Has anyone ever not had to stay the night after a c section?

[cantthinkofaname2021]

My c section is on Wednesday morning, I'm panicking about having to stay the night (which might sound ridiculous) I did want to get a private room but still not sure if it's possible. Has anyone ever gone home the same day after having one? X

[WhenZoomWasJustAnIceLolly]

You can always discharge yourself as long as baby is fit for discharge. I did this, not after a c section but after going to theatre for other reasons post birth. I did the clexane injections myself at home but community midwife could have done them if necessary.

I’m amazed anyone thinks the postnatal ward is a good place to recover! I had no help whatsoever on the ward and had DH and dsis around at home.

[GappyValley]

I had an ELCS in 2018
When I went in for my pre-op assessment the day before, I was offered the ‘fast track discharge pathway’ which was offered to woman who had a normal BMI before pregnancy, no blood pressure issues during pregnancy and were expecting an uneventful section.

DS was born at 10am
By 9am the next morning, I was up, showered, dressed and packed to go home although the doctor didn’t get to me to do the discharge paperwork until about 11am
But home pretty much 24hrs later

[Twinkie01]

I went home the day afterwards and I have to say I begged to go home the same day due to other peoples complete disregard for visiting times and being respectful with regards to noise. I think it will be different now due to regulations and visitors not being allowed. It's really not too awful, you don't feel amazing and it's nice to have the nurses there to check on you and help establish breast feeding, if that's what you want to do.

[PurpleRainDancer]

@huuuuunnnndderrricks

It's incredibly painful and they will want to check your stitches .

That wasn’t my experience, far from it. The worst was the wind. Stop scaremongering.

[MySocalledLoaf]

Outside the UK, 4–5 days is standard. It’s much easier to be in hospital with a bed that makes it easier to sit up and IV paracetamol.

[User52739]

I couldn’t have - still had a catheter til the next morning.

In my trust they make you stay a minimum of 3 nights, but it does vary.

They can’t force you to stay, so you always have the option of leaving. But it is major surgery so please be realistic about your capabilities. You’ll need a huge amount of support at home if you leave because you won’t be able to lift the baby, change nappies etc, and you’ll likely need help to get up and move around for the first day or so.

[Twinkie01]

The injections aren't too bad, you do them into your thigh, the needles are v v small. DH completely freaked out when asked to do them so I just did them myself.

I was up showering at 21am 4 hours after the section, with the help of a nurse. The worst bit I found was doing a poo, which they won't let you leave until you've done both a wee and a poo.

[Babyboomtastic]

Welll, we can argue about what the 'standard stays" are, and how likely anyone will stay for any birth until we are blue in the face, or we can just look at the data.

Only approx 20% of women with planned sections stay 3 nights or more (10% for 3 night, and the other 10% for 4+). The most common (by far) length of stay was 1 night, followed by 2. 1 and 2 night stays account for 80% of the births.

[Babyboomtastic]

@MySocalledLoaf

I think I'd have gone nuts after 4-5 days. By that stage I'd been shopping, out to lunch twice and gone on a day trip to see friends. If you need it, then it's great to have the option, but if you are feeling well, you aren't going to want to be hanging round in bed with a drip!

[mammmamia]

What’s all this about injections - I had a c section 10 years ago and no injections - is this a new thing? I’m pretty sure this isn’t standard.

[mammmamia]

Oh and I stayed for 5 nights, but I had twins and they needed monitoring a bit, I also said I wanted to breast feed and they wouldn’t let me go until I’d established feeding, in the end I had to give them a bottle to get out.

[LakeShoreD]

One thing about an ELCS versus going into labour is that you’ll sleep the night before in your own bed and won’t be shattered by the time the baby is born. So one crappy night’s sleep on a ward afterwards won’t be quite as bad. Also, if they offer you oramorph afterwards take it - it will help you sleep! Also, I had the injections despite no risk factors, I think everyone got them at my hospital. With my second ELCS, baby was born at 7.30am and I was up and moving with catheter out after lunch. I stayed 2 nights which was 1 less than my first but as a private patient they were in no hurry to discharge me and I was well taken care of so wasn’t in a rush either!

Good luck OP

[mammmamia]

That depends @LakeShoreD, I had an ELCS (NHS), yes I slept in my own bed the night before but had to be at the hospital at 7am. No food or water, got bumped down the list and had my CS at 2pm. I was absolutely exhausted and drained from the lack of water and waiting around, at full term with twins.

[Moorelewis]

@PurpleRainDancer I don't think it's scaremongering. I've had 2 sections, one emergency and one elective. My emergency was incredibly painful but my elective was a breeze. Everyone experiences it differently.

[user1471523870]

I didn't stay the night, but it was exceptional and dramatic circumstances (my son needing an emergency operation in another hospital and I wanted to go with him).
Fortunately I gave birth via c-section in the morning, was up few hours later, very little pain and had the catheter removed mid afternoon.
It can be done - it's just not advisable.

[LakeShoreD]

@mammmamia you weren’t allowed water?! I had mine in the private wing of an NHS hospital so the ELCS itself took place in the theatre of the NHS labour ward and I was allowed to drink water (no food though) whilst waiting. That sounds awful! So weird how it differs between hospitals isn’t it?

[NoNameIdeas]

I had an emergency csection in December. Delivered at 5pm and was discharged at 4pm the next day. Ward was lovely and quiet, only me and one other! As others have said you need to have catheter removed and be able to urinate above a certain amount before they'll even consider sending you home. They also check feeding is established and baby passes all their checks too. I don't think I could've got out any quicker than I did!
I had to do injections for 6 weeks after as I'm over 35 (there are other reasons too), not the most fun but wasn't painful.

[Pumpkinbrew]

It's definitely not scaremongering someone saying it was incredibly painful!

I had a planned section and the pain was horrendous for me afterwards and moving was practically impossible.

I've had numerous vaginal births including one that required forceps and that felt like a walk in the park to me compared to a section. Also no time for pain relief on other occasion etc. Still beats the aftermath for me of c section!

Everyone is an individual. Therefore some will find it much harder and more difficult than others.

[Pumpkinbrew]

Shocking about the no water while waiting. I understand about the no eating due to possibility of having to have a general. They don't factor that in for whoever is stuck last on the list!

I wasn't allowed to have anything to eat or drink during a long and tiring labour. Which is one of the main reasons why I think forceps ended up having to be used as I was beyond exhausted and running on nothing. Obviously not on about meals etc but something as a quick snack to keep sugar levels up would have been extremely helpful!

[mammmamia]

Yes pretty inhumane really... why do we as women put up with this
But that’s another topic!

[Notaroadrunner]

@boringcreation

This sounds mad to me! In Ireland if you have a section you have to stay for 4 nights. You won't be able to walk for the first few hours and they need to make sure you can produce urine etc.

On another note, how did you get away with no needles the entire pregnancy, surely you had to have bloods taken?

I was out after 3 nights after my 4th section - can anyone else in Ireland beat that?

I think it's madness to be let home after one night. Many people don't seem to realise that a c-section is major abdominal surgery, they just think it's an easy way of getting the baby out. I had a drain in for a couple of days after one of mine. No way was I going anywhere with that.

@cantthinkofaname2021 do not rush leaving the hospital. If you're on a ward keep the curtain pulled for privacy if you wish. I'd rather be there to be checked on by the nurses, make sure the wound was ok, make sure I could pee and that my bowels were working and make sure I had access to adequate pain relief, than be struggling at home a few hours after surgery.

[Hardchoices]

You’ll need regular temp and blood pressure checks. This is major abdominal surgery.

[cantthinkofaname2021]

@Pumpkinbrew

Shocking about the no water while waiting. I understand about the no eating due to possibility of having to have a general. They don't factor that in for whoever is stuck last on the list!

I wasn't allowed to have anything to eat or drink during a long and tiring labour. Which is one of the main reasons why I think forceps ended up having to be used as I was beyond exhausted and running on nothing. Obviously not on about meals etc but something as a quick snack to keep sugar levels up would have been extremely helpful!

That's what happened to me I didn't get anything to eat or drink for 30 hours during Labour so ended up needing forceps delivery I was too exhausted to go on, I read that it can slow down or halt labour if dehydrated/no food

[iduno]

I don't think Ul be in any fit state to leave. I left after 1 night after my second section, they wanted me to stay another but I refused and went home with a catheter still in. I cld hardly walk and to be honest once home I was a bit worried about myself and thought maybe I shld have stayed.

When I left hospital after my first baby 6 days after she was born by emcs I still couldn't stand straight and was walking slower than a 90yr old! The ward was hell hence why I didn't want to stay any longer second time around.

Recovery is so tough on ur body though I've never heard anyone leave without staying over. There was a lady brought to our ward about 8pm, she went for a shower about 9pm (while leaving her baby to scream the place down) and she left lunch time the next day so she was def less than 24hrs but still stayed over.

[GappyValley]

@mammmamia

What’s all this about injections - I had a c section 10 years ago and no injections - is this a new thing? I’m pretty sure this isn’t standard.

It’s blood thinners to reduce the risk of clots
It’s standard after pretty much most operations now. My granny had them after her hip replacement too..!