After labour...

[Pandora]

I think a alot depends on the hospital, how many births they have at the time, how much room there is etc. If you need to stay longer, and the have the resources, a lot of times you can. Its the having the resources part that can get in the way.

I gave birth in a public hospital, the standard was 3 nights but I think this may have recently changed to 2. I stayed four after the midwife walked in to my room on the day I was meant to leave and found me a sobbing mess on the floor. I got booked in to the breastfeeding day stay at the hospital for the following day, and they asked me if I wanted to stay another night but I said no, as it was too loud, and I felt like DS was disturbing the other mums (I'd been in a double/private room for the fist 3 nights, and a shared room with 3 people for the 4th)

I loved staying in hospital, I would never have coped with a birth centre (well unless I'd had my baby there and then booked into a private hospital...can you do that?)

ETA: with regard to day1, day2 etc when you are in hossy. Different hospitals have different "start" times for the day. Most are 12midnight or 12noon.

DS was born at 3:45am, and my hospital counted him as a day old cos their day started at midnight. The LC reckon if I'd been at the RWH in Melb, their day starts at noon, and that I would have had less pressure on me to comp feed (which I refused) becuase he would have been seen as day younger.