Do I have to wait to be discharged from hospital after birth?

[freddie]

Hi all!

So I know I am thinking way ahead here but it's playing on my mind... With my last labour/ birth, I stayed at home for as long as I could manage before going into the midwife led unit, laboured in the pool but unfortunately had to have forceps assistance in the end. Anyway... I was very happy with my room in the MLU and the pool experience etc... The only thing is as LO was born at 1 in the morning I had to stay overnight and wait for doctors to check him over etc and discharge me. I didn't get discharged til midday the next day and I hated being in there. It was hot, uncomfortable, lacked privacy. For some reason they looked over their no partner rule and let hubby stay with me but I'm sure I won't be that lucky again and I dread the idea of being there without him... Plus we have my son who I want us to get back to asap.

So... Anyone know what my rights are here? Can I just leave the hospital when I want? Can I bring baby in for a check or can someone come to me the next day or something? How does it work for a home birth, obviously those women don't have to be discharged!!

Sorry for the essay lol.

 

[MindUtopia]

I think technically they like you to wait for 6 hours and the check/discharge, but it's ultimately YOUR choice and you CAN discharge yourself. They can't keep you there and it's absolutely your right to go. But I'd be very upfront with them from the very beginning (put it in your birth plan and remind them when you show up on the day too) so that will hopefully encourage them to get the discharge pushed through as soon as possible. Or at the very least, it alerts them to the fact that you plan to discharge yourself if they don't comply. I'd be prepared for them to be a bit huffy with you for discharging yourself because it just creates extra problems for them to a degree. But as long as you manage their expectations from the start, they may be a bit less grumpy. But it's 100% within your rights to do whatever you want to do. Now, if you had a baby that had a complicated health issue that meant they would advise baby to stay in hospital and you wanted to take him/her with you, you might get some more resistance (but I don't think this is actually what you're talking about).

As for home births, you don't need to be discharged as you aren't in hospital, so it doesn't really apply. There is paperwork to fill out (some of which they do at your home, some of which they probably do back at their office), but it doesn't involve you and they will pretty much leave as soon as you can. I had a home birth and I didn't need to be 'discharged' after my birth as it's just a hospital protocol (I did need to be discharged from midwifery care at the end of 28 days, but that's different). If you have a home birth, you need to arrange the newborn check (sometimes someone will come to your house and do it, but sometimes you have to go to the surgery or hospital). You could probably do that as well if you are ready to go and no one is there to do the check. It might mean a trip back to hospital for you, but better than being stuck there, I think. In my experience, the midwives couldn't evacuate fast enough. They left before I had any help with latching or had a chance to ask any questions and they left so much stuff behind. I was finding syringes and suturing needles and random supplies in weird places around my house for a couple months!

 

[freddie]

Thanks for your reply! Yep definitely not meaning if there was a medical reason for baby or I to stay, then of course I would follow the doctor's orders! But if all goes well and we're both fine, I just wanna get out of there as soon as possible. I hated the post natal ward and didn't sleep a single second in there

I guess I should talk to the community midwife first then and just see how she takes it lol. And as you say make sure it is in my birth plan. It's actually the one thing that's making me ponder a home birth but I don't think that's actually what I want. I don't think that I'd feel confident enough not being within hospital grounds just in case there was an emergency - like last time with needing the forceps, presumably I would have to have been ambulanced into hospital for that? All seems very scary

So MLU it is... Just gotta convince these medical people to let me back out again grrr.

That sounds horrible finding all that stuff afterwards! That's a bit sad that they were in such a rush to leave, or were you happy for them to go?

 

[Irish Eyes]

They obviously have guidelines in place but that's all they are. We left late in the evening less than 4 hours after having him. It was either that or move to the ward without hubby which I wasn't prepared to do. They said the baby doctor wasn't around so I'd have to wait, I told them I'd come back the next day then & she turned up 10 minutes later. We'd had a healthy birth & he wasn't getting the jab or anything so there was nothing to wait for!

 

[Misscalais]

If everything goes well you can ask for early discharge and go home 6 hrs after baby is born. I did with my 2nd bub I actually asked when I was in labour

 

[jenniferttc1]

Oh that sounds lucky to me! I'm in the US though (partners are always allowed to stay) but there is a minimum of 24 hour stay, but they usually make you stay 48 hours. They always find SOMETHING to make you stay there longer. They forced us to stay for 4 days and 3 nights. But then again, the longer people stay, the more money the hospital makes here.

 

[Hevalouaddict]

My friend had her second baby at 1am and was home by 3am just stuck in a taxi and sent off

 

[tristansmum]

Be upfront. You will probably have to self discharge but it's easier if you are upfront to start.my friend had a straightforward birth with her first and left after just 2 hours as her mother was dying in a hospice and she was desperate for her to meet him. She had to self discharge because although the midwives totally understood why she was leaving they couldn't sign her out after such a short time. If a doctor had signed her out and something had happened to her then that doctors registration would have been on the line. They have to cover themselves. Good luck and I hope it all goes well for you x

 

[freddie]

Thanks for the replies ladies... I guess it really depends on what time the birth is as well as to how desperate I will feel to get home. If it is in the middle of the night and I know that my son is sleeping soundly at home I guess I won't feel too anxious about staying a few hours but the idea of leaving him is already plaguing my mind and all I can think of is getting back to him as quick as possible! I've only left him a handful of times and I think the longest I've been away from him is 3 hours... But maybe I will have to accept that the best thing will be for DH to return home to be with him if I have to stay... Argh I wish I know what time it would all happen ha ha so I could plan aaccordingly!! Lol.

 

[minties]

What checks does the doctor do that mean you have to stay?

 

[freddie]

They come round and see the baby, I think last time they did things like checking the hips and they also did a hearing test. Can't remember what else!