How long do you have to stay in hospital after the birth?

[Myneaux]

I am currently nearly 30 weeks and starting to think about getting the some stuff for the hospital bag ready.

Helpfully the NHS have decided that I dont need ante-natal classes until 34 weeks so I am a bit clueless about what actually happens after the birth (first time mum !).

I know it can depend on the hospital and whether you have any complications....but if you had a straighforward birth do they let you go home straight away or keep you in overnight?

....and daft question !...what do you wear? pyjamas/nighties....or normal clothes?

Dd1 1 1/2 day they sent me home because I was fine and so was dd but they had not explained to me how to breastfeed and it was a bit of a nightmare at first.For that reason only I wish they had kept me a bit longer.

DS2& DS3 were both born in the middle of the night and I just stayed until the pediatrician could check them in the morning. I was home both times by lunch time.

Dd4 was born at 7pm after a 10mn labour and I was back home at 11pm knowing that the midwife would come and visit in the morning at home.

I was in for 3 long nights and 4 days with my dc 1 they didn't give me the drugs and then because I was in so long baby started to go bit yellow!(if I had been at home they would have been fine and made sure she was sitting in the sun and eating enough
I had never slept so little in my life and was desperate to get home

with dc2 I was in 1 1/2 days but i need to be given medication for 24 hours after the birth so that was as fast as they were going to let me go.but I made sure I told them I was going home as soon as a got to postnatal literally told every midwife I saw so they knew I was going and made sure I saw a peditrician as soon as possible.

I knew as soon as I got home DH would take over every other night feed!

Thank you wise Mumsnetters !

Its not that I am desperate to leave as early as I can and I do want to make sure I have got to grips with feeding first... but at least I now have an idea of what to expect (and what to wear !).

Well, what to wear doesn't always go as planned, with DD4 I barely had time to take my jeans off! As I was still in my "school run uniform" when she decided she could not wait anymore !

my top tip is to have one bag to actually bring with you and another bag packed at home with extra pjs, underwear and pads in case something unforseen happens and you have to stay in.

i did this with dd and ds1 and never needed it so didn't bother with ds2 and sod's law he was admitted to scbu and was there for 5 days, i actually begged to be allowed stay on the ward another day as we lived so far from hospital it was going to be a logistical nightmare when i left.

all i had was one pair of pjs packed dp had to go shopping for me on the second day for more clothes and trust me, thats not something either of ye wants to happen

btw, bramshott is right.. theoretically you can go after 6 hours but this does require quite forceful stating of that fact on your part and all the relevant docotrs who need to check you and dc over actualy getting their arse in gear and coming to see you within those 6 hours.

i wanted to leave asap with all of mine, realistically what happened was with dd i had her at just before 3pm, didn't get to ward til 6/7pm due to bleeding and was discharged the next morning. with ds1 i wanted 6 hour discharge but he was born at midnight and there were no paeds doing rounds at that time of night so it was the next morning i was discharged... and both those time required an awful lot of me rabbiting on to anyone who came within earshot ... 'is x,y,z on his way? are we all done yet? we're going home today you know. are we ready to be discharged yet? etc. etc' as thay WILL forget to sort everything if you don't as they're used to ding certain things on the first day and certain on the second day so have to be reminded to organise all the checks for day one.

Make sure you have an old nightie for after the birth, not something beautiful and precious bought to honour the occasion. You will leak lochia like nobody's business. And tight pyjamas not a good idea as you may be sore down below.

And everybody else is right- it takes a looong time to be signed out of hospital. Besides, you don't know, you may not want to go.

Just for clarity, its a hospital and not a prison - you can leave whenever you like! The hospital's paperwork is not your problem. I'm not saying anyone should (I'm not sure I ever would) but I do find it quite liberating to know that I'm there because I choose to be rather than because I've been told.

Similarly, VEs are not compulsory. You may want to accept an offer to have one so that you get some indication of how you're doing, but you don't have to have them purely to fit into the policy at your hospital.

I had a homebirth, but my selection of clothes to give birth in included an old dressing gown, one of DH's old long and baggy T-shirts and my knickers! I actually wore DH's T-shirt and my knickers until I got in the pool (just before transition), at which point I stripped (and suprised myself by how much I didn't want anything on when I got out to actually give birth). I didn't have any VE's.

our hospitals policy is that the infant has to be seen by paeds before leaving and 6 hours have to have passed for mother and childs safety (and tbf, if those things hadn't been insisted on my ds2 could very well be dead)

no it's not a prison but they can make things very difficult for you, make you feel like a psychopath/neglectful mother/suicidal/all of the above. they'd also have an army of HVs and possibly even SWs down n top of you at home if you just walked out the door without being discharged.

also it's hard to be forceful about leaving when your tired and hormonal and being told you're putting your child at risk by leaving. in my case once i've fought for the birth i want, physiological 3rd stage and no vitimin k i'm too bloody tired and sick of argueing to argue about the differance of a few hours

I went in for an elective c-section when I had my DD and was hoping for a private room and a very short stay but got neither! I actually enjoyed being on the ward with other Mums to chat to. I also became one of those Mums who checked her baby was breathing every 5 minutes and found having a midwife to refer to extremely comforting. If you don't get things exactly the way you planned them it's not always so bad! Good luck!

After 5 days of being on a filthy ward I snapped and told them unless the cleaners actually cleaned, I'd clean the place myself. Once DS was given the all-clear, I hung around waiting to be discharged myself but no doctor was available. Eventually I discharged myself at 11pm. I just couldn't face another night there.

I've been back since and the standards of cleanliness have increased dramatically, which might be due to the recent outbreak of norovirus there. All the same, my bag will have antiseptic wipes and spray inside just in case...