# Uk Mums- how long were you in hospital after having your first baby



## Pink87

I just wondered how long people stayed in hospital after having their first baby. I am having my first in December and would have liked a home birth but- long story- I am now having baby in hospital. 

Its not so much giving birth in hospital that bothers me its more the idea of having to stay in, so it would be nice to hear how long other people were in for. Also, I am a bit unsure how I will feel when DH has to leave us at night and being restricted on when he can come and visit us, when if we were at home we would all be together.

I think I might just be worrying about nothing but any thoughts would be appreciated

Thanks for any replies in advance


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## tinkerbelle93

It really depends on what delivery you have, whether you have complications after, how busy the hospital is etc. it really varies! 

In my hospital 1st time mums are usually required to stay for at least one night, regardless of delivery. 2nd time and more mums are usually out the same day. However I do know at some hospitals 1st time mums can be out the same day if they've had an uncomplicated delivery.. really depends! If you have an epidural or a spinal then you're catherised so usually need to stay for a night. If you end up having a c-section then the stay is usually at least 2 nights. Also complications after the birth can make stays longer.

For me, personally, I had an emergency forceps delivery with a spinal and no further complications. I gave birth Sunday morning and was discharged Monday evening. xx


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## lozzy21

6 days :-(. Niamh was born at 35 weeks so we had to stay in 48 hours but then she got poorly so we ended up having to stay in longer. 

If you have a straight forward birth you can be out in 6 hours, however if you want to go home they cannot stop you.


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## Amygdala

I had an unmedicated water birth with my first with no complications other than the placenta being somewhat late so I lost rather more blood than they liked. Despite this, I got to go home after 11 hours. Didn't stay the night and DH never had to leave us. But I think it depends a lot on when you have baby as well. If they're born in the pm, chances are people won't be around to do all the newborn checks etc before the evening, so they'll just keep you in for the night.


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## Lownthwaite

DD was delivered by emergency C-section on a Saturday morning (4:34am) and we were discharged at 9:30pm on the Monday night. :thumbup:


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## Sparklesx

Our little girl was delivered via emcs Monday night, I was out Wednesday night. x


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## Hunbun

We went to hospital at 3am on the Monday and he was born at 10.15am that morning. we were then allowed home at 3.30pm on the Tuesday. 

I had some excess bleeding and other problems though but still it wasn't a really long time I was in for.


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## Lovemybump1

Went into hospital at 6pm Thursday evening. Had my ds just before 1am Friday morning. Was discharged lunchtime on Sunday. Had trouble feeding which is why I stayed longer I think, though I did end up on antibiotics and had lost quite a lot of blood (they had to check my levels straight after birth to decide whether to give me a transfusion. Thankfully didnt need one.

To be honest, though, I'm pleased I stayed in. Before having ds I thought id want to be out ASAP but the support there was amazing.


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## mrsdean2009

Got to hospital at 8am on the Friday morning and was 6cm, didn't give birth till 9:40pm that night.

Was discharged Saturday afternoon and home by 3pm x


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## butterfly_85

I'm going to the birth centre at my local hospital and as long as everything goes ok I can be let out between 3 and 6 hrs after birth.


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## Kirsty.20

Im a 1st time mother & I had my son at a birthing centre, I went in at about quarter to 10 on the Friday morning and me & baby were out by 7.30pm that night :)


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## catty

I gave birth at 11.03pm on tuesday and was out at 4pm on thursday, this was because my baby had a short stay in the neonatal unit due to breathing difficulties I wouldnt have stayed so long if not


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## snowfia

LO was born in the morning and I was home that evening. I would have been home a lot earlier if I didn't have high BP and had to wait for a blood test. I also had the option of staying overnight if I wanted to.


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## Mrs Doddy

They only keep you in if there's complications or they want to monitor you , my baby was 4 weeks early and we were in 3 nights but she had to have tests and wasn't feeding properly so I didn't want to leave


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## geordiemammy

I had my first at 12.34pm Saturday and I discharged myself the next day as the only reason they wanted me to stay was cause they said I wasn't confident enough breast feeding!! But it does depend on the birth I had gbs with my 4th and I had to stay in 48hrs and I have this same with this baby but they say you only need to stay in for 24hrs now to be honest ill be pleased of the time alone with baby cause once I get home ill have him and the other 4 to look after! 

It's not like it used to be though they like you in and out these days so all being well you will be out the next day why do you have to have a hospital birth if you don't mind me asking x


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## sue_88

I had Millie 1:26am on a Thursday, and left at 2pm on the Friday.

I'd had an epidural & catheter so had to be in at least 24hrs


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## Dawnlouise30

I had Isaac at 2:45 am on Saturday and was discharged at 5:30pm on the sunday. He was a forceps delivery with spinal. 
I should not have been discharged that soon though. Isaac was not feeding well, though i had not realised it! ..... I did later realise it was written in my notes that baby struggled to feed but they still discharged me. Day three after he was born we were back in hospital on children's ward cos he lost so much weight. I reluctanly stopped breatsfeeding and really wished if i stayed in hospital i would have got feeding cracked with him!


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## rihanna

I didn't have my LO untill 8.59pm. All straight forward so came home 11am next day


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## CormacksGirl

Lo was delivered @ 3:14 pm on the Monday by emergency forceps with epidural and we were discharged @5:15 pm the following day, so a little over 24 hrs!!!!


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## Prinny

It all does really depend on what delivery you have..for example if things were more complicated you may have to stay longer compared to if everything went straight forward...with my DS he was born in the evening and I went up to the postnatal ward around 9-10pm and was discharged around mid day the next morning...some women get to go literally within 6hours or so (I think it's 6 hours)


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## MindUtopia

I had a home birth, but you can leave after 6 hours, assuming you're otherwise healthy and you can get your baby check done (or convince them you'll take baby to your GP or come back to the hospital for it, if needed). 

If it's your partner staying over that's an issue, in some places you can often get away with having a partner spend the night if you do it discreetly or pay for a private room. I know our hospital has a really nice private room (double bed, nice fluffy duvet, mini fridge for drinks and your own food, nice furniture) which is only about 125 quid a night. Partners are welcome to spend the night with you there. Personally, I think that is SO worth it if you can afford it. Usually it's reserved for elective c-sections because those mums need to have a longer stay, but if it's free, you can book yourself in on the day. 

But you might be able to have your partner stay with you anyway if you have to stay in longer than you'd like. I had to go into hospital several days after my birth (totally unrelated to birth itself, but my daughter had a lot of feeding issues and we needed some extra care to get her eating better). My husband didn't spend every night, but he did stay for a few of them. We had a private room (not like the private kind you have to pay for, just a non-shared room), which had two big comfy chairs and two beds (normal one and a birthing bed). He just wouldn't leave at 10pm when partner visiting hours ended. The midwives would just check in and ask if he was staying. We'd say yes. And they would just smile and shut the door. We tried not to have him out wandering the halls at night and making it obvious he was there, but no one ever asked him to leave or was bothered he was staying. Honestly, most maternity wards are short-staffed enough that I think they probably are glad dads are around to help with things during the overnights, which frees them up to spend more time with birthing women, since most babies are born at night. It definitely made a huge difference having him there.


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## xx~Lor~xx

22 hours. :) at a midwife centre. I delivered my daughter at 3.35pm and was home by 1pm the following day. My second I was home within 24 hours - I would of left the same day but he was born on meconium in the water so he needed to be observed for 12 hours - didn't want to take him home at midnight in January! With my third we left the same day, but not till nearly midnight as she was observed for 12 hours (meconium and water birth) and then it took time to do the paperwork.


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## Loobylola

Depends on your delivery. I had a normal delivery but I couldn't pee after so I had was in from Sunday to Thursday with a catheter. In the hospital I was in if you deliver (uncomplicated) after 12pm you stay in that night until you're discharged the next day. The FOB could visit from 8am till 7pm. Best to find out the visiting times so youre prepared. Good luck :)


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## EstelSeren

I had my daughter at 9:30 am and was out by 12:30 pm the following day! I could have left after 6 hours but chose to stay in so I could get help with feeding if I needed it and so that at least 1 of us could have a good night's sleep before baby came home and the shared sleepless nights began! My husband was welcome to stay, despite visiting hours for dads being 9 am to 9 pm, though I expect that was largely due to the fact that the ward was completely empty apart from us so he wouldn't have been disturbing anyone! It's kind of selfish but I liked having that time just me and my newborn! It was so lovely and peaceful!

Hopefully, I'll be able to get a 6 hour discharge this time though! I can't imagine leaving my toddler for longer than absolutely necessary! :thumbup:

Beca :wave:


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## TwinTV

I was in a week after having my twin boys but I ended up having an emergency section and also one of my boys was underweight so we had to wait in until he gained enough :) Have to say whilst I hated not going home I learnt so much being in hospital, especially as I was a first time mum.


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## Mummy Bean

Just over 24hrs because he had merconium in waters. Also i had an epidural so would have had to stay for 12hrs until i could prove i could walk/pee.


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## fashionqueen

Both of my two friends who had babies in past 8 months had to stay in for 5 days to establish breast feeding. One could have been in there even longer but got fed up and left. She was in a very quiet birthing centre though.


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## Laurenmomma

I had dd at 5.40pm but they were really busy so didnt move onto ward until about 11pm so would have been discharged first thing in the morning however as im rhesus negative I had to wait for babies blood test to come back and wait for the injection which took longer than I had hoped! 

Was still only in for about 24 hours x


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## Rebaby

My local hospital does offer same day discharge but even though I had a natural birth I ended up staying in for 5 days following the birth first time round as my waters had been broken for over 18hrs before my son was born and his blood results showed the possibility of an infection so he was started on antibiotics. His blood cultures came back clear after 48hrs though so antibiotics were stopped and we were discharged. I hated having to stay in and got quite teary about it a few times.

I had my second baby at home so it was a completely different experience.


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## Beaney192

Little man was born at 3.40 am. Was discharged at 3pm the same day.with my 2nd I gave birth at 4.55 am and was out by 4pm the same day. Xx


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## ChiiBaby

I was out after 12 hours of having my #1 and i did have her at 1:49am


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## PearDrops20

Isaac was born at 3:20pm and we were out by half 7 :)


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## Bevziibubble

I stayed in for two days as I needed a blood transfusion


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## Clarabell543

I had an emcs just before midnight.. stayed the following night and was home the following afternoon


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## Miniamo

Baby born 3.30pm and out by 2pm the next day. Had epidural so had to wait for catheter out etc but think It wouldn't have made much difference to discharge time. LO was quite small and had to wait for be body temp to stabilise a bit before they let me go home too.


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## liz1985

My hospital policy is as long as no complications and if you've seen a doctor you only have to stay 6 hours. So if you had a straight forward birth and gave birth early enough in the dsy to see a doctor you wouldnt have to stay in. I was in for night as I had meconium in my waters so lo was under observation plus I tore really bad so had to stay in for that as well. Check your hospital policy because at mine partners can stay 24/7 but I know they are all different.


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## Cariad_x

I was in nearly 5 days but LO had severe jaundice and was under double phototherapy. Plus we were both on IV antibiotics due to me developing an infection during labour.


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## Storm1jet2

2 nights - I had meconium stained waters and my heart rate went whacky - I REALLY want out in 6 hours this time - I HATED the ward in the hospital and didn't get any sleep at all.......... *sigh*


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## Rhi_Rhi1

It does depend when you have your baby.. if you deliver late at night, you will have to spend the night etc until a doctor sees you in the morning, I had a quick 5 hour labour but still had to stay in, because I got up to the ward at 9pm :/ and omg it took soooo long to get out the next day, you start to feel like a right pest "can i go now" "have u filled in the forms" someone keeps coming by to tell you that you can go as soon as your papers are done and it takes HOURS lol

the worst part is being alone, because i had lo so late it was literally a case of... okay bugger off now family :/ which was horrible and I just sat there alone in the dark with my newborn :/ in a room with 4 other women. The girl in the bed next to me was a nightmare, typical chav she kept mouthing off and she was stuck there waiting for the hospital social worker to release her :/ eeeekk


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## Bex84

I had LO at 6.18 am and then went home next morning, I do know some people in a different area who went home 6hrs after birth.


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## RaspberryK

I was in the process of having a home birth and ended up going to hospital as the midwife let me and said I wasn't in active labour or some old rubbish. 
We arrived at around 3.30am, bubs born 4.07am, He fed, I had toast and hot choc, I had a shower and we were discharged before 7amTHE SAME DAY! 

x


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## stephaniexx

I was in for 2 days after the birth but only because the snow was so bad no-one including the midwives wanted to risk the roads lol!


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