How long after birth did you go home?

[Pandora]

With DS1, 4 nights in hospital and 1 domiciliary mw visit

With ds2, 12 hours and then my mw visited i think 5 times after, then mchn visits started at that point.

I preferred being at home even wig a 3yo, people are less likely to turn up unannounced it was just a lot easier.
Having the same midwife all the time was a tremendous help too, rather than getting different opinions all the time

[MrsB26]

With ds i stayed 4 nights - private hospital and private room with husband sleeping in with me - with no follow up mw visits
With DD i stayed in one night (public hospital with shared 4 to a room) thinking i would get more rest there than if i went home and had ds all over me but i wish i had gone home that same day. I could have gone 4 hours post birth if wanted and i would have felt absolutely fine with that (2nd birth). I didnt get much rest in the shared public hossy room. I had 4 days of midwife home visits.

I would have done exactly the same again (except the o/nite stay in the public hossy lol) if i had the choice to re-do as i felt with my first born i was very comfy in the hossy with my husband staying and the midwives right there to help with any questions. 2nd time around i felt so much more at ease and relaxed about caring for a newborn i just wanted to get home to my own bed and surroundings

[Melster]

DD i had a c-section and had trouble feeding so i was in hospital 8 days

This one i am private again and if i have a vaginal i think its 4-5 days....ill probably stay so i can bond with the baby without DD there all the time who is nearly 3.....coz i can tell what she will be like already. Then i wont have to cook or anything like that....plus i dont think people stay as long at hospital lol

[Taurean]

I stayed 5 nights with DD in a private room, in a double bed, with DH there each night and throughout the day. I wouldn't change a thing, will be doing a similar thing with our next baby.

- It was relaxing having three meals plus morning and afternoon tea brought to me.
- My midwives were lovely and I loved having them on call - at the end of my buzzer
- Visitors couldn't and didn't hang around for ages and I didn't feel obliged to offer them tea or coffee.
- The 'Mother and baby sleeping' sign on my door really worked and the midwives would have backed it up if necessary.
- I was SO grateful for the support and advice from my middies when I got the blues and my milk came in all at once! DH was grateful too I'm not sure how I would have coped with that on our own at home.
- DH and I got to bond with DD together - I loved that.

I just feel we got to really enjoy our first few days with DD without thinking about cooking meals, cleaning up, washing, etc. It worked really well for us but of course, everyone is different.

ETA: no midwife visits at home, just the usual checks by the MCHN

[Arimeh]

With my 2 vb's I left about 4/5 hours after birth. My midwife came daily for a week. With my first vb (3rd child) I had the mchn visiting from around 2 weeks.

This time round nobody has contacted me, so I haven't seen anyone since my midwife signed me out. I've been weighing dd3 every week (or thereabouts) so am keeping an eye on her weight gain.

Eta - even though I had nobody like a midwife taking care of me after the births, my mum stayed with us for a week afterwards so she did all the cooking and stuff

[Shanti]

I had a natural drug free birth with DD but was in for 5 nights as the feeding was so challenging and DD wasn't attaching (at all) and losing weight and I needed to know what I was doing before going home....so I was in no rush to head home until I knew how I could feed her!! Even after 5nts I still left feeling very uneasy about it all.... I also had a private room which made it easier!

This time around, hoping the BF will go ALOT better, which I'm sure it will, then I hope to be only in for 1-2 days max.

My DH doesn't get any time off work much so it's hard going home to not much support so sometimes being in hospital for a little while isn't so bad.

[Lisa]

DS1 - 4 days. I was having problems with my supply after a distressing birth and it was policy then for you to stay 4 days after an episiotomy.
DD1 - 12 hours. Midwives visited for 4 days.
DS2 - 4 days. Again I was having supply issues due to him having a tongue tie.
DD2 - 4 hours. Midwives visted for 4 days.
DD3 - Born at home but we went to the hospital to be checked over. We were there for 3 hours. Midwives vistied for 3 days.