I'm a full-time mummy

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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I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys!!! For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here - click on the image below to launch the video on YouTube:

THIS is the amazing moment a baby boy born still inside the amniotic sac is cut out so he can take his first breath. The tiny infant remains blissfully unaware he is no longer in the womb and can even be seen squirming and yawning from within before doctors snip him out.

 It is easy to make out the baby's dark hair and features as his face is pressed up against the wall of the sac. In the remarkable clip, medics delicately slice open the thin casing which quickly gives way to release the baby.

 
He slides out easily and immediately starts crying as he breathes in air for the very first time.

 The amniotic sac is a thin but resilient membrane which encases the baby in fluid to keep it safe during pregnancy. The moment the casing splits is often referred to as a woman's 'waters breaking'. The expectant mum will usually give birth shortly afterwards.

Babies being born still encased within the entire amniotic sac, known as an en-caul birth, are rare. It generally occurs in fewer than one in 80,000 cases.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

I came across this article which I must definitely share with you guys. Do note that sharing this does not mean I agree or disagree with it. For your convenience, I have copied the excerpts from the article here. Full article and video can be found in the link shown at the end of the post should you wish to find out further.

A new mother's world was shattered when her tiny baby developed whooping cough and died suddenly at just a month old. Now the grieving mum has shared a video of her son's last days to raise awareness of the condition so that other children do not die like he did. 

Little Riley Hughes died aged just 32 days in March, after a short battle with the disease.

He was far too young to receive the vaccine, which can only be administered at six weeks old, meaning he had no defences to fight the illness. But, after his death, his mother, Catherine Hughes, learnt that had she been vaccinated during pregnancy her son might have been able to fight the disease.

She shared the video on Facebook group Light for Riley so new parents do not have to go through the same suffering she did. Catherine who lives with her husband Greg in Perth, Australia, told the Mirror Online she was proud at the impact the video had had, especially as now all Australian states offered the vaccine to expectant mothers.

"We don't want any more babies dying from this terrible and preventable disease, it's an unnecessary heartbreak. When I was pregnant with Riley, who at the time of death was too young to be vaccinated, Australia was not offering these boosters to most pregnant women. After his death, we lobbied state governments so that now all states in Australia offer these boosters for free to pregnant women."

** Source