The stay in the maternity hospital lasts a few days on average. From arrival at the maternity ward to discharge, how does it work? Main information

When you arrive at the maternity ward, a monitoring is carried out. It allows you to see if it is a real job. A clinical examination (vaginal examination) is also performed, as well as a blood pressure measurement and verification of the absence of albumin in your urine (test with a strip). If the decision to hospitalize you is made, then labor has started! That’s it, you are going to give birth. You will be installed in the birth room or in the labor room (when your cervix is ​​dilated to 2 or 3 cm.

Childbirth lasts on average between 13h for a first child (from the start of contractions to birth). For subsequent deliveries, the average duration is 8 hours. These are averages because the duration of childbirth is very variable from one woman to another.

After the birth, you stay around 2 hours in the delivery room to be monitored. Then you are transported to your room with your baby (if he is well). You and your baby will be spending several days in the maternity ward. This stay is an opportunity to get to know your baby and learn mothering skills.

The days during this stay are very busy: starting breastfeeding if you are breastfeeding, learning mothering skills, mother care and medical monitoring of the baby.

Course of the stay in the maternity ward

Every morning, a midwife gives you a clinical examination: monitoring temperature, blood pressure, monitoring the pulse, the perineum and its healing, the uterus, checking for the absence of circulatory problems.

On the 3rd or 4th day, a blood sample is taken from your baby’s foot or hand and a few drops of blood placed on a blotting paper with boxes which will be sent to a specialized laboratory. This is the Guthrie test. This sample allows the screening of 5 rare diseases of genetic origin.

A mandatory examination of your baby takes place on the day of discharge. The purpose of this examination is to detect any physical or neurological anomaly. A certificate is drawn up by the pediatrician who performs this examination.

You may want to leave the maternity ward earlier: this is only possible if your health and that of your baby allow it, if your family does not present any psycho-social risks and if the organization of medical follow-up has been anticipated. . If all of these conditions are met, then you can go out during the first 72 hours after birth (during the 3 days after birth). A visit for you and your child by a midwife or a doctor must be carried out within 24 hours after discharge, and a second visit is scheduled in the week following your discharge.

If you have had a cesarean section, it is possible to leave the maternity hospital early within 96 hours of birth (within 4 days of birth). As for a vaginal birth, the state of health of your baby and yours must allow this early discharge, and medical follow-up must have been scheduled (first visit within 24 hours of discharge).

Unlike the maternity ward, a birth center does not offer a post-childbirth stay. A mother cannot be accommodated there with her baby. The discharge takes place a few after childbirth if it went well. Three visits by a liberal midwife are planned to monitor the state of health of the mother and her baby. The newborn must be seen by a doctor within 8 days of giving birth.