Birth center policy question.

nbrashear · July 2013

The birth center I'd like to give birth at sends home all families four hours after birth. One of the CNMs comes to do an inhome check in the days following. I think I'm alright with that FTM but I'm just curious if anyone else has experience with this type of situation?

tokenhoser · July 2013

Sounds lovely to me. I'm doing a hospital birth, but health nurses come and check on us every couple of days for the first week.

rooftop · July 2013

Mine will release you at as little as 2 hours but they follow you home and "tuck you in" Legally they can't allow anyone to stay for more than 12 hours. If I need longer than that I'll be transfered to the hospital

pixieprincss · July 2013

That sounds standard to me. I actually stayed 8 hours after my birth, but DS2 had low blood sugar and they wanted him to nurse as much as possible. Also, I had baby at the beginning of the day and the center was open the whole rest of the business day so it wasn't like anyone was having to stay there just for me. Our CPM did a two-day visit. I was on such a natural high from the birth that though I needed to move gently, it was easy enough to have the energy to get home.

coco2787 · July 2013

4 hours is the minimum at my birth center. If you don't feel comfortable leaving that soon I highly doubt they'll send you home that soon. Most will let you stay up to 12 hours if you want to. Chances are you'll be ready to go before that though.

Sawyerplus1 · July 2013

Yep, that sounds standard to birth centers around here. I stayed about 4-5 hours after DS3 was born, and the MW was in close contact with me in person and on the phone in the following days. It's nice to go home to sleep/recover/snuggle/have visitors/eat without nurses constantly interrupting you!

melosch · July 2013

Wow, 4 hours sounds so short to me, especially after many hours of labor/exertion.

I am staying at my birthing center for 2 nights, unless I want to leave early. My midwifes and 'in-house' post-partum doulas will be around to check on us, make sure breast feeding is established/going well and that me & baby are healthy/recovering well.

I just imagine I'm going to be SO tired that I won't want to move, but maybe I'm wrong and I'll want to go home sooner!

Robi1 · July 2013

I had my baby on Sunday at 5:33pm and we were home around 10. It was great! As much as I loved our birth center, after baby was here I just wanted to go home. I was up and walking around, used the bathroom and showered... there was no reason to stay. I had a follow up phone call and visit within the next few days. No problems! I highly recommend it!

BrideMay2005 · August 2013

Yes, the birth center I go to has the same practice. You and the baby can leave as early as four hours after birth after eating a meal and any medical checks. Then a nurse will visit you and baby at home to check up on you. You also have to call in and report vitals.

ec0983 · August 2013

this is also the policy at my birthing center. however, 4 hours was not long enough for us- DS would.not.latch and i was totally intimidated to leave before knowing i could actually feed my baby. my midwife got called to a birth at the hospital, but the nurse was beyond amazing and let us stay a few extra hours to make sure DH and i felt confident. even still, DS was born at 6:47 pm, and we were home by 2 am. i loved that despite the late hour, our nurse had no problem letting us stay as long as we needed to feel comfortable. and, being able to sleep in our own bed that night and recover at home was one of the best parts of my birth experience!

JoyfulW&M · August 2013

That is in generally true about mine. Though if that meant leaving in the early morning hours they are willing (barring the need of the bed for another birthing mama) to let you stay till a more reasonable hour if you need it.

rooftop · August 2013

Midwife told me they weren't legally able to keep anyone past the 12 hour mark, something to do with classification of "medical facility" vs "holistic" or something like that, but anyone who needs to stay longer than that has something wrong enough that they would be transfered to the hospital long before that anyway. Makes sense to me. We will be shooting to leave around the 3 hour mark though we can leave at 2 hours if desired.

A37licia · August 2013

That's common in my city for birth centers, and in the town where I grew up, it was 12 hrs. The midwives there said most moms were ready to go home after 4-6 hrs. That's why I'm glad I do home births because I don't have to get in the car at all hehe.

Jtiki · August 2013

Mine kept folks 2-4 hours on average. I left after 3. They start charging an extra hourly rate after 5 hours.

lizziealyssa · August 2013

I stayed for 8 hours (had baby in middle of night, lived 45 min. away and needed to sleep.) I was still exhausted when I left, but ready to be home. I liked having the midwife come to check on me at home. It all works out.

kriskell · August 2013

I was told four but I was sent home closer to three. I loved going straight home so fast. I got more than an hour of skin to skin and breastfeeding then they did weight, footprints etc. they required me to pee and eat a meal before I was released.

Birth center policy question.

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