After giving birth.......what happens?

[Lovemybump1]

There seems to be lots of information about labour and birth, but what happens immediately after birth? I know it depends on the type of birth you have but what are your experiences? How long are you in delivery? If you give birth in the early hours do you go straight to the ward or wait until next morning? How long can dh stay with you? If you give birth at say 11pm, and visiting isnt until 9am does that mean no visitors at all (parents etc) until visiting?

Thank you in advance for your answers. I'm in the UK x

 

[Eleanor ace]

This was my experience:
Had DS at 6.20am. Had about an hour (I can't really remember) in the delivery room where we had skin to skin time, DS got checked and weighed, I delivered the placenta and my tears got checked. Then we waited there for a surgeon to come and see me and I signed papers to go to theatre to get stitched up. I was in theatre for about an hour, DH stayed in the delivery room with DS. Then I got moved to recovery for about an hour and DH and DS were there too.
After that, at about 10ish we got moved to the ward. DH was allowed to stay as it was visiting time. I think if it had been outside of visiting times we'd have stayed in the delivery room for a while (depending on whether they needed the room for someone in labour or not) and then DH would have had to have left once I got moved to the ward. They are strict on no visitors on the ward outside of visiting time, even if its OH and you've just delivered. Which is fair enough I guess as it wouldn't be fair on the other ladies on the ward who are trying to sleep.

 

[PaiytonsMummy]

You usually stay on delivery for a couple of hours, maybe having skin to skin, or having a stitches if you tore. Then the will send hubby home (if it's night), when you are moved onto ward. The midwifes usually offer you tea and toast, or a meal depending on the time of day.
I went to theater after both my children were born (due to bad tearing), so i'm just going off what has happened when I've been to friends births.

 

[sophie22]

I gave birth just after 6am and I was on the ward by 9am. I think this was a bit longer than usual as my son was very poorly and I had a temperature for a bit and didn't feel good. I also had an epidural and before they send you to the ward they want you to have shower or bath. There is an actual time limit they have from delivery to get you on the ward but I can't remember what that is. When on delivery your partner can stay the whole time, when on the ward there are visiting hours but since I was already in that slot when I got there he could stay. There will be a margin for being reasonable though I'm sure, I mean if you were moved to the ward and it was an hour away from visiting time I'm sure they would let your partner stay, it would be rather harsh not to!
Immediately after delivery there would be delivering the placenta but also skin to skin with baby and feeding. It was different for me as he was taken to special care but from working on labour ward I know they like to leave you maybe an hour to have a bit of time together, and in the time you would need a wash and checks lie blood pressure and bloods done etc

 

[PaiytonsMummy]

Oh, and i'm not sure how your hospital works, but in the hospital i gave birth in, the baby's father was allowed to stay from 11am until 6pm at night. He were asked to leave for a hour or so while i slept, but other than that it was great having him there.
That's if you have to stay in hospital for any reason.

 

[sophie22]

Oh, and i'm not sure how your hospital works, but in the hospital i gave birth in, the baby's father was allowed to stay from 11am until 6pm at night. He were asked to leave for a hour or so while i slept, but other than that it was great having him there.
That's if you have to stay in hospital for any reason.

I think with your first you do have to stay in but after that you can get a 6 hour discharge if there weren't any complications as long as you didn't have an epidural

 

[Lovemybump1]

Thank you I'm someone who like to have total control of things and obviously this is something I will have no control over so I want as much information as possible so that I understand what is going on!x

 

[iwantabub]

At my hospital my dh is staying all night time... some have queen beds.so u can both sleep there but ours just has a sleeping reclining chair so he will be staying all night until mum gets there the next day

 

[CatherineK]

I'm not UK, but for US posters who are curious, my experiences: after a vaginal birth you have bonding time with you baby for an hour or so with your family, then any tests are performed on baby that are necessary (this can be done in labor room). Then after a couple hours, you are moved to a private recovery room where your husband/partner etc can stay with you for entire stay. At various times docs and your nurse will Check on you and baby (bleeding, make sure uterus is shrinking, etc). At this point (24 hours after birth or so)your pediatrician (or a hospital one, if you don't have one) will check baby as well. Your doctor will pop in every once in a while too. My hospital doesn't keep to visiting hours, you can have guests whenever, but only four at a time "after hours". Siblings can come and stay whenever.
Discharge is normally 48 hours or so after birth, although some people leave sooner. I prefer being lazy and enjoying room service, maid service, etc for two full days while I focus on new baby!

 

[PaiytonsMummy]

Yeah that's usually the case Sophie, although with my first I discharged myself the same day. I was young and silly and regretted it once i was home. With DS i stayed two days and the rest was brilliant.

 

[sophie22]

I'm not UK, but for US posters who are curious, my experiences: after a vaginal birth you have bonding time with you baby for an hour or so with your family, then any tests are performed on baby that are necessary (this can be done in labor room). Then after a couple hours, you are moved to a private recovery room where your husband/partner etc can stay with you for entire stay. At various times docs and your nurse will Check on you and baby (bleeding, make sure uterus is shrinking, etc). At this point (24 hours after birth or so)your pediatrician (or a hospital one, if you don't have one) will check baby as well. Your doctor will pop in every once in a while too. My hospital doesn't keep to visiting hours, you can have guests whenever, but only four at a time "after hours". Siblings can come and stay whenever.
Discharge is normally 48 hours or so after birth, although some people leave sooner. I prefer being lazy and enjoying room service, maid service, etc for two full days while I focus on new baby!

I wish it was like that here! Sounds lovely! But then we get it free so I can't complain really lol

 

[LoraLoo]

Similar to what the other uk ladies have said. You'll have to wait to deliver the placenta (how long this takes depends, the injection usually speeds it up but not everyone chooses this) You'll then get chance to have skin to skin contact, breastfeeding if you choose. Baby will then be taken to be weighed, checked over, dressed etc. You will be able to go for a shower and have a bite to eat, then usually moved to the Maternity ward after a couple of hours. If you have a decent midwife she may let hubby stay half an hour or so even if its out of visiting hours.

Our hopsital used to have open hours for Dads from 10am til 8pm but they no longer do this As they have to have protected mealtimes. So at ours its 10-12am then 2-5pm then 6-8pm for partners only. Friends and other family can visit 3pm-4pm and 7pm-8pm which is really confusing and not really well thought through imo.

 

[sophie22]

Similar to what the other uk ladies have said. You'll have to wait to deliver the placenta (how long this takes depends, the injection usually speeds it up but not everyone chooses this) You'll then get chance to have skin to skin contact, breastfeeding if you choose. Baby will then be taken to be weighed, checked over, dressed etc. You will be able to go for a shower and have a bite to eat, then usually moved to the Maternity ward after a couple of hours. If you have a decent midwife she may let hubby stay half an hour or so even if its out of visiting hours.

Our hopsital used to have open hours for Dads from 10am til 8pm but they no longer do this As they have to have protected mealtimes. So at ours its 10-12am then 2-5pm then 6-8pm for partners only. Friends and other family can visit 3pm-4pm and 7pm-8pm which is really confusing and not really well thought through imo.

I agree on the not well thought out times! All I wanted to do was sleep, and if it wasn't midwives doing checks or trying to literally milk me like a cow, it was meal times or visiting for other family and friends! It was impossible to recover before going home!

 

[LoraLoo]

Similar to what the other uk ladies have said. You'll have to wait to deliver the placenta (how long this takes depends, the injection usually speeds it up but not everyone chooses this) You'll then get chance to have skin to skin contact, breastfeeding if you choose. Baby will then be taken to be weighed, checked over, dressed etc. You will be able to go for a shower and have a bite to eat, then usually moved to the Maternity ward after a couple of hours. If you have a decent midwife she may let hubby stay half an hour or so even if its out of visiting hours.

Our hopsital used to have open hours for Dads from 10am til 8pm but they no longer do this As they have to have protected mealtimes. So at ours its 10-12am then 2-5pm then 6-8pm for partners only. Friends and other family can visit 3pm-4pm and 7pm-8pm which is really confusing and not really well thought through imo.

I agree on the not well thought out times! All I wanted to do was sleep, and if it wasn't midwives doing checks or trying to literally milk me like a cow, it was meal times or visiting for other family and friends! It was impossible to recover before going home!

I found it really hard last time. I was in for 3 days as baby needed antibiotics, so I told hubby to just go to work instead of wasting his paternity leave. Seemed pointless as he could do the 2 hours in the morning, but the 2-5pm visit was useless as the other children needed picking up from school at 3.30pm, and at night he could only visit an hour as our daughters bedtime was 7pm and you just couldnt keep her awake later. So my Mum and sister had to juggle the school run and looking after my daughter, with visits to me. It meant i hardly got any visitors at all which was a bit depressing!

 

[charlieworld]

I just checked out my local hospital.
I'm having a section, so the first 24hours will be on a consultant ward, then if all clear, probably transfer to post natal maternity ward where husband can visit 9am - 8pm (excluding mealtimes).

 

[sophie22]

Similar to what the other uk ladies have said. You'll have to wait to deliver the placenta (how long this takes depends, the injection usually speeds it up but not everyone chooses this) You'll then get chance to have skin to skin contact, breastfeeding if you choose. Baby will then be taken to be weighed, checked over, dressed etc. You will be able to go for a shower and have a bite to eat, then usually moved to the Maternity ward after a couple of hours. If you have a decent midwife she may let hubby stay half an hour or so even if its out of visiting hours.

Our hopsital used to have open hours for Dads from 10am til 8pm but they no longer do this As they have to have protected mealtimes. So at ours its 10-12am then 2-5pm then 6-8pm for partners only. Friends and other family can visit 3pm-4pm and 7pm-8pm which is really confusing and not really well thought through imo.

I agree on the not well thought out times! All I wanted to do was sleep, and if it wasn't midwives doing checks or trying to literally milk me like a cow, it was meal times or visiting for other family and friends! It was impossible to recover before going home!

I found it really hard last time. I was in for 3 days as baby needed antibiotics, so I told hubby to just go to work instead of wasting his paternity leave. Seemed pointless as he could do the 2 hours in the morning, but the 2-5pm visit was useless as the other children needed picking up from school at 3.30pm, and at night he could only visit an hour as our daughters bedtime was 7pm and you just couldnt keep her awake later. So my Mum and sister had to juggle the school run and looking after my daughter, with visits to me. It meant i hardly got any visitors at all which was a bit depressing!

Same as me, had to stay in three days for his antibiotics and its was just awful!

 

[CupcakeBaby]

This is what I'm hoping to happen after my baby's birth, based on what I was told at the hospital and then my preferences added to that:

Baby comes out
Placed onto my tummy/chest
Once cord stops pulsating they'll cut that
I want her on me for at least an hour and until she's fed,
Then she can be weighed (not going to wash her) and DH can dress her and cuddle her
I'll have a bath.
We'll snuggle some more.
My hosptal said you get about 3 hours befor you're moved to the ward.
If it's not Dad visiting hours (10am-10pm) then he has to go after 15 minutes
Our visitng hours for anyone who's not the dad are 3-4pm and 7-8pm only.

 

[izzlesnizzle]

I had an emcs at 8pm, was in recovery by 9pm and on the ward by 10pm with my little baby in my arms. DH stayed til about 11 then went to his parents house in a complete daze coz he didn't want to be on his own, bless him! And I was left just me and the baby in a bay with the curtains around us. Its surreal when its just suddenly you and the baby on your own and all the attention from multiple people involved in the labour and birth are suddenly gone and you're like "oh ok, errr, what do I do now?" Lol. I put her in her crib next to my bed and just looked at her for ages while she looked back at me quietly, then she cried and I thought oh erm what should I do? Oh i'll feed her haha. Its a lovely time, just the two of you but you cant wait for your OH to get back and when they walk onto the ward the next morning for the first time, you suddenly look at them in a new light, like hes the father of my baby wow!

 

[Athena]

I heard from my SIL that if you pay for a private room (about £100) you can have visitors in there outside of the hours, she did anyway, how true it is I don't know as I didn't have the option when I had my two. This time I'm going to a Midwife Led Unit and I believe they let DH stay with you in a double bed if you have baby at night.

 

[Athena]

I had an emcs at 8pm, was in recovery by 9pm and on the ward by 10pm with my little baby in my arms. DH stayed til about 11 then went to his parents house in a complete daze coz he didn't want to be on his own, bless him! And I was left just me and the baby in a bay with the curtains around us. Its surreal when its just suddenly you and the baby on your own and all the attention from multiple people involved in the labour and birth are suddenly gone and you're like "oh ok, errr, what do I do now?" Lol. I put her in her crib next to my bed and just looked at her for ages while she looked back at me quietly, then she cried and I thought oh erm what should I do? Oh i'll feed her haha. Its a lovely time, just the two of you but you cant wait for your OH to get back and when they walk onto the ward the next morning for the first time, you suddenly look at them in a new light, like hes the father of my baby wow!

That's just lovely, those first few hours together just you and your baby are the most special. I didn't have a DH with my first two so I can't wait to have that feeling this time