Hospital

If you have an uncomplicated birth than you can be out same day. I had an emergency c section and was out the next day, they did offer me another night but I said I’d prefer to go home and that was fine. I was in 5 days total because I had an induction and it was all the induction intervention that took days. If you don’t need an induction then I would definitely turn it down and let nature take its course. You’ll be in hospital a far shorter time x

You can self discharge from hospital, all care is optional! Of course there might be a strong medical-based recommendation to stay, but they should be talking you through why that is so you can decide for yourself. All decisions should be made BY you, not FOR you. If they do have concerns but you still want to go home, you can have a conversation with them about what their risks / concerns are and they can make you aware of any warning signs to look out for so you know if you need to go back in. Have you considered a home birth? I’m having one, partially due to childcare reasons - I don’t want to be away from my daughter for long. Also because it’s got a good evidence base behind it for good health outcomes for the baby (in a low risk pregnancy) and much lower intervention rates and better recovery for the mother. It might not be your thing but thought I’d mention 🙂

Although not recommended. My hospital made some mistakes with my first and the senior midwife on the ward had got me all ready to leave, we had even got our baby in her car seat. Then the doctors came round and said that because of some complications I'd had during birth they wanted me to stay another 24 hours to monitor me. Had my husband not already taken my bags and all that was left to do was walk myself and baby to the car I probably would have said OK being my first and not liking to go against the grain. I got a little upset but they reassured me that I was not a prisoner and I could self discharge. I had to sign a form to do this but was let go within the next 20 minutes. They then put in place some extra checks with the midwife who visited the next day at home to make sure all was well. Not an ideal situation after being stuck in 6 days prior to birth on my own with covid restrictions. X I will also be refusing induction this time.

@Laura Most of the days I was in hospital was due to the induction process and waiting around for a bed in the labour ward. There was no medical need for my induction but it was my first baby and I didn’t know any better. So I am really hoping this time round I can labour at home as much as possible so I can be with my daughter!

@Philippa I was offered self discharge when I had my first but they said they would be keeping my baby which I didn’t feel comfortable with so I stayed. I am more than happy to stay if there is a medical need but I found my last labour, I was there for too many days unnecessarily prior to giving birth because of the induction. I was offered one this time round, I wasn’t with my first. I would like access to pain relief like an epidural should I need it hence why I decided to stick with the hospital but I would like to try labour as much as possible at home! Going to research into it soon!

@Victoria I was told I could go home as I got really upset that I had to stay the night but they would be keeping baby overnight, so I stayed in the end. I was just left and I could have been discharged way sooner but found aftercare to be horrendous and the only nice midwife was the student who was trying her best to get me discharged as I wanted to leave. I will definitely be refusing an induction unless medically necessary! I feel more confident now it’s my second time, definitely felt like they take advantage of first time mums

Luckily their concerns were just for me. My baby didn't need any more monitoring. I think I'd have stayed too if they had said they would keep baby in