What to expect in the hospital after delivery

[Amalee]

I'm really weird about a lot of medical things. I cry in preparation for pelvic exams, cry through them, and want to curl up in the fetal position for hours afterwards because I feel so violated (and I cry some more ). I generally don't take pills until I am bedridden. I am completely uncomfortable with my care being in the hands of anyone else. Naturally, even though I'm super excited about having a baby, pregnancy has made me very anxious more often than usual.

I've been really positive when thinking about getting to spend a day or two holed up in a room with my husband and baby, even though I know I'll be sore, exhausted, and not in my own comfy bed. All of a sudden it hit me that I'd be enjoying that day or two in a hospital surrounded by doctors and nurses! (Clearly, I'm not bright all the time ) So I am trying to figure out what it's like being in the hospital after you go to the recovery/postpartum room. How involved are doctors and nurses? Do you get much privacy with your new family? Will they let you shower, bath, pee, etc independently? Do you breastfeed privately?

If you could let me know what country your from and what type of facility you gave birth in, that would be great! I expect that responses from US/UK/Canada will all be pretty different

Thanks!

 

[modified]

Here, in the UK, if we give birth in the morning we can be home by late afternoon!

But I am the same as you... I'm almost 25 so that's almost 5 years I've avoided smear tests and the only time I'll take something for pain is when I'm sobbing in pain! Don't know how I'll do this

 

[Emily2630]

In the US-- you can expect the nurses will be checking in on you every couple hours. The doctors usually come around once/ day after delivery. Yes you can shower and pee on your own! You should have a fair amount of alone time but there will be medical providers coming in once in a while.

 

[Amalee]

Modified - glad I'm not the only one! Everyone said to me, "Oh, you won't care about that stuff once your pregnant, because then it's for the baby." Nope, still horrible!

Emily - thanks! When nurses check on you, do they just ask how you are and check machines, or do they poke and prod you again? Will they want to watch the baby latch on? Sorry for so many questions, it just seems really uncomfortable.

 

[OurLilFlu]

I'm a postpartum nurse in Canada in a very busy hospital but you can expect to stay usually less than 24 hrs after delivery if vaginal, depending on what time you deliver...
You can expect the nurses to check you often the first couple hours you're on the ward, they will palate your tummy and check your pads. After that usually youre checked up on once or twice a shift
Usually the first time up to the bathroom, in L and D or on the unit, you can expect a nurse to join you to make sure you don't faint, check your bleeding etc and give you a run down on peri bottles, pad changes, hemmorhoids etc
As for breastfeeding, usually the nurse will want to see a good latch at least once but otherwise you can just say its going well and we'll generally leave you alone or if you need to you can ask for some privacy... Of course if the baby is super fussy or every time we come in it's rooting like crazy we'll probably ask to see a feed etc

Hope that gives you an idea...

 

[luna_19]

Baby and I were checked several times on delivery day. He had low blood sugar for a few hours so lots of heel pokes. The nurses did that and also checked my blood pressure and both our temps and pressed on my belly several times that day. Oh and one nurse helped me to the shower and stayed until I was dressed afterwards. After the first day (we were there 4 days because of weight loss) the nurse would come in every 12 hours to check me and baby and the pediatrician would come once a day, the OB never came after I delivered I guess because I was fine. The hospital I was at did rooming in only so we were in our own room with a private bathroom. We were left alone for the most part unless we asked for help.

 

[PugLuvAh]

I gave birth at night (9:15pm). Once I had been cleaned up from the birth we were taking to my private room. The nurses came and checked on the baby every couple of hours all night for his temperature, breathing, weight, etc and to see if I had used the washroom yet (I didn't have an epidural and wanted to know when I peed). Other than those visits, we were left alone to bond as a family.

The next morning was busy: more temperature and weigh checks for baby, breast feeding consultant visit, a nurse to show us how to bathe the baby, hearing test, etc... a bit of a whirlwind. Most of that stuff was out of the way by lunch and we had some nice quiet bonding time until visiting hours started. We chose to let family and friends come, but we didn't have to. We also could have left that day, but chose to stay the extra night so we wouldn't have to be back at the hospital at 6am the next day for another test. The second night was much quieter, with nurses only checking on me and baby once or twice unless I rang for them.

Our hospital also made all new parents take a 1 hour information session on baby care before we left and checked our car seat to make sure the baby was strapped in safely and it wasn't expired.


I'm in Ontario Canada

 

[babybear81]

I've had three births now in the uk in hospital and with all three I was induced and had vaginal deliveries. My first delivery was our son who was stillborn at 32 weeks. I stayed in for 6 hours after delivery but that was my choice to spend some time with out baby before he was taken away. After this birth I was considered high risk so this is why I was induced with my daughters as I wasn't allowed to carry to full term. With my eldest daughter I had GBS so we both had to stay in hospital for 24 hours after birth so my daughter could have hourly obs to check she was ok. I struggled with breast feeding her so I had midwives watching and assisting with breastfeeding whole we were in but no real poking and prodding to me. With my youngest daughter who is 10 weeks old today I gave birth at 20:20pm and left the hospital at 23:15pm the same evening. I was checked for tears after birth, had a shower and had to pass urine and I was then discharged.

 

[minties]

I had two c-sections. Apart from being in theater, I didn't see any doctors after that. All care was provided for by midwives or the odd nurse.

Being stuck in bed, I had a sponge bath after the birth of both, which was mortifying. That was the only time anyone saw me naked or had to touch me though. I showered by myself, breastfed by myself unless I asked for help.

If you have a vaginal birth it should be much less invasive anyway. I don't see why anyone should be bothering you unless you ask them to. I had to have my temp and blood pressure taken every so often so I had midwives coming into the room through the night.

I'm in New Zealand.

 

[mara16jade]

Obviously I haven't given birth yet, but remember you can tell them no to anything you want. I'm not going to BF in front of them, and if they ask to see, I'll tell them I'll call them if I'm having trouble. YouTube correct latch so you can see what it looks like (I know that's not as good as a nurse directing you, but hey, if I wanted to show everyone my bbs I would...but I don't).

And I'm also telling them that the IV will need to be removed ASAP after delivery (so long as I'm stable and OK).

I'm not shy, but I also am NOT comfortable with people seeing me naked or touching. Nope! Just stand your ground, be pleasant and I'm sure the nurses will respect your wishes.

 

[cait]

UK here.

I had a section with DD and stayed for two nights (then i asked to go home).
I stayed on a shared ward with 5 other mums, divided up by curtains that you could close for privacy if desired.

I was checked on by nurses every few hours - blood pressure taken, dressing checked etc. I was breastfeeding and had no problems so was generally left to my own devices (with the knowledge there was help if I wanted it). Doctor visited once a day and asked questions about me and baby.
I was encouraged to use the bathroom and shower (alone) as early as I could. I had to note down urine volumes, but I think that's a post-surgery thing to make sure bladder is ok.
We were shown how to bath baby.

OH was allowed to visit a lot, and there were two other visiting periods for other visitors. There was a rest period after lunch for everyone to nap (if possible).
All the care I received was good but I couldn't wait to get home to my own bed as hospitals can be very bright and noisy, plus I wanted to be with OH full time.

 

[CountryMomma]

I have had two vaginal births at the same hospital and they have a 24 hour rule where they like to keep the baby in for 24 hours after birth to make sure they are eating and doing fine. After the birth the nurse would come check on me a couple times to make sure I wasn't in pain and that I had gone to the bathroom but after that you are pretty much alone. Both of mine I stayed over night obviously and had the baby taken to the nursery for a few hours so I could get some sleep. I would always wake up and go get the baby after a few hours and they let you take them or bring them back as many times as you want. Hubby was able to stay with me the whole time and even had a bed made for him.

 

[Amalee]

Obviously I haven't given birth yet, but remember you can tell them no to anything you want. I'm not going to BF in front of them, and if they ask to see, I'll tell them I'll call them if I'm having trouble. YouTube correct latch so you can see what it looks like (I know that's not as good as a nurse directing you, but hey, if I wanted to show everyone my bbs I would...but I don't).

And I'm also telling them that the IV will need to be removed ASAP after delivery (so long as I'm stable and OK).

I'm not shy, but I also am NOT comfortable with people seeing me naked or touching. Nope! Just stand your ground, be pleasant and I'm sure the nurses will respect your wishes.

How funny, I've been googling latches and helpful tips already too just for that reason! I just don't want to seem like a "problem patient" because I'm so particular, you know?

 

[sequeena]

I'm in the UK and after I gave birth they had to check my son over as he was born with a genetic abnormality. When they were sure he was fine they gave me an injection in my leg to help the placenta come out. They clamped the end of the cord, pulled... and nothing the cord had snapped off the placenta so I spent 40 minutes squatting over a bed pan. I was so close to having to go to theatre and having it manually removed.

After that they stitched me up (took a while I had internal tears along with a second degree tear) and I got tea and toast. I can't remember when I got tea and toast, I'm pretty sure I was bfing Thomas for the first time so it would have been before the placenta thing. I had a shower and was then taken back to the ward. I managed to get a private room as the ward was full. However my after care was pretty abysmal and I had no help with getting my son to bf

I gave birth at 07:42am on a Sunday and was back on maternity by around 12pm. I had to wait until the next morning to be discharged as the pediatrician on call had to cover maternity, nicu and scbu by himself.

I remember them coming in to check my stitches, take my blood pressure etc.

After I was discharged I went to a birthing centre for 1 night where I was taken care of much better and got 1-1 support (I was the only mother there). They got me up every 3 hours to get Thomas to latch. It was tough but I was glad I did it even though I eventually had to go to FF.

 

[mara16jade]

Obviously I haven't given birth yet, but remember you can tell them no to anything you want. I'm not going to BF in front of them, and if they ask to see, I'll tell them I'll call them if I'm having trouble. YouTube correct latch so you can see what it looks like (I know that's not as good as a nurse directing you, but hey, if I wanted to show everyone my bbs I would...but I don't).

And I'm also telling them that the IV will need to be removed ASAP after delivery (so long as I'm stable and OK).

I'm not shy, but I also am NOT comfortable with people seeing me naked or touching. Nope! Just stand your ground, be pleasant and I'm sure the nurses will respect your wishes.

How funny, I've been googling latches and helpful tips already too just for that reason! I just don't want to seem like a "problem patient" because I'm so particular, you know?

Nah, don't worry about it. I have three friends who just had babies in the past 13 months (all hospital and epidural births), and they all said that you can write it in your birth plan and/or tell them they you would prefer to really have a hands off experience unless there is something medically necessary they need to assist with. They even said you can tell the nurses to put a do-not-disturb sign on the door, and nurses will skip most of the "routine" checkups that happen every 2-3 hours.

There's ways around it: They want to make sure you don't pass out while going to the bathroom. OK - I'll have DH, my mom or my sister come in. I'd rather pee in from of them, than random strangers.

They want to make sure the baby latches? Well, its not like they force you. Some women don't BF at all. So I'll just tell them, that I'm not ready at that moment, and if I find I'm having problems - I'll send my Dh to get help. lol

I'm sure after the first few diplomatic, "get out of my hair" comments from you, they'll see you don't want to be fussed over and checked on every 2 hours.

 

[Kess]

I can't offer experiences really as I had a homebirth, but have you considered one yourself if you dislike medical intervention so much? You're less likely to need interventions at home, and it's easier to refuse things like vaginal examinations at home as you're more confident. You would actually be snuggling up in peace with your husband in your own environment.

 

[AC1987]

I'm in the US, and I actually found them to be quite hands off which was nice, well minus the cervix checks done while in labour HATED those omg they hurt so much.. atleast for me
After giving birth, I just remember people rambling at me about infant care and trying to pay attention but being so exhausted I ignored most of it
The next day the nurse came to press my stomach to see if my uterus was shrinking back, and then basically said if I need anything then ask.
And I think the midwife only came once to check my stitches and that was it.

 

[wamommy]

I'm in the US and LOVED all 3 of my hospital stays. FOr me, it was actually comforting to know that there were doctors and nurses right outside the door in case I needed them. I could order food from a menu and the nurses actually changed baby's diaper the first couple of poos! I wished to stay an extra day if I could have!

As for how hands on they are, the only thing they did to me in the 24 hours I stayed after each baby's birth was push on my tummy a little and check my sanitary pad to see that I wasn't bleeding too much. They also did the standard blood pressure and temperature check every couple of hours. The pediatrician came into my room to check the baby and then a hearing tester came in. A lactation consultant asked if I wanted help with my latch (you CAN say no!) and the nurses were incredibly respectful about my privacy and space.

Don't be scared! Anything you aren't comfortable with you can absolutely say No to, but I can't think of one thing that made me uncomfortable, and I'm a bit like you!

 

[mara16jade]

Just curious, since maybe I'm mistaken...

At what point did they remove the IV from your hand if you had one? For some reason I have this thought that they just keep you hooked up until you leave, but I don't see the point of that at all. Hopefully they take it out once you're in recovery?? Fx!!

 

[OurLilFlu]

I'm a postpartum nurse in Canada, for a vaginal delivery usually once you're stable it'll come out so usually a couple hours after delivery as long as your bleeding has been good... For a c-section it's generally 24 hrs... If you need a course of antibiotics it'll stay in for longer but it can be locked off in between doses