Was your stay too short at a birth center?

peregrinefalconx · November 2015

At the midwife practice I am considering, they send you home within 3-6 hours of giving birth. Is this enough time? I wouldn't want to stay in a hospital for a couple of days, I don't think, but I wonder if that is just too short.

Anybody with experience care to weigh in?

KateLouise · November 2015

yeah that''s way too short inn my opinion.

Where I am you get two nights at the birth centre, which is basically like a hotel, and your partner can stay. having that rest, someone else doing your cooking, laundry, and mw on tap for feeding advice and help is wonderful.

the hospital, while not as nice, also means lots of rest, staff if you need, and if you bleed all over the sheets, its not your problem.

having said that, plenty of people birth at home, and are fine. do you have support at home if you go straight home? are there exceptions for medical concerns like heavy tearing or bleeding?

Cornstarch7 · November 2015

I don't think I'd want to go home that early. At least not with my first.

BBEA2006 · November 2015

With DD I went home 24 hours following her birth w/ no issues but I also felt good and DD was doing great. This time, I'm delivering at a birth center that is connected to the hospital and you can leave as early as 6 hours after birth or overnight. I think it is worth knowing how long you can stay (and make sure insurance covers) and play it by ear...you just never know how you are going to feel.

snowhite12 · December 2015

I gave birth to my DD (1st and only birth so far) in a birthing center. They made me stay 3 days due to the fact I had an epidural. This time around I PLAN on going naturally. 3 days was far too long, however 3-6 hours would have been way to short for me even though me and baby had 0 complications. 24-48 hours after birth would be just right for me.

Chichigo · December 2015

My son was born at 11 PM after 17 hours of labor. I would not have enjoyed going home at 2 AM. But there's no real reason you need to stay with an uncomplicated natural birth, as long as mom and baby are doing OK.

I didn't mind three days in the hospital because of the help from nurses and not needing to clean up. The food left much to be desired, however.

SoSweetTea1124 · December 2015

After spending 3 days in the hospital (no complications, they just couldn't get organized and discharge me) with my first I will be so excited to go home after just a few hours if everything goes according to plan. I'm sure I wont care what time of day or night it is. The birthing center I will be delivering at only has two laboring rooms, so they only take 10 patients per EDD month.

kittykatrawr · December 2015

I haven't had my baby yet, but I was told post birth you're sent home 2-3 hours as long as everything is ok. Apparently I'm the only person who thinks this is too long. But then again I was aiming for a home-birth, which my fiance talked me out of because of our mischievous kitties.

peregrinefalconx · December 2015

kittykatrawr said:

I haven't had my baby yet, but I was told post birth you're sent home 2-3 hours as long as everything is ok. Apparently I'm the only person who thinks this is too long. But then again I was aiming for a home-birth, which my fiance talked me out of because of our mischievous kitties.

OMG. That is hysterical. Probably the most unique reason I've ever heard for changing a birth option. I can't imagine what they would do! Jump on you in the bed? My cat would be hiding from all the commotion.

MrsWeatherdon · January 2016

I went home from the hospital three hours after both my son and daughter's births. I thought it was wonderful! It was so nice to be able to be at home in my own bed. That being said, I also had my mom and hubby there to help with everything. The midwife came to check on us at home pretty quickly too. Hopefully I'll get to do the same when my third is born!

jmknox · January 2016

I went home 4 hours after the birth of our son. It was nice because I was ready to get in the "groove" of things. My birth center didn't say we had to leave just that we could. We had the option of staying as long as we needed.

dramaphile · January 2016

I went home within about 8 hours of giving birth to my daughter in a birth center, and we probably could have left sooner, but the birth center was empty and we had friends who brought dinner over for us to eat, so we hung out for a couple of extra hours. My birth center's stay limits were 4-12 hours, they only require a 12 hour stay if you are GBS+ and require antibiotics. I was so glad to be able to be home in my own bed and not bothered by the noise and discomfort of a hospital and be woken up to be checked on. I had a nurse do a home visit 36 hours later and do the baby's weight check, hearing test, heel stick, etc and checked on my recovery as well.

palomaLuna · February 2016

The birth center where I delivered my baby has a policy of sending families home within 6 hours after birth. DD was born around 8pm, however, and the midwives let us have a good night's sleep before we were ready to leave at 7 the next morning.

It seems to me that birth centers really have your best interests at heart, and I'd wager most of them would make sure you and baby are ready to go home before they send you on your way.

Unknown · February 2016

This content has been removed.

schweitz · February 2016

I'm sure if you had the baby at 3 am and didn't feel like driving home 4 hours after they aren't going to make you leave. I'm also planning to deliver at a birth center and they send you home 4-5 hours after you give birth. The idea is that you had a natural labor and that's how long it takes for your body to go through its initial recovery stage (when you go through a natural labor.) My birthing center has a "wall of fame" with photos of everyone who's ever delivered there. The photos are taken usually a few hours after labor, right before they go home. Everyone in the photos looks so healthy and pretty good considering they just pushed a baby out of their vaginas! So don't worry about it.

They're not there to make you miserable, they are there to help you and give you the care that you need. You'll see how you're feeling after and if you need to stay longer I'm sure they'll let you.

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