How long do you stay in the hospital after giving birth?

I gave birth to my first at 9:30am and was home by 5pm ish same day x

Think if everything is okay it can be the same day, with sections is usually at least overnight x

@Janine ooo okay, so it can be okay to head home the same day! I only wonder as I am not the best sleeper in any bed other than my own 😅

As long as both you and the baby are physically well and they've seen a couple of successful feeds then you can leave. Our NCT instructor suggested staying overnight though

I was in for 3 days due to having sepsis and needing to keep an eye on baby but usually it’s overnight or the same day xx

Yeah! I even had a second degree tear and a lot of stitches 🫣 but the doctor that does all the checks on the baby wasn’t available until the evening so we ended up hanging around longer than we needed and then decided to go home and just go back the next day! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you so much for your responses everyone, just slowly mentally prepping for next month 🥹

It still baffles me that they send us home after 24 hours 😂 in my country it’s 3 days after vaginal and at least 6 days after c section . Here I was send home 24 hours after emergency c section . But came back to the hospital 3 hours later with fever and signs of infection so was kept in for 3 days on IV with antibiotics. This time I don’t care what they say I’m staying at least 2 days to get checked properly before they discharge me as I don’t want to be coming back an fort in case I get infection again 🥲 I just don’t feel like 24 hours is enough for mom and baby to be checked properly

@Nicol I don’t think it’s always been like this which is why I thought I’d ask, my mum reckoned they would keep me in for a day or so but she was going off her last baby which was 27 years ago 😅

I had 2 nights for my section but tbh it was lovely as I got tons of support learning to feed, I washed and dressed and got moving around the ward.

I stayed one night and left hospital about 7pm the next day. Only as my son has a heart condition that had to be cleared by consultant. Otherwise we would have been out the same day x

With a nonproblem delivery it's normally something like 6 hours, if you're a known strep b carrier then it's atleast 12 hours and if you have a section it's minimum of 24 hours . My cousin dropped her 2 eldest off to school went into labor had her 3rd and was back home by the afternoon school run. Now, that was quick

It literally depends on so many things. SO many things. This time round, I will be at hospital for minimum 24 hours as they will be checking baby’s blood glucose levels during that time to make sure she’s ok as I have gestational diabetes. With my first, they kept me in for 3 nights as I was struggling to establish breast feeding and wouldn’t let me go until baby was feeding properly. So many scenarios can have an impact.

I stayed for 2 nights x

First baby I stayed in 2 nights after birth. Mainly so that I could get support with breastfeeding and they were fantastic in the hospital. Felt long at the time, but was so worth it for then having a successful 2 years of breastfeeding.

With my first I had her in a midwife led centre (birthed at 4:40am)but had 2nd degree tear, so got took in ambulance to hospital for stitches and was home 2/3pm after they’d done all of babys checks and I’d showered and eaten ect. With my second I had my water broken at 40 weeks at 5:30pm, she was born at 10:30pm and i had to stay in as I had high blood pressure before giving birth, I stayed in until 12:30/1pm the next day x

Stayed 2 nights for feeding support. Born at 11pm, stayed that night then a full day and night then home about 11am the day after. They wouldn't discharge me the day earlier

My little girl was born 7.46 and I was home by 11pm that same night!

I can’t believe so many people have been sent home same day 😯 We recently did some refresher antenatal classes and it seems it’s policy for our hospital to monitor baby for at least 24 hours after birth, so I can’t imagine anyone leaves same day. With our first I stayed 2 nights but I did have her Tuesday at 916pm, via unplanned section, so I didn’t really expect to be let home until the Thursday earliest. This time I’m hoping we’ll be in Monday (elective section) and out Tuesday but they are encouraging an extra nights stay as it’s an afternoon list on Monday and aren’t keen on turfing people out teatime onwards x

My little one was born at 11.30pm so i was home by 1pm next day, as soon as his checks were done we were off. This time I hope to have my LO in a birthing centre and I've been told there you are home 2 hrs later. It's funny how times have changed as my mam had a week stay with each child. It obviously will completely depend on how the birth goes

@Jodi I'm wanting a midwife led centre birth, this time. Can they not give you stitches on site? I had 2nd degree tears with my first but I had thought only if major complications happened would I need to go to hospital, I didn't realise stitches would also lead to a hospital visit 🙈

With my first we had a straight forward birth, were both all good, and she was born in the morning so we got home the same day. She was born at 7:30am and we got released home that evening around 8pm.

My son and I had an infection after birth with my first because my waters were broken for too long so we stayed 10 days in the hospital. This time I'm going to a midwife centre so won't be staying more than 1 night max, or going same day depending on what time he is born. It feels crazy to me to think we might leave the same day now after last time!

@Amanda yes they can, the midwife wasn’t sure if it was just bad 2nd degree tears or 3rd degree, so she stitched me up but sent to me to hospital anyway, which I’m thankful that she did as the stitches she had done were coming apart by the time I got there😬

With my first, 24 hours as he needed monitering due to PROM. With my second, I had him at 12.10pm.and was home for 4.30pm With my 3rd, 3 days due to monitering blood sugars and then needed antibiotics because of suspected infection. So it varies. But if everything's straight forward , the norm is usually 6 hours to be discharged

I think it may depend on the circumstances. A normal vaginal birth with a healthy baby, you may be able to go home the same day if you're feeling well enough, if it's evening they may allow you to stay in overnight to rest. C-sections are different and they may keep you for a couple of days as they would after any other kind of surgery. If the baby has any complications (eg. Cord around its neck) they may keep baby in for observation to make sure they're breathing okay before they can discharge you.

I had my first baby 7 years ago via emergency c section I stayed 3 nights at the hospital.

Everyone stories with same day or the next day are very interesting. I have 4 kids all born naturally and from my knowledge nothing went wrong in the delivery and kids were fine. But I did stay 3 days for all of them. Honestly I was going stir crazy on day 2 of wanting to go home. Have me questioning why my doctors kept me so long 😭