Average hospital stay length

lauriedupuis · June 2012

This will be a specific question to my midwife next appointment (forgot to ask last week), but I'm curious what the average hospital stay length is after a natural, no complications birth?

bdutton0005 · June 2012

Here it is about 48 hours ( I think it depend the time yuo deliver, I delivered at 11pm on Wed and we left Friday at 5ish) for a vaginal.

amber323 · June 2012

My MW's discharge after 3 hours and you can stay a max of 24hrs with no complications and no interventions.

Holly_1007 · June 2012

I believe it is 24 hours because that is when they do the hearing test (and maybe one other test?) on the newborn, and you can be discharged after that.

that's what I'm hoping for at least!

perplexed59 · June 2012

After a normal birth no complications 3 hours, or when the paper work is done.

RissKay · June 2012

A hospital will usually keep you for up to 48 hours after the baby is born, but you can always ask to be discharged earlier and sign to be discharged as early as when the paperwork is done!

kaeti_su · June 2012

I don't know what the standard is, but I think we stayed 2 nights. We could have left earlier (and actually, a couple staffers asked us if we were planning on staying a second night), but we decided to stay those 2 nights (had DD at 9 am). I had no pain medication, and there were no complications other than DD passing meconium before birth and having an elevated temperature (not a fever) for a few hours on the second night.

MrsAlliP · June 2012

I had two natural births in a hospital with no complications for me or baby. The normal procedure for my midwives and hospital was two nights in the hospital after the baby is born. For me, both my girls were born early morning so we stayed that day and night, the next day and night, and went home that third morning. My sister used the same midwives and hospital and had a shorter stay because she delivered just before midnight so that counted as her first night. She was there the next day and night and went home the following day. My midwives would consider going home sooner, but we were okay with the length of the stay.

LaurelBee · June 2012

My hospital is 2 days for healthy vaginal delivery. (But I think it mostly depends on what your insurance will cover.) I didn't realize going home early was an option. But I was a scared newbie, so I probably wouldn't have wanted to go home anyway!

canoz · June 2012

With DS, the hospital stay was based on whether you were a FTM or STM. FTM and healthy vaginal birth was 24 to 48 hrs depending on how mom and baby were coping and how full L&D was. For STM and healthy vaginal birth it was 12 to 24 hrs. I was out in 12 hours as a FTM but they weren't exactly pleased with it.

lauriedupuis · June 2012

Thanks! Interesting to see all the variation. My insurance does cover 48 hours of stay, but I was hoping to be leaving sooner rather than later. I'm sure my midwife will be on board with that based on her philosophies overall, but I was curious if there was a 'standard' out there.

dosafyre · June 2012

we left after 24hrs with dd#2...they said that's how long we had to wait for the first pku test.

AmyRI · June 2012

Insurance states 48 hours. OB would have signed me out after 24 if I had asked, maybe sooner, but she likes at least 24 hours. I didn't mind being in the hospital with #1 because we were having trouble breastfeeding and it was good to have the LC's help. I delivered DS at 8:15am on Wednesday and discharged at 2ish pm on Friday (so a little over 48 hours - I just had to be out by dinnertime on Friday or I had to pay OOP for that night).

This time, I will be much more confident in my ability to breastfeed and care for a newborn, and we want to get home to DS. However, we do plan to stay the requested 24 hours.

sschwege · June 2012

24-48 hrs. 10:00pm was 24 hours, so we stayed one more night and went home around 11:00am the following day, so 1 1/2 days.

mrsj0423 · June 2012

Our hospital says 24 hrs for an uncomplicated vaginal delivery, but that depends on the time of the birth. If your deliver at 2am, they won't be discharging you at 2am the following day, they will likely keep you till 10 or 11am.

tokenhoser · June 2012

At my hospital, the minimum stay is 3 hours with a midwife and 6 hours with a doctor.

I think averages would be at least one overnight, two if you deliver in the evening or night. They do prefer to hold you at least 24 hours to run bloodwork (although the homecare nurses will do that here), and discharges happen in the morning normally.

katcarls · June 2012

I think 2 days is the norm, but you can check out sooner if you want to. I felt fine and BF was going well, so I was ready to get out of there. I did have to wait until 24 hrs. after the birth because some newborn testing couldn't be done before then. It worked out fine since DD was born around 6pm, so we left at 7pm the next day after she was done with her tests.

allardr · June 2012

holly71087:
I believe it is 24 hours because that is when they do the hearing test (and maybe one other test?) on the newborn, and you can be discharged after that.
that's what I'm hoping for at least!

My hospital said 24 hrs is minimal because of that too, except if you have Strep B then it's 48 hours.

I'm hoping 24 then peace out!

katcarls · June 2012

allardr:
holly71087:
I believe it is 24 hours because that is when they do the hearing test (and maybe one other test?) on the newborn, and you can be discharged after that.
that's what I'm hoping for at least!
My hospital said 24 hrs is minimal because of that too, except if you have Strep B then it's 48 hours.
I'm hoping 24 then peace out!

That must vary by hospital because even though I was GBS+ and didn't even have time for antibiotics during labor I was still able to go home 24 hrs. after delivery.

kdjudd · June 2012

My hospital requires a 48 hour hospital stay after the LO is born. It was nice because it allowed me to meet with a lactation consultant and it also allowed my body time to heal a little bit before heading home.

robyn2201 · June 2012

Natural birth with no complications and we stayed one night. About 19 hours after DD was born, (both my OB and the pedi came by first thing in the morning) and said we were fine to go. It took another couple of hours for the hearing test and was officially discharged, but couldn't leave because we were waiting on the birth certificate being completed. Everytime the girl came by I was BF'ing and she would be like... oh I am interrupting and leave. We were like no wait!!... but she was gone so quickly. After like the 3rd time she came by we were so frustrated! We only eventually left about 28 hours after DD was born.

erb82 · June 2012

I stayed a little over 48 hours with both of mine. I had both my girls early in the morning and the hospital let me stay two nights and then leave whenever I was ready the third day. My cousin delivered in the same hospital but had her baby around 11:30 at night. She had to leave less than 48 hours later, because their policy is that you can only stay 2 calendar days after the baby is born. If her daughter was born 30 minute later, she could have stayed a whole extra day!

For what it's worth, I think I'm in the minority on this board, but I stayed at the hospital as long as I could- they made me rest and take care of myself. At home, I would have been up and about much more.

Alliebooberz · June 2012

I did NOT want to be in the hospital and I delivered DS at 10:45pm after 21 hours of labor. At 7:30 the next morning, my OB came to check on me and was ready to release us. The hospital pediatrician refused and we ended up discharged the next morning at 10:30. They wouldn't discharge us at the 24 hour mark because it was in the middle of the night. So, OB was cool with release 8 hours after delivery. I should have fought for it.

ridesbuttons · June 2012

One day.

CurbsideProphet · June 2012

We stayed about 24 hours after DD was born. DD was born around 5 pm and we around 5 pm the next day.

choppinbroccoli22 · June 2012

I stayed 2 nights at the hospital with my first, and it was very helpful to have the nurses close at hand for breastfeeding support, taking care of me, etc. For my second, at a birthing center, they kick you out by 12 hours (unless this is not allowing for enough sleep for the mother due to time of delivery) or send you to the hospital if further care/monitoring is needed. I'm good with that-- I was glad for the support with #1, but have plenty of my own support at home that I feel comfortable with this time around.

Want a personalized experience?

Average hospital stay length

Re: Average hospital stay length

Choose Another Board

Search Boards