Ok..

Cindy - posted on 06/03/2012

OMG! I am going to be a first time mom. Thank goodness for this thread. I had no clue about the stinging and pain or the ice pack pads...Wow, have a lot to learn.

Georgia - posted on 12/08/2010

@Sarah, I'm not sure if we have peri bottles here in Aus. I went private both times (same hospital) and have rellies who went public (in NSW) and some friends here in QLD who went public and no one knew what they were. Maybe if you want one, just get a sauce bottle from Woolies to take with you. lol

@Caitlin - yeah the pads I had were like a nappy and it was great! It felt weird at first and I think I'd rather try the mesh undies if I were to go again, but especially in the first two weeks I couldn't use the maternity kotex I'd bought without having some leakage (no wings). Funnily enough, I tried one of the baby's nappies when I ran out of mine and it was pretty much the same, only a thinner so I didn't feel like I was walking around with a phone book between my legs.

Amanda - posted on 12/07/2010

the frozen pads are AMAZING

Caitlin - posted on 12/07/2010

I felt like I bled forever, but I birthed vaginally.. Next time i'm putting a damn diaper down there, because pads just weren't enough, always leaking.. A diaper might be better in that case...

Stifler's - posted on 12/07/2010

I don't even remember how long I bled, I think about 6 weeks. I just pretty much showered every time I went to the toilet hahaha. I didn't have stitches but everything hurt so much that I didn't want to sit down.

Charlie - posted on 12/07/2010

I had a normal birth and bled for 8 and a half weeks *ugh*

Dana - posted on 12/07/2010

Oh, that is not cool!

Erin - posted on 12/07/2010

I had a C-section and I bled for at least 4 weeks DAMNIT!

Sarah - posted on 12/07/2010

ohh what!? you guys got peri bottles too..damn it im adding to this list of things i never got gee my hospital was lazy

Chatty - posted on 12/07/2010

Ya, I was in the hospital for a week (went home the morning of the 8th day) and I don't recall bleeding much more than a couple days after being home. I remember telling Chad how surprised I was....and grateful! ;)

Dana - posted on 12/07/2010

Oh yeah, yours was cleaned then too, I'd imagine. lol

Chatty - posted on 12/07/2010

I couldn't say for sure if he cleaned mine out or not BUT, I only bled for maybe a week and it wasn't heavy at all. He must have...

Dana - posted on 12/07/2010

Yes, one of the bonuses of a C-section, is the doctor will clean you uterus out! I only bleed for a week or so, maybe. It's hard to remember for sure, it could have been less. Though I don't think they do that everywhere. It would be interesting to know who had theirs cleaned afterward.

Chatty - posted on 12/07/2010

Thanks, Dana -- I was just scrolling down to leave a response for Christina. I was going to suggest that it's because even with a c-section you're still bleeding, although from what I've heard, the bleeding isn't nearly as heavy and doesn't last as long. At least mine didn't compared to the women I've talked to. Nonetheless, I still LOVED the peri bottle and brought it home with me.

Lindsay - posted on 12/07/2010

I loved the peri bottle and mesh panties and I had zero stitches.

Dana - posted on 12/07/2010

Christina and Dana, the peri bottles are used by everyone to help you keep clean/feel refreshed because no matter which way you birth your baby, you're still bleeding out of your vagina. :|

Sarah - posted on 12/07/2010

Erin - one day I hope the government fixes it problem is when they built the new hospital they built it smaller with a larger population. Have heard excellent things about the private hospital. apparently they allow your partner to share a bed with you after birth so long as you don't have a c-section and they have mesh undies and ice packs and heat packs according to my step sister in law

Erin - posted on 12/07/2010

No Sarah I'm in Newcastle! Our maternity services are actually pretty good, but obviously yours aren't. Those stories are horrific :(

Stifler's - posted on 12/07/2010

I never had a health visitor. I just went into the 8 week newborn clinic every week. I wish I'd stayed longer but I was so bored I just wanted to go home.

Sarah - posted on 12/07/2010

@ Erin you obviously don't live in Townsville, the public hospital is the crown jewel in the QLD's pathetic health system so i can believe they would kick you out within 6 hours no questions. The day I gave birth there was a woman having twins just outside my door in the hallway giving birth on the floor because they had no room for her...she was discharged within 6 hours later i met her in NICU and found out they were kicking her out because they didn't want to put someone in the hallway



@ Toni- I had a midwife visit me twice (she was supposed to visit for the first month) and she said i was fine etc etc etc.even though i told her i was feeling down and thought my son was boring. 6 months later i was finally diagnosed with PND. and people wonder why i switched to private health, with all due respect to my mother who is a nurse at the Townsville hospital, that place is worse than hell and I would never step foot in their maternity ward and birth suites again

Toni - posted on 12/07/2010

Christina, but if you don't have complications and have no tearing or very minor tearing there's no need for you to stay in the hospital, unless you really want to.

Sherri, yeah they do send us home quite quickly but at the same time we have a midwife visit us at least 3 times in the 10 days home and then have a home visit from the Health Visitor and following that we visit the Health Visitor reguarly (we was weekly for the first 2 months because my son was small) and then fortnightly, then monthly now we are 6 monthly. They keep a check on our kids development.

Erin - posted on 12/07/2010

They don't kick you out (or atleast not the major hospital in my city), they just allow for the fact that many new mummas don't need to be in hospital to recuperate.

C. - posted on 12/07/2010

@Donna, you're welcome ;)

@Dana, that's true.. One of my sisters had nothing but C-sections and still used one.. I never knew why, though?

@Sarah.. THAT IS CRAZY!!! My hospital asked me if I wanted to stay one or two days. Since I had ripped my stitches, I told them 2. I'm surprised that some hospitals would kick you out just hours after giving birth!!!

Sarah - posted on 12/07/2010

@Sherri i had a private shower in the birth suite but not in the maternity ward and I know at the Townsville hospital you and your baby can be discharged after 6 hours if its not your first and 24 hours if it's your first i had stay in for 48 because i got an infection during labour. my son stayed a further 3 days in NICU because the infection past to him

Georgia - posted on 12/06/2010

Well, I think it's probably just because that whole area is sore. With my second, I didn't have any stitches, but it was still really sore and I could see how someone who has a c-section would be the same.

In some countries that's all they use! Well, not the bottle, but water rather than paper.

Chatty - posted on 12/06/2010

I had a c-section and was still advised to use one. It's not just for when you're stiched down there.

Georgia - posted on 12/06/2010

Ohhhh... okay, I get it now! Thanks, Christina!! I had a couple stitches with my first, but didn't have one of those bottles (obviously!) and was told to pat dry. I could see how that would have been much nicer.

C. - posted on 12/06/2010

No, Donna.. You use it when you go to the bathroom instead of wiping after you have a baby and you just gently pat dry afterwards (and my midwife even told me to let myself air dry as much as possible before patting, b/c too much patting can hurt your stitches- and it does).

Georgia - posted on 12/06/2010

A-ha! Googled it.... It looked like a ketchup bottle!



Is that for if you can't have a shower? Wouldn't it make the bed all wet? I'm being dumb, aren't I?

Georgia - posted on 12/06/2010

So it's not perrier???? LOL I knew what the peri stood for, but just don't get what you'd use it for. So, does it look like a regular water bottle with the pop top or one with a long needle shaped spout?

Charlie - posted on 12/06/2010

I stayed 4 days with my first and a week with my second because of lactation issues which was great that they were so helpful .

Katherine - posted on 12/06/2010

perinatal,it's to clean yourself with lol.

Georgia - posted on 12/06/2010

Emma N., yeah that's true. You can't expect 5 star in a public hospital, but the quality does seem to vary drastically! I've been to Ipswich Hospital (not pregnancy related) and they were fantastic. It still amases me that you can be fully treated for anything for free in Aus (even after being here 11 years). There seems to be a lot of problems with hospitals up north though. Like Townsville should a huge, modern facility, but Sarah's story is beyond horrible. Who makes someone walk in a hospital, especially after an epi?!

Okay, what's a peri bottle? I keep thinking of a water bottle, but I know that's wrong.

Erin H., that totally explains why a good friend of ours was at home within hours of having her second baby!! They are in Wagga. She hated having to stay in hospital, so got out as quickly as she could. From what I understand though, if it's your first you have to stay in a minimum of 1 or 2 days before you can go home, unless there are complications of course. I think there is probably a huge variation between public and private as well. Public has to have a faster turnover because of sheer volume. My concern is about the level of care too. All of my husband's siblings (NSW) and an auntie (3 women in total) had c-sections out of the same hospital and the midwives there are just... well, the head (and most respected) midwife gave me some advice when I found myself there in emergency with my firstborn (I think was braxton hicks, but I didn't realise it). As we were leaving the maternity ward, this midwife turns to me and tells me that "the uterus is a very sensitive organ" and I shouldn't be rubbing my belly or I would start labour, which may have been what caused me to be there. I was about 26 weeks along and had been rubbing my belly since I was 6 weeks gone. When we got home, I went to my OB and told him what had happened and what the midwife said. He just laughed and asked if the midwife was licensed. My SIL's OB told her that she only needed to bf for 3 weeks, because after that it was just a waste of time. That was the same OB who did all the c-sections and the only one of TWO OBs in town. The other one, apparently no one likes to go to because he's terrible. :-\

Caitlin - posted on 12/06/2010

Wow, that all sounds so different from me.

My first time around, the hospital makes you bring EVERYTHING.. if you don't have diapers, you have to buy them or hope someone is nice enough to give you some of theirs.. You bring your own pads, diapers, clothes, baby clothes.. The only thing they gave us was use of the blankets, but they had to stay there obviously. Oh, and we got a peri bottle at least..

Both my deliveries I was home less than 30 hours after the baby was delivered, the minimum was 24 hours the baby and the mother had to stay, though I should have stayed longer the first time around. The first time around, I had a 3rd (almost fourth degree tear) because of forceps, peeing was agony because my tear went not only back, but forwards to and made a V around my urethra, so I had stitches up BOTH sides of that (multi layer too). They DIDN'T tell me baths would help, they didn't give me icy pads (those would have been awesome) no pain killers to take home with me (I said I didn't think i'd need them because I was stupid and noone corrected me). My PPP was agony, even though I was on the softeners.

Either way, after the first time I learned a ton, and was up at the mall 2 days post partum walking around enjoying my second degree tear, it was like a cake walk compared to the first time, I was SO happy.. That and I already knew how to breastfeed, I knew to take the painkillers and I wasn't worried about my PPP (which was odd because it took 5 days) because I knew the stool softeners would do the trick, and I refused to take their stupid iron pills, because they make it litterally like shitting bricks, I just ate lots of red meat..

Stifler's - posted on 12/06/2010

I was in for like... 3 days I think. They said I could stay a week but the lady in the bed next to me went home straight away after she gave birth because she didn't want to be there and it was her 4th baby or something.

Erin - posted on 12/06/2010

Policies for post-natal hospital stays vary between local health catchment areas in Aus (atleast in my New South Wales). In my city they only require a minimum of 4hrs post-delivery. Many women are giving birth and home again before the sun goes down! A midwife will then do a daily home visit until Day 5.

This didn't happen with me though. I was in for 6 days because of severe anemia that needed a blood transfusion. It was awful and I was definitely not prepared for being there so long.

Sherri - posted on 12/06/2010

I also got a care package mesh undies, tucks pads, peri bottle, pads and then the baby got onesies, t-shirts, handmade hats, receiving blankets, diapers, formula, diaper bag, diaper rash cream and I know there is more but I can't remember.

Shauna - posted on 12/06/2010

My hospital gave me a little "care pack" it had the huge pads, mesh undies, peri bottle, and the ice things for the pads ... however i had a c-section and didnt need those things .... but i still used the peri bottle just b/c it felt good HAHAH.... however yeah ..... passing gas ... or going # 2 after a C-section thats a whole nother story!

Stifler's - posted on 12/06/2010

The problems with QLD health are that people expect 5 star service for free.

Georgia - posted on 12/06/2010

Sarah, that's horrible! I can see why there's so much talk about QLD Health and am thankful I was at the Wesley.

I also had a private delivery room and private room with a shared bathroom, but it was only shared with one other room. All the rooms in maternity at the Wesley are private, except for their 2 overflow rooms which have 2 beds, but they try to get you out of there as quickly as possible so most only stay there one night. That happened to me the second time.

The strange thing about that hospital is how they count days. It's from midnight to midnight, so if you arrive at 11.30pm when it strikes midnight that is the end of day 1 for you. That happened to me the first time which is partly why my doctor let me stay an extra day. They normally are 4 days vaginal and 5 days c-section stays, but if your doc signs off on more days you stay longer.

Jodi - posted on 12/06/2010

Wow, Sarah, that sounds like a horrible experience. Both times I've had my babies, I've been able to have a shower straight away.....admittedly both of mine were at reasonable hours of the day, but they would have had a lot more to worry about than a shower disturbing other patients if they'd refused me one!!!!

Shannen - posted on 12/06/2010

In either of the hospitals i gave birth in you could shower whenever and how ever often you felt like.

Bonnie - posted on 12/06/2010

Because of the tear and them dropping a stitch which caused an infection, everything went downhill from there. Not only did I have to be on a watch, but I couldn't pee so I was catheterized and they kept on threatening me saying that if I couldn't pee by such and such a time I would either have to stay another day or they would have to teach me how to catheterize myself so I could do it at home. I panicked. There was no way I was sticking anything up me. It's uncomfortable enough when they do it at the hospital. If I had to do it on my own, it would probably take me at least an hour to do it hahaha.

Shana - posted on 12/06/2010

I DID! Oh I remember those! At first I was like "Um wtf." But they were actually really good. And strangely comfortable. Lol.

Stifler's - posted on 12/06/2010

I was in the labour ward and had a shower at 140 in the morning!

Sherri - posted on 12/06/2010

I gave birth in the birthing room and then my private room was right next door with my own private full bathroom. So I was able to just walk to my room and take a full shower. It didn't matter how late it was. Is this not the case for everyone?? This is the way it was for all 3 births.

Sarah - posted on 12/06/2010

The townsville hospital didn't care that i hadn't pooped 48 hours was up i was discharged and my son sent up to NICU because of elevated white blood cells. They wouldn't let me have a shower after birth because apparently it was too late (After they finished all the stitching it was nearly 10pm close to midnight before i got down to the ward) I thought the funniest thing was the expected me to get up off the bed and walk to the ward after having an epidural...i did until i got to the stairs and fell all the way down to the bottom and all the nurse said was "oh maybe we should get you a wheel chair" they wouldn't do an x-ray until the following afternoon when my ankle was still swollen lucky it was only a bad sprain

Sherri - posted on 12/06/2010

Wow Toni here they will not allow the newborn to be discharged before 48hrs you can be discharged earlier if you sign a waiver saying against medical advice but the newborn must stay for a total of 48hrs.

Stifler's - posted on 12/06/2010

I had a natural birth... and my butt hurt a lot. I kept making them give me Panadiene every 4 hours so I wouldn't have to poo until my butt hurt less!

Chatty - posted on 12/06/2010

I ended up staying a week with Roxanne, but not because of my c-section. Roxanne was in the NICU so they allowed me my room until she was able to be discharged. I think I was cleared to go home by day 4 or 5. Roxanne was discharged the morning of the 8th day. I was grateful to have been able to stay at the hospital rather than going home and having to find my way back to the hospital to visit and spend time with her. It also made breasfeeding possible even though she was in the NICU!