did get home to my own bed it was absolute bliss and I wish I had have got out earlier. I think next time I would be quite happy to get out 24 hours later, but not any earlier as I was neurotic about blood clots

DD1, born at 8:28am, left around 4pm same day.

DD2, i had to stay at least 24h after birth as my waters went 6 days before she was born. They had to do stomach contents and blood sampling from her, and bloods from me. Once results were back clear we were allowed home. I'd been in for 5 days at that point!

DS, 3 days of induction, born at 5:01pm on the 3rd day, went home before lunch the day after. Was V pleased they wrote 'experienced mum' on my notes! :o

Depends on the birth, you can't say for definate one way or the other.

DD born at 5pm and I stayed overnight, home about midday next day as had to wait for the doc to do his rounds. DS was born at 1.30am was home before 4am the same day. Same hospital but the second time it was a midwife led unit with no post natal ward so the only place to stay was your room so depending on how busy they were would depend on how long you could stay. Generally they want you to stay 6 hours, the minimum they allow is 2 hours. I was keen to get home as I just wanted to go to sleep in my own bed. Second time was much quicker (2 hours) and easier with no stitches so will just depend on the type of birth you have and how the baby is I expect. Good luck to you.

I was in a nursing home with both of my confinements (put that in to show how old I am) :o

I got to stay for 10 whole days both times . I had a room to myself for most of the time -with a dressing table and wardrobe -and the nurses took baby away if I wanted a good nights sleep.

If I wanted to I could go for a walk in the garden,nip into town with DH for a meal or just go and sit in the TV Lounge and have a smoke with the other mothers.3 meals a day, no housework,few nappies and visitors who came with presents and left when told by the nurse.Otherwise just spent time getting to know baby and relaxing. Bliss.

Forgive me holderness but are you older than Queen Victoria??!

You don't have to leave when they ask you if you want to, or tell you that you can.

I didn't budge until I felt confident feeding DD and she took over a day to latch. Plus as I had a third degree tear I was initially told to stay until I had done a bowel movement, but then MWs were telling me I could leave. It took one of them to say you can say no to not feel uncomfortable staying.

It took me 12 hours to leave once I had decided anyway as we had a nightmare day with DD and I wanted to shower and sort out some other things.

It's all personal. Obviously time of birth will play a part because they're not going to throw you out in the night. Usually they will want to see a feed before you go. If you have had a healthy birth and baby there really is no need to stay in hospital longer than needed. If you have had any complications then expect it to be a bit longer.