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what happens after labour?

Hi ladies,

I know you're all very busy with your gorgeous lo's but i was wondering if you might write about what happens after labour. I've read so much about the birth and love reading birth stories but they all end when the baby arrives. Im starting to worry about what happens after all that- i haven't a clue! My main questions:

-how long before they transfered you to the ward
-how many nights were you in hospital
-did you have visitors straight away
-did you bf straight away

Just a general idea of how what goes on after the baby arrives would be really helpful. Thankyou!xx

32+5

Replies

  • - I had a csection. I was in a recovery bay for maybe 10mins after being stitched up. I was sick (nice but labour did that to me!) and after that I held Gabe on my chest while they wheeled me up to the ward....although, I had a private room as c-section...

    - I was in 2 nights.

    - No not straight away - Lo was born at 3.30am! OH left at about 4.30am crap but I guess they don't want men on the wards at night etc. He came back at 11am (11am - 9pm was visiting hours for partners/husbands) and then we had visitors at 2pm.

    -BF when I got back to the ward

    Hope this helps! xx
  • I live over in Norway so things may be a bit different out here but it may give you an idea as I am sure all hospitals in the UK are different.

    I had a natural birth, as soon as my little boy was born he was put on my tummy while I delivered the placenta (only took two pushes!) and then had his first bf while I was being cleaned up.
    We were in the deilvery room for about an hour, we were brought a cup of tea and a hot meal, and then hubby and baby were taken to our room while I went and had a shower.
    Over here in the hospital I had my lo in you have your own room and your hubby can stay too, so he had his own bed which was fab. We stayed in for 3 days (they like you to stay in as long as possible out here) and then after we were shown how to wash him, and they weighed him again we were able to go home.

    We had a few friends come to visit us on the second day, we don't have family out here but if we did they could have come during visiting hours whenever as long as we were happy.

    Very strange going home with your first baby, hard to believe they are really yours lol!

    Hope you have a great labour and birth, and I look forward to reading all about it xxx
  • I went in at half 2pm ish then lola was born at exactly 10pm. I had her in the birthpool, which was in its own room. After i had her and delivered the placenta they took me out of the pool. They checked the baby over then me, i didnt need any stitches so they took me into my room. I could have gone home 2 hours after the birth but as it was so late i just had a shower and we stayed the night. My oh got to stay with me all the time. Then we went home 9am the next day. I think it all depends where you have youre baby.
    I had her at the local birt centre which is really relaxed, when my cousin had her baby, she tore really badly and had an infection but they sent her home 3 hours later, they say its up to you. Good luck.

    [Modified by: xxtashaxx on January 16, 2009 02:08 PM]

  • They took me through to the ward about 1.5hrs after the birth. I only stayed in one night as lo was born at 8.30am so I had 2 whole days. But I was so keen to go home and my perception was that they would ship me out asap. But they tried to encourage me to stay and I really wish I had. Even though I wanted home I didn't realise how much I would have appreciated all the midwifes advice on tap in the hosp.
    OH stayed with me most of the time and only went home to shower and change, came back, spent day with us while I braved the shower and toilet. then went home at 9pm and was back 9am next day. We wrote a list of bits and pieces and off he trotted to Boots and Mothercare while I was checked over and ready to be discharged.
    I breastfed about 30mins after birth.
    Just enjoy the time in hosp and take all the help you can get while you're there. S x
  • Hi first of all congrats and i hope it all goes well for you!

    - I had Connor in the delivery room and stayed there until i was transferred to a midwife led unit for aftercare around 3 hours after i gave birth to him.

    - We only stayed one night in midwife unit because i wanted to get home to oh

    - We had visitors later that day but oh stayed as long as possible

    - I breastfed as soon as they had checked him over, then got taken to shower - a delicate operation lol!

    Good luck hun
    Gill
    xxxx
  • hey,

    Louise was born at 6.55am in theatre and after being stitched up I was taken back into the labour room. I attempted breastfeeding there as she was rooting for food but to be honest didn't get much support. I was given tea and toast, I hadn't attempted eating for about 24hrs!

    My dh was allowed to go up with me to the ward but had to leave fairly quickly and I think could and did come back at about 10 or 11am?! (Very fussy memory of it all tbh!) There were two visitor slots. As my mum had been there for the birth, my pil and bil came in the first slot and my mum and her oh in the 2nd. My dh had to go by 8pm.

    I got fantastic support for breastfeeding on the ward. I'd been preped for a c-section and had to ask be cleaned up once my dh was back as I couldn't get out of bed.

    There was mecconium in the waters and so lo was supposed to be monitored for 24hrs (though was only monitored till the evening as they didn't want to disturb her sleep) so I had to stay in overnight. I had hoped to go home as quickly as poss but didn't mind staying overnight when it came to it. I was asked in the morning if I wanted to go home so I guess that I could have stayed longer if I wanted.

    After saying yes I had to wait for a doctor to check lo over and chat to maternity ward person (not sure if midwife or support worker?!) about me and lo. I also had to wait for my designted person to put my notes on the computer, so I left after lunch in the end!

    My lo was born when the midwifes on the delivery suite were swapping over shifts and I feel that my care was affected by this. It would have been nice to stay in the delivery room for longer to be cleaned up and have my dh for longer. i was under the impression i'd get to stay there for a couple of hours.

    Good luck!

    Lisa
  • i had a c-section and i was taken into recovery for 30 mins (with LO - OH had to leave us) after being stitched up and then was taken straight up to the ward where i had some soup (which came straight back up again!), i had LO at 1.52pm, was on the ward before 3pm and by 7pm i was sat out in the chair for visitors...i wasnt planning on breastfeeding so that question doesnt apply to me but LO had bottle while i was being stitched up (given by OH), hope all goes well x
  • Hiya, Charlie was born at 9.42pm, he was very quickly taken to be weighed (literally seconds) as i delivered the placenta (was given an injection for this). He was then placed on me for skin to skin for a good hour. i was getting hotter and hotter and charlie was not latching on, so i begged to go for a bath which i did (it was a bit of a messy experience though,lol!!!) Hubby had Charlie whilst i had my bath, then all freshened up i was supported in breastfeeding and just given some 'us' time. It was midnight when i was transferred to the ward and hubby then had to leave.

    I just stayed in the one night as i was pretty much left to get on with things myself so thought i may as well be at home, don't get me wrong the staff were fab if you asked for help but otherwise you were left to yourself, even down to getting your own breakfast/drinks from the kitchen!!

    We were allowed visitors 10 - 12 (no visitors - not even dads between 12 & 2) and i then went home.

    Got home, put the car seat down on the living room floor, turned to my parents & hubby and said 'what do i do now?' lol! felt very strange but lovely getting home.

    Best of luck.xx
  • Hiya,

    I had an emergency c/section to deliver my son at 1.20pm. Not sure how long I was in recovery as failed induction played havvock with my head and was still verry confused but getting better slowly. OH was allowed to stay with me til 11pm as that was the end of ward visiting for OH's.

    Back to theater - after asking OH think I was probably in recovery for about half an hour before being moved to the ward.

    OH had held and fed LO while I was being stitched up as I had decided not to breast feed.

    MY first visitors on the ward was probably when he was 2 hrs old - still unable to feel my legs, still in a dodgy looking hospital gown , and lying in blood stained sheets as the site of my drain had bled during transfer to the ward. It was a suprise visit from OH's mom, stepdad and sister. I thought that I had heard MIL in the corridor but had put it down to more hallucinations, I was wrong on that one, but it was so nice to see how exited they were LOL. My mom and dad came to visit at about 5pm.

    Was on the ward for 3 days, most of the staff were really helpful and supportive, the food was very hit and miss but there were some decent cafes on site so used to send OH out for food. I shared a room with another new mom, which was great as I had someone to talk to and bounce ideas off. We helped each other alot. We had our meals bought to us day after birth but after the catheter came out 24hrs after birth we were expected to fend for ourselves. No one had shown me round the ward so I had to ask where everything was (even LO bottles and bedding).

    We all stayed at my moms for a month after he was born so that I could have extra support when OH went back to work.

    Beck n Zacky (30 weeks)
  • Well, I'm not quite sure of the exact order that things happened in, or how long things took but I'll try to give my experiences!

    I was in the delivery room for maybe 2 or 3 hours after the birth. Enough time for me to have skin to skin, get stitched up, try bfing. We also had tea and toast and the mws left us alone for a bit and we made all the phone calls and sent texts etc. I went for a shower- they had a huge shower room, my oh came in with me and wheeled Bethany in, in her cot. I was still pretty shaky so it was great that my oh could pass me the shampoo and so on!

    I bf after about an hour, they stitched me up first. And then a few more times that day, pretty much whenever she was awake.

    The only visitor I had was my mum, she came up after about 4 hours maybe? We were taken to the postnatal ward in the mw-led centre so they weren't so strict about visiting hours. We didn't see anyone else for the first couple of days as oh's family live further away- and it was nice to have some time with just the 3 of us tbh.

    And I didn't stay overnight in hospital at all, she was born at 9.17am and I left at about 6pm- completely my own choice as I didn't want to be away from my husband. The first night at home was pretty hard, not really knowing what to do with a newborn, but I'm glad we shared it.
  • *After the birth jamie was given stright to me but he started to go purple. So they look him off for a min to get him breathing.
    *Then they gave him back and the dr checked me and started stitiching me back up while me and dh cuddled little one.
    *Then I had a go a breastfeeding jamie but he didn't seem to want any (that soon changed later).
    *Then I got a bath and dh looked after lo.
    *Then we had some tea and toast.
    *Then Jamie had his hearing test.
    *After that I got him dressed as he just had his hospital gown on and after that the dr came to do jamies tests. Unfortunaly they dedected a slight heart murmur this is apparently common as the heart has adapted and is normally fine after 24 hrs. So Instead of going home we went to the ward and stayed overnight and then jamie was re tested and all was ok. so we then went home.
    *at our hostital apart from partners vistors were only allowed between 2-6 I think and I allowed the new grandparents to visit but that was it. Think thats all x
  • Good thread, really interesting read.

    Lily was born at 1.25pm and was given to me in a towel straight away. I think I delivered the placenta within a few minutes, but I had no idea it was happening! They then took her to the other side of the room to check her over and I was stitched up when she was put back on my chest a few minutes later. I breastfed shortly after I'd finished being stitched, so within about an hour of the birth. Then we were left alone just the three of us, with sweet tea & toast image

    I had visitors (my family & hubby's) during visiting hours that evening, still in the room I gave birth in, then hubby left at 9pm. Then two midwives washed me (I'd lost a lot of blood & was very weak). That night (about 9 hours after she was born) they tried to move me onto HDU but I passed out in the wheelchair, so they rolled me in in my bed like something out of Casualty, heehee.

    I stayed in HDU for about 36 hours (I had two midwives to myself the whole time and they were FAB!) during which time I had a blood transfusion and was helped to wash etc. At some point a paediatrician came to check Lily. Every 2 hours or so someone came round offering tea & toast, was great! Visiting hours were 2-4 and 6-8, except for partners who could come & go as they pleased.

    Then when my blood count was confirmed as ok I was moved onto the normal ward, which was much busier (I can see why women sometimes feel a bit left to it, as there was only one midwife for 6 mums). I was raring to go home by then, but had to wait for one more test result, so was on the normal ward for the best part of the day. My total hospital stay was about 60 hours.
  • Thankyou all for your replies. They've been really helpful-i feel more prepared now for how things will go after the birth. Im going to tell everyone in the March forum about this thread as i think they'll find it really useful-we're all a bit scared at the moment!xx
  • with Justin after he was born i rested for a bit while they cleaned him up and weighed him ect.
    then i had a shower and some tea and toast
    then i was moved to the ward
    as a first time mum i stayed in hospital for 6 days as i felt this was best so that there was help there if needed. i BF him straight away


    with Maya after she was born i rested for a bit while they cleaned him up and weighed him ect.
    then i had a shower, avoided the tea and toast this time as i learnt from the first time that the chances of it staying down was very slim.
    was then moved to the ward
    i stayed in one night as i was loosing a lot of blood so they wanted to keep me in and do some tests
    i BF her straight away as well

    with Charlie after he was born i rested for a bit while they cleaned him up and weighed him ect.
    then i had a shower, avoided the tea and toast again lol
    While i was in the shower they cleaned up the room and changed the bed as i had said i wanted to go home the same day so i just stayed in the same room, i didn't BF this time as i had a lot of problems with it the first two times. i then had ppl in and out of the room all day, a nurse about pelvic exercise, the my first portrait ppl, the bounty woman.
    then the pediatriciton came round and done all charlies checks so we could go home we were in for about 10 hours after he was born
  • welldone pixie bob- great thread. Even though i've already gone through this its nice to read how different it is for dif people depending on the labour. I'm gonna try and remember what happened after i had james.
    Well he was born by emergency csection at 2.14am on fri morn, he was shown to me straight away but i couldnt hold him straight him. While they took him off to clean him up, and stitch me back up, my oh went out to phone all the family (they were very worried as we'de been in for a while..). then when he came in, i was still in theatre being stitch up, and they wouldnt let him come in as he'd been outside!!! So he waited in the recovery room, and james was taken through to him. I'm not sure how long i was in theatre for after james was born, i was so out of it, and so tired didnt seem like that long at all, but think it was about an hour. Was then taken through to recovery room, where my gorgeous new born. and rather bewildered looking oh was waiting for me. James was then lifted onto me, and bf straight away. Think we only stayed in recovery for about an hour - i was soooo tired, and just wanted to sleep!! Think it was about 4am when oh left, once hosp had called a cab for him. We were then wheeled down to maternity ward, there was 2 other ladies there with babies. The first night was quite difficult as i couldnt really move after the epidural, so when james needed feeding i had to ring the buzzer to get the mw to come and get him out of his crib so i could feed him! Didnt really sleep much that night, i think its all the adrenaline!!
    Visiting hours started at about 9am the next day for partners, so oh turned up with a gorgeous bunch of flowers and big balloon!! we had loads of visitors whilst in hosp, which i loved (some dont and just want it to be there partners). We were let out on the sunday evening about 7pm, after the docs had done all their checks. I was sooo glad to get home, i wasnt over impressed with the aftercare i recieved in hosp, and was just glad to get home and have some nice food, a nice hot bath and my own bed!!
  • how long before they transfered you to the ward

    It took an hr to stop me bleeding and stitch me back together. OH and Faye had a cuddle on the sofa. We had tea & toast in delivery before we left, I then needed ALOT of assistance to get off the bed and into the wheelchair

    how many nights were you in hospital

    Seven nights, but I was in the night before she was born.

    did you have visitors straight away

    My MIL came when she was about 4 hrs old, slightly before visiting hours but I didn't notice as I was so drugged up still

    did you bf straight away

    Yes & skin-skin
  • -how long before they transferred you to the ward
    Was in delivery room for 2 1/2hrs b4 i was transferred to the ward. I gave birth at tea time, so i had my dinner there and was given a flannel wash by one of the nurses.

    -how many nights were you in hospital
    2 nights- I had a botched epidural which caused me to lose feeling in 1 leg for over 12hrs so had to stay another night for observation

    -did you have visitors straight away
    No, i was transferred just b4 visiting times ended so i didnt have any until the next day although i had already seen my mum as she was at the birth

    -did you bf straight away
    No, the mw helped me bf 1/2 hr after the birth but my baby wouldn't latch as he was drowsy from the pethidine. So bf 5hrs later!
    xx
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