I was just reading an article recently stating that the average British mums got pushed out of hospitals too early right after their delivery. On average, British mums spend only a day and a half on maternity units after giving birth. According to a study, this is the briefest stay for any developed country – and the eighth shortest in 71 nations studied by researchers in London.
I remember with my 3 deliveries, I was also out of the hospital in about 2 days. But that was because I had natural births and there were no serious complications with our babies. With my 1st, he was out at 4.30am and I was out of hospital by 2nd day as he had a bit of a low glucose issues and had to be kept until his glucose level stabilised. With my 2nd, she was out at 12.30pm and I was out of the hospital the following day after breakfast and with my 3rd, she was out at almost 6pm and I was out the following day after lunch. So for all three births, I was in the hospital for 2 days.
Experts claim mothers and babies are being sent home early because of a shortage of resources. They warn that short stays could mean potentially fatal illnesses are missed. New mothers may also lose out on the support they need to stave off post-natal depression or to ensure they start breastfeeding.
The data also shows that 30 per cent of new mothers in Britain are discharged after less than a day, breaching World Health Organisation advice that women should be kept in for at least 24 hours. The new research did not break down length of stays into hours. But while a new mother in the 1970s might have spent a week convalescing in hospital, many today are sent home just six hours after giving birth.
A spokesman for the researchers said: 'Short stays can mean there is insufficient time to conduct checks and detect, diagnose or treat problems in mothers or newborns, which can increase the risk of death or illness. 'It can also mean there is not enough time to educate and support new mothers, which can lead to problems such as difficulties with breastfeeding and lack of maternal confidence.'.
The decision about when a woman goes home after birth is one that should be made through discussion with the woman, midwives and medical staff. The length of time and the care of the woman should be based on her needs, not on resources or availability of beds.
Personally I think 2 days is sufficient for mothers with natural birth and no complications found on both mother and newborn child. But for mothers with C-section, I would think a hospital stay as long as they are allowed to would be good for recovery phase. Of course, I don't have any experience in C-section hence my opinion here might not hold any weigh. That said, I do know some of my blog followers sharing their experiences previously where they also left the hospitals less than 2 days after C-sections! There are so many factors here: hospital environment, resources available, mothers' recovery stamina, help available at home for mother and newborn etc.
What about you? Natural or C-sect? How long is your hospital stay? And why?
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