Discussions

My first I stayed for 5 days, second for 3 days and third was 2 days. No complications for any and it really depends on how you and baby are doing after birth. All mine were born here so I have nothing to compare to, but everyone on the maternity ward at the hospital is great and I never had any problems.

3 days, 2 nights  
 
The stay was fine, the nurses were really good (you get the odd grumpy one), they feed you (it's not a gourmet meal).  
 
Be prepared for a lot of interruptions in your room throughout the stay... Nurses, doctors, cleaners, lab staff taking blood, etc. All necessary interruptions though.  
 

Your baby must reach certain milestones so depends on how they do. I stayed for 2 nights for my one and only child.

day after the baby is born providing you and baby are both healthy and have pooped etc. unless you're a c-section, then you'll be there for 3-5 days after.

Recent Pregnancy 1 night: Had a high-risk pregnancy, birth went well, baby healthy, asked Dr to let me out next day. Could take care of myself and baby better at home than continue not napping/attempting to nap on a stiff bed. Dr adhered with my request wrote instructions and scripts for me, and off we went. Mind you had no tears.  
 
Last pregnancy, 3 nights: high risk pregnancy, was kept over the weekend, wanted to go home, Dr on-call would not let me go home and could not get an AMA form(to leave against medical advice).  
 
I saw it as a waste of health care dollars to have me in the hospital if I can do everything the nurses there can do, at home and someone who is not able to do this, would benefit best from my spot.  
 
Besides, having public health nurses check in is less invasive. They are a friendly lot.

First baby. Ended up with a c section. Was in hospital for 2 days.

I was in the hospital for 28 hours after I had my first baby. I was feeling good and baby was healthy and nursing well so they let us go. We enjoyed the stay, the nurses were so nice and very helpful!

It totally depends on you and the baby. If it is a routine, uncomplicated birth, and you and baby are totally fine after, then usually 2 nights is all they'll keep you for your first baby.  
If you have a c-section, baby isn't feeding well, or is jaundice, you are having issues, etc., this could make your stay longer.  
I'd say to be prepared for 2-3 nights since it is your first, and if you get to leave sooner, bonus.  
 
As for the stay itself......the beds are awful, unless you have a c-section and then you get a regular bed. I slept in the chair, and made my husband sleep in the bed. LOL! Some people don't mind the food, I thought it was disgusting. You can always just bring in what you prefer to eat though too. The food in the nutrition rooms is better than what they send you on the trays. As another poster said, there is a lot of interruptions, but they are all necessary, and you wont be able to sleep properly anyways, so I never minded the nurses coming in and out, because they would visit with you a bit as well, and then it didn't feel so lonely.

I was in for a week after my baby. It was a caesarean and my baby had a bit of jaundice but other than that Im not sure why I had to stay so long.

Maybe things have changed in the past 7 years, but I have never stayed more than 2 nights, the first night I am usually up all night delivering the baby.  
 
I find they are awesome and helpful as long as you are still pregnant but after the baby arrives they basically abandoned me so instead of getting rest I end up exhausted, tired, and overwhelmed. I was often up until 3 or 4 am walking, rocking and trying to adjust to a baby who won't sleep or nurse or settle. I felt abandoned and alone while the nurses listened to her screaming for hours from across the hall. They would not ask if I needed help. When I went to the desk or used the call button, they said they can't really do anything to help but cautioned me not to bring my baby into my bed or use a pacifier.  
 
I think unless you or the baby have issues it is so much easier to rest and recover at home. Hopefully you will have your partner or someone else to help you those first few days, because you will need rest and the hospital is no place for that. It is often loud, bright and busy. The trend these days seems to be 'rooming in' to allow the baby and mother to bond and encourage successful breastfeeding. But that also means they leave you to do all of the feeding, holding, changing, and comforting. That can be exhausting if your baby is having trouble adjusting to life outside the womb. My babies never your baby slept quietly in a little bundle, so I didn't have much rest. One morning a volunteer came in to hold my (finally sleeping) baby for 15 minutes while I had a shower and I could have kissed her. I understand why staff can be spread thin but I sure would have liked to see the baby-holding volunteer at 3 am!  
 
I hope things swing back in the direction of actually allowing mothers to rest and recover while helping them through the first hours/days with their new baby - but until then make sure you have someone available to come and help you out so you can at least shower in peace or catch a few hours of sleep. My babies really only slept during the day and thankfully nobody dropped in to visit so I was sometimes able to catch up on sleep a little bit.

Starhc said "Maybe things have changed in the past 7 years, but I have never stayed more than 2 nights, the first night I am usually up all night delivering the baby.     I find they are awesome and helpful as long as you are still pregnant but after the baby arrives they basically abandoned me so instead of getting rest I end up exhausted, tired, and overwhelmed. I was often up until 3 or 4 am walking, rocking and trying to adjust to a baby who won't sleep or nurse or settle. I felt abandoned and alone while the nurses listened to her screaming for hours from across the hall. They would not ask if I needed help. When I went to the desk or used the call button, they said they can't really do anything to help but cautioned me not to bring my baby into my bed or use a pacifier.     I think unless you or the baby have issues it is so much easier to rest and recover at home. Hopefully you will have your partner or someone else to help you those first few days, because you will need rest and the hospital is no place for that. It is often loud, bright and busy. The trend these days seems to be 'rooming in' to allow the baby and mother to bond and encourage successful breastfeeding. But that also means they leave you to do all of the feeding, holding, changing, and comforting. That can be exhausting if your baby is having trouble adjusting to life outside the womb. My babies never your baby slept quietly in a little bundle, so I didn't have much rest. One morning a volunteer came in to hold my (finally sleeping) baby for 15 minutes while I had a shower and I could have kissed her. I understand why staff can be spread thin but I sure would have liked to see the baby-holding volunteer at 3 am!     I hope things swing back in the direction of actually allowing mothers to rest and recover while helping them through the first hours/days with their new baby - but until then make sure you have someone available to come and help you out so you can at least shower in peace or catch a few hours of sleep. My babies really only slept during the day and thankfully nobody dropped in to visit so I was sometimes able to catch up on sleep a little bit. "

I don't think I ever had an experience quite like this. I can agree that some of the nurses can be miserable, and unwilling to lend a hand, and you definitely get more help with your first baby, but you are pretty much abandoned right after birth if it's your second, third, and so on.  
 
Why would you want it any other way but rooming in for the baby? It is best for the baby and the mother. After all, you wont be getting 24/7 help once you are at home. Gotta learn how to do it all on your own. Balancing sleep, feeding, diaper changes, etc. is all part of having a baby. I don't think it will ever go back to the days where there was a nursery for the babies, and mother's basically got pampered for a week in hospital while nurses looked after the baby. It hasn't even been 100 years since women used to just deliver at home and get right back to life within hours of the baby being born. I don't know where it was ever thought up to keep the mother in a hospital for a week, and basically look after the baby for her so she could recover. Unless there are major complications, and you or the baby is not doing well, there is no need to be there any longer than about a day. I was only in for 24 hours except for with my first, I was there for a week because my c-section did not go well, and I was too sick to go home.  
 
I found with all of my kids there was enough help when I really needed it. If baby stayed up all night cluster feeding, they'd bring a swing to my room so baby could be occupied while I slept, etc. I also had my husband there though, so we just took turns doing things like diapers, etc. The nurses also watch how much family support you are getting while there. If you have lots of family visiting, and willing to help out and sit with baby while you shower, the nurses don't help out so much. But if they know you are all alone, they are always willing to help.

I stayed 2 nights with my son. We were only kept an extra night so that my son could have his circumcision done. I personally like the fact that the nurses didn't "hover". I in no way felt abandoned after giving birth, the nurses made sure I was comfortable and went over a couple new things, first diaper change, first bath, etc. But after that my fiance and I were allowed to do things on our own, which I absolutely loved. I was 22 when I had my son, and no matter how prepared you are, it's scary, so I appreciated the fact that the nurses let us be get into our swing of things, but were always available if we did have a question

Starhc said "Maybe things have changed in the past 7 years, but I have never stayed more than 2 nights, the first night I am usually up all night delivering the baby.     I find they are awesome and helpful as long as you are still pregnant but after the baby arrives they basically abandoned me so instead of getting rest I end up exhausted, tired, and overwhelmed. I was often up until 3 or 4 am walking, rocking and trying to adjust to a baby who won't sleep or nurse or settle. I felt abandoned and alone while the nurses listened to her screaming for hours from across the hall. They would not ask if I needed help. When I went to the desk or used the call button, they said they can't really do anything to help but cautioned me not to bring my baby into my bed or use a pacifier.     I think unless you or the baby have issues it is so much easier to rest and recover at home. Hopefully you will have your partner or someone else to help you those first few days, because you will need rest and the hospital is no place for that. It is often loud, bright and busy. The trend these days seems to be 'rooming in' to allow the baby and mother to bond and encourage successful breastfeeding. But that also means they leave you to do all of the feeding, holding, changing, and comforting. That can be exhausting if your baby is having trouble adjusting to life outside the womb. My babies never your baby slept quietly in a little bundle, so I didn't have much rest. One morning a volunteer came in to hold my (finally sleeping) baby for 15 minutes while I had a shower and I could have kissed her. I understand why staff can be spread thin but I sure would have liked to see the baby-holding volunteer at 3 am!     I hope things swing back in the direction of actually allowing mothers to rest and recover while helping them through the first hours/days with their new baby - but until then make sure you have someone available to come and help you out so you can at least shower in peace or catch a few hours of sleep. My babies really only slept during the day and thankfully nobody dropped in to visit so I was sometimes able to catch up on sleep a little bit. "

Should have thought a little bit more about how to care for a baby before you had them? How can you expect the staff to look after your baby? Is that not your job as the mother? Have you thought about hiring a babysitter yo come stay with you in hospital? Or maybe the father of the baby???

One night trying induction and under 24/7 watch for high blood pressure. C section the following morning, and we left the hospital about 48 hours later. Nursing was going well, and blood pressure was coming down nicely.  
 
Nursing staff was excellent, all around.

1st baby I was in for 2 days but baby was there for 5 days so I had to come back every 2 hours for feeds. 2nd was 1 day. And 3rd was less than 24 hrs. I could of gone home 6 hours after having my 3rd baby but it would of been 11pm so decided to stay the night. Honestly if you and baby are healthy the sooner you go home the better. You will get more sleep and be more relaxed in your own home. The nurses were always wonderful when I was there.

I had a midwife with the last 2 pregnancies. So being able to go home 6 hrs after probably had alot to do with the fact that they can come check on you at home.

itsalwaysunny said "    Starhc said "Maybe things have changed in the past 7 years, but I have never stayed more than 2 nights, the first night I am usually up all night delivering the baby.     I find they are awesome and helpful as long as you are still pregnant but after the baby arrives they basically abandoned me so instead of getting rest I end up exhausted, tired, and overwhelmed. I was often up until 3 or 4 am walking, rocking and trying to adjust to a baby who won't sleep or nurse or settle. I felt abandoned and alone while the nurses listened to her screaming for hours from across the hall. They would not ask if I needed help. When I went to the desk or used the call button, they said they can't really do anything to help but cautioned me not to bring my baby into my bed or use a pacifier.     I think unless you or the baby have issues it is so much easier to rest and recover at home. Hopefully you will have your partner or someone else to help you those first few days, because you will need rest and the hospital is no place for that. It is often loud, bright and busy. The trend these days seems to be 'rooming in' to allow the baby and mother to bond and encourage successful breastfeeding. But that also means they leave you to do all of the feeding, holding, changing, and comforting. That can be exhausting if your baby is having trouble adjusting to life outside the womb. My babies never your baby slept quietly in a little bundle, so I didn't have much rest. One morning a volunteer came in to hold my (finally sleeping) baby for 15 minutes while I had a shower and I could have kissed her. I understand why staff can be spread thin but I sure would have liked to see the baby-holding volunteer at 3 am!     I hope things swing back in the direction of actually allowing mothers to rest and recover while helping them through the first hours/days with their new baby - but until then make sure you have someone available to come and help you out so you can at least shower in peace or catch a few hours of sleep. My babies really only slept during the day and thankfully nobody dropped in to visit so I was sometimes able to catch up on sleep a little bit. " Should have thought a little bit more about how to care for a baby before you had them? How can you expect the staff to look after your baby? Is that not your job as the mother? Have you thought about hiring a babysitter yo come stay with you in hospital? Or maybe the father of the baby??? "

It takes weeks/months to recover from child birth, and the first 12-24 hours are not easy for most people. You don't just spring out of bed fully refreshed and feeling awesome after having a baby, there's lots of other stuff going on with your body that is probably TMI for this discussion.  
 
New moms are sometimes in for a rough ride,so it really is a good idea to have someone available to help you out for a few hours. I obviously found the overnight stays to be the worst part, but it is so much easier if you are not alone. Or if your baby sleeps - none of mine did until they got home!  
 
With my first kids, my husband was not even allowed to stay overnight with me in the hospital in Brandon. He was told to get a hotel or go home. Thankfully, that has changed and the last time he was given a comfortable recliner to sleep in - as others mentioned, more comfortable than my bed so I kicked him out and rested there sometimes.  
 
Many people hire a doula who is there to support the mother during pregnancy, childbirth and then in the first few days/weeks of motherhood. I think this is a great idea, especially for first-time moms.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I can't get quoting to work properly, but I also wouldn't ever want to return to the old days with nurseries, etc either. I think we've made a lot of progress that way. Doulas and midwives have excellent ways to prepare and support new mothers in those first few days, while still keeping new babies and moms together.  
 
I agree that as long as you and the baby are healthy, the sooner you get home, the better. I'd be one of those 'home after 6 hours' people if I could be.  
 
Edited by Starhc, 2016-01-07 15:57:02

I found the nurses were amazing after giving birth! (Not during labour though! I had a miserable woman that was a horrid witch). When baby would cry in the night, they would come in and ask if I needed help or offer to take baby for a while so I could get some sleep. I took them up on that offer once but rang them after 10 minutes to bring her back cause I missed her! They helped me go to the bathroom and with breastfeeding. If I ever used the call bell, they came right away and were always very helpful. I cannot say enough good things about the post-partum nurses. And all beds were full so they were busy! I had my babe 2 years ago.