I'm going to discharge myself after c-section, can I be stopped?

[SingingWren]

I'm having a c-section on Tuesday, I've been informed by a midwife that my partner will have to leave straight after the c-section. I was tested for Covid19 at their request, so why not test birthing partners too, surely if both test negative, there is no risk on the wards?

My c-section is at 9am, once catheter is out and I'm confident baby and I are fine, I plan on discharging us both and going home to be with partner, where I will undoubtedly get more rest, more help and be far more comfortable.

This may be very late at night obviously, so I'm wondering if they can actually stop me? Surely they can't keep me there if I demand to be let home? Has anyone done this?

Sounds irrational, but I've had two friends give birth at the same hospital in the last month. Both had horrific experiences, short staffed, buzzers ignored etc, both really struggled. Any advice appreciated.

You need to get your bloods done and results back first. Plus they check you and your scar. Then baby is checked, any immunisations given. They check babys weight too to make sure they're not losing. There's loads of things. But yes, its absolutely horrifying in there!

Readmit not read!

Hospitals are not prisons, if you are fit to decide to leave, of course you can leave.

Rather than deciding this right now, why not wait and see how you and new baby are after your DS?
Best of luck.

Whilst I had to go into hospital first thing in the morning I had to wait for a slot to become free before I could have my c-section. With ds1 that wasn't until nearly 3pm and they literally ran me down the corridor to get me in before they stopped doing elective c-sections for the day. I really struggled afterwards and was in for 5 days.

With ds2 I begged for either a different room or to be allowed home earlier because of the difficulties on the ward. They let me go home on the understanding i 'topped up' ds2 as he was not feeding well.

With ds3 I was desperate to go home as soon as possible. Because I was so well and ds3 was feeding and settling well they did let me go home the next day. In fact the paediatrician would have let me take ds3 home on the same day but I followed the medical advice for my own health and stayed until they were confident I was well enough to go home.

I requested a different bed with the crib attached to the side as it made dealing with ds3 much easier on my own over night. I also requested drips and catheters be removed as soon as possible and made sure I drank loads so they could see everything was working as it should.

I had DD2 by c-section at 9.30 on the Tuesday, discharged myself after being seen in morning rounds the following day. Post natal ward was hell, I'd been in and out with HG throughout as well and couldn't face another minute! For what it's worth recovering from the section was much easier than recovering from the natural birth with DD1. I was perfectly capable of walking to the carpark and then up the stairs to our second floor flat 25ish hours later.

BMIdreams, no vaccination is given to neonates.
There are a number of inaccuracies in your post.

OP, if there was a concern about the wellbeing of the baby, you could be prevented from taking them home. SS and even, in extreme cases, the Courts get involved in concerns about a baby's well-being if what the parent insists on seems to not be in their best interest.

I discharged myself after c section but it was 2 nights after.they claimed they were too busy to do discharges so we'd all need to stay another night. However because I would have been going that day the baby has been checked out and discharged. You won't be able to just go without the baby being discharged first. Also catheter in for 25 hours normally. It's not ideal being alone but my partner had to go to look after other children and it's only a couple of days of your life

So discharging baby is not allowed? They have to let me go but would keep baby despite my requests?

You'd forgo the newborn checks just for the sake of leaving a bit earlier? I don't know the legal stance, but you'd hope there would be concerns flagged for that kind of selfishness.

No they aren’t prisons, but the hospital also has a duty of care for the baby.

I had a late afternoon section (emergency) was unable to walk until the following morning and catheterised. I wasn’t going anywhere that day!

I had 3 babies in a 'good' hospital (and did indeed have good experiences), then 1 in another hospital (after house move) with a rather daunting reputation.
And it was absolutely fine. None of the horror stories that some people delighted in 'sharing' with me actually happened to me.
People LOVE a good horror story - I'd take it all with a pinch of salt tbh.

By the way a section being scheduled at 9am means nothing. Mine was scheduled for 1pm and was done at 9am the next day. And that was a category 3 emergency so not even an elective. I got a bit of a shock with my next baby and they said "theatre, now" and just wheeled me straight through. I was expecting a long wait again.

@Pacif1cDogwood well I'm going on my experience of 2 C sections, and a dc who was vaccinated after birth, so not inaccurate.

It is such a tough situation. From friends that have recently had babies, they said that their partners weren’t chased out (but that will differ In hospitals).
I have also heard that they are speeding up c section discharges.
Good luck for the birth of your little one xx

yikes.. I understand where you are coming from but!
you need to have various care for a period after as it's. a serious operation.
I think you just have to suck it up. It is what it is ... for a reason.
hope it goes ok

I wouldn't have wanted to be without the pain relief - they are unlikely to give you morphine to take home.

BMI, she likely got a Vitamin K injection, not vaccination.

In America babies are given Hep B straight after birth. Maybe pp isn’t from the U.K.?

Gosh, why would you? It's major surgery and they need to make sure everything is 110% okay before you're discharged. It's major surgery and anything can happen during/afterwards. Also, you need some anti-blood clothing injections which need to be signed off by a doctor and take ages to be handed over. See if you can book a private room instead of being on a ward (which is horrendous).

I signed myself out against medical advice (AMA) after my second child was born. They did try to stall me but they couldn't stop me. I wasn't rude or confrontational. I spoke with one of the doctors before I left about what to do and watch out for. Basically, in my situation, they wanted to keep me an extra night for monitoring - taking my temperature every 4 hours. I agreed to do that myself at home. The midwife came to my home every few days afterwards as usual. It was fine and I was glad to be home!

With my 3rd child, I discussed all this at length with my midwife. After he was born, she had all my paperwork ready for me within a few hours 😄

Now, having said that, I've never had a Caesar. Leaving early after surgery is not something I'd do lightly. How is your relationship with your doctor? I'd be talking to my doctor now about it, how/what to prepare for etc. See if they can compromise, and under what conditions they'd be willing to compromise. If you show them that you're not crazy and willing to listen then that will go a long way. They may have some ideas about how to compromise to make your hospital stay easier too.

I do sympathise, really, I hate hospitals at the best of times. Is this your first baby? You might be surprised at how... unable you are to just physically walk out so soon.

I was out within 24 hours and had all my checks done and baby's checks.

I agree that home is much better, I hated the ward and had awful experiences both times so was eager to get home.

I think bets thing to do will be play it by ear. See how you go and discharge as soon as you get the all clear. 24 hours didn't seem too long and if you're up after 8 usually then hopefully you'll be ok to look after baby. Not ideal though I know!

But keep on at them, keep asking can you go home, that's what I did.

Good luck and congratulations OP. Xx

@Pacif1cDogwood No, she didn't. It was a BCG VACCINATION.

I’ve had 2 sections: stayed 2 nights first time, one night the second.

Even though a night on a maternity ward is a special kind of hell (although I’d probably prefer it at the moment without other people’s husbands being loud, snoring, using the Patients bathroom etc...) you will just have had MAJOR surgery. First time I had to wait 6 hours to go into surgery due to emergencies and so had a catheter in all night. You need to keep catheter in for a good while then successfully get yourself backwards and forwards to bathroom and pass urine yourself. They usually want you to have a shower too - lots of little standing up and walking to get you mobile.
They check your blood loss regularly to make sure it looks ok & no sign of infection. They can give you strong painkillers if needed. They check you can breastfeed. Your baby has to have a series of checks by paediatrician.
Unfortunately all this takes time.
And I think midwifes are doing more checks over the phone now so you might not get as much face to face home contact as usual.

Prepare to stay one night & fingers crossed that will be it. But please know there are lots of good reasons not to get out as soon as possible.

Take care

At what point do they decide baby is ok? Surely if there are issues they would be apparent pretty quickly

When the paediatrician does their rounds. In my local that is morning or afternoon routine rounds.

Definitely not universally true that they won't discharge baby without newborn checks. Haven't any c section experience but left hospital 3 hours after giving birth to my third. They booked him in for his checks the following morning.

I seem to remember having to give dd a bath as some kind of weird parenting rite I had to pass!