C-section/hospital stay in the UK

[brokensemaphore]

Hi, my husband, son and I are going to be moving to West Yorkshire on November 19, and at that point I'll be 27 weeks pregnant with #2 (my son is 15 months old). After a lovely cascade of interventions from my horrible OB here in Tennessee, I had an "emergency" c-section with my son. I've REALLY got my heart set on a VBAC, but I also want to be mentally prepared for a c-section if it, god forbid, becomes necessary.

So I was just wondering what the typical procedure is in the UK. Especially for after the surgery-- I'd read on another forum that c-section babies in the UK must spend 24 hours in the NICU after surgery. Is this true for everywhere, or does it vary based on the hospital? I mean, of course, in the case of a healthy baby with no reason for being in the NICU. If I wind up in the hospital, I'm absolutely going to want to room-in with the baby, but I really don't want it to be a fight (or if it will be, I'd like to know in advance!)

And for those who have found that this is true, is there a way around it? Can you just say no, that you want your baby with you at all times?

Are husbands allowed to spend the night? I'd also read that there are few hospitals that have private rooms, which means husbands can't stay overnight in the room. Is this generally true?

Thanks everyone!

[calpurnia]

Here are the NICE guidelines on c sections http://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/CG13

In my local hospital the baby doesn't have to stay in NICU if everything is fine... but unfortunately fathers generally can't stay the night.

[brokensemaphore]

Thanks for the link!

[tessie]

The http://www.drfoster.co.uk/Guides/BirthGuide/ will give you more info on your local hospitals.

I know mine strongly encourages skin to skin contact after a c/s - with dad if mum isn't up to it. You're also encouraged to breastfeed asap and they definitely don't keep healthy babies in the nicu or away from mum. You may however be on a ward, although most will try and put women who've had a section either in a private room or with one other person. Some hospitals have private rooms which you can pay for so the father might be able to stay overnight but even if this isn't possible visiting hours for fathers are usually pretty extensive.

This type of care seems pretty standard for the UK.

Good luck!

[flapjack]

Your husband staying overnight is at the ward's discretion (all private rooms are part of a ward as well)- however, the only times I've heard of it being done are after a c-section. If you start asking early, they're more likely to accommodate you.
Typically, baby stays with mum from the time they pull it out to the time they send it home, I believe.
The NCT does refresher classes (www.nct.org.uk) which might help you negotiate the differences between the UK and US more easily.

[Patrick's mummy]

Hey there
I've had two emergency CS and a VBA2C. In the UK, babies stay with their mums the whole time unless they are ill. After a CS, mothers are usually placed on a ward for the first 12 hrs or so. This is so that the midwives can keep a very close eye on you. After that, you will often be moved to a private room or a room with 2 beds. It's unusual for fathers to be able to stay overnight as most hospitals aren't geared up for that.

If you are moving to West Yorkshire, I can recommend two sets of fabulous independent midwives who are experienced with HBAC, if you're interested. One is Chris Warren at Yorkshire Storks www.yorkstorks.co.uk and the other is Debbie Rhodes at Wharfedale Independent Midwives http://www.independentbirth.com/links.html

I'd be happy to chat with you about VBAC options in the UK. Feel free to PM me if you prefer!
Good luck

[amitymama]

Even with a private room, males are not usually permitted to stay the night. I've only heard of one or two instances where they were allowed and even then it was the nurses/midwives breaking the rules.

[Patrick's mummy]

Originally Posted by amitymama

Even with a private room, males are not usually permitted to stay the night. I've only heard of one or two instances where they were allowed and even then it was the nurses/midwives breaking the rules.

Well, it does vary. For example, where I live there are two mainstream hospiatls with consultant led units and there is another hospital with a midwife led unit. If you have a CS in one of the mainstream hospitals, you can transfer to the midwife led unit for your postnatal care and all their rooms have double beds/futons and your partner is welcome to stay at night.

Similarly in unique situations in the mainstream hospitals, partners can stay legitimately.

But yeah, in a normal CS situation, dads will be asked to go home when visiting hours are over. But visiting is pretty much all day in a lot of places and even after CS, stays are short (48 hours here) so for most people, it doesn't seem to be too much of a big deal.

[puddleduck]

have you decided where abouts in west yorkshire you will be living?

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

Good luck with your move! We are American, too, and have been living in the UK for seven years.

As others have said, it completely depends on the policies of your hospital.

In my area, MWs always encourage VBACs unless there was some complicating factor that led to the previous c-section and have even recently changed their policies to allow VBACs at home if that's what the mom wants.

Our local hospital has a few private rooms where dads can stay overnight, but on "the levels" as they call the post-natal wards here, they tend to be pretty strict about visiting hours. But when I had to be admitted (after a home birth) for the placenta to be removed and when I was admitted later with other complications, the MWs let my partner stay with us the whole time, including overnight in the ward where they send women with tricky complications after birth and the beds are just separated by curtains.

A friend just had a second baby by scheduled c-section (after the first was born in an emergency with a negligable heart rate), and she said that they gave her the option to watch the delivery and she had him in her arms for skin-to-skin contact almost as soon as he was pulled out.

[emamum]

do you know which hospital it will be?