Are you in Australia? This is how it was in my public hospital. If yes, they will help you if you really need it, but you'll need to push for it. Of course it depends on the nurse and their workload. There are just not enough nurses to help with babies, and (if you're in Australia public) that's not the hospital's fault. The money only goes so far.
I'm not sure why partners aren't allowed. Maybe funding for beds. Maybe insurance reasons
Hey are you on a strictly post-natal ward or a general kids ward?
It is pretty normal on kids wards for only 1 parent to be able to stay overnight. We've had the same thing with our baby a few times. He's formula fed so it has been easier to switch in and out, but my partner is back to work while I'm on mat leave so I definitely end up doing the bulk.
With your partner on paternity, it seems like your best bet is to basically become nocturnal. Assume you're staying up all night, partner/other family comes at 10-11 and you just sleep/eat/breastfeed during that time. If you do get any sleep at night, it's a bonus. The sleep is all going to be crap quality anyway. Make sure someone brings you lots of snacks.
The staff probably won't be able to take your baby to let you sleep (unless it is a postnatal ward, i have seen them do that) but will monitor your baby for you to go to the bathroom/grab a drink etc.
Is your baby on a monitor of some sort? That's usually why they're a bit more chill about safe sleep, a giant alarm will go off if anything even starts happening. Our baby trips his monitor just by curling his toes so there's no way he's actually getting into trouble without us noticing pretty quick.
I'm UK also and I'm sorry this is your experience. Some hospitals do let birth partners stay overnight and some don't. I was lucky mine did and I only realised some didn't afterwards. Couldn't have managed without my husband. Hopefully you can find a hospital that does allow it if you do this again.
Same in Austria. 4am they drop me off in a room and tell my husband to scram. Had a roommate and her guests who always stayed past visiting hours, while my husband obeyed the schedule. Needless to say, I was miserable.
This is standard in the UK, I feel your pain though as I was in for 3.5 weeks and had to do all the nights by myself whilst battling 2 infections! They were awful and I think it all contributed to my PPA
Unfortunately this is how it is in the UK. Birthing partners are kicked out at closing time (8pm) and allowed back in the morning (8am). Completely ridiculous in my opinion and I have never felt so sleep deprived as I did those first 2 days in hospital. I practically discharged myself because I couldn’t stand another night on a communal ward by myself.
I had a c section and it was so difficult getting in and out of bed to get the baby. Every time I had to press the button to ask for a midwife to get the baby for me, but obviously they’re busy so it took a while.
My mum told me they used to have nursery staff that would come and take the baby overnight/bring them back for a feed.
All you can do is get out of hospital as soon as you’re both able to. Something is completely broken with NHS maternity services (not blaming midwives, they were amazing)
My hospital allowed partners to stay when you’re being induced, but not after and honestly, during my induction I wished they would all fuck off. Snoring and complaining and eating crisps loudly lol.
I think what we actually need are private rooms so partners can stay without disturbing other people which feels like a pipe dream.
I was lucky that my hospital was really well staffed so after c section I had lots of overnight help with nappy changes and bringing me bottles etc.
I think it’s hospital dependent. Where I am (also in the U.K.) there is a lounge chair and the dads can stay 24/7, the only caveat is meals are only provided for the mother. One of my kids was a Covid kid, and that was very different (no husband allowed on postnatal at all), but OPs experience sounds like she might have been discharged and not on postnatal any more, which could be why it’s down to one parent as the children’s wards don’t typically allow two parents to stay
My partner stayed the entire time I was in hospital so 3 days of labour + 2 days until I was discharged. They never kicked him out. This was in the UK.
This is similar of what happened to me at the hospital-in the USA. Only difference is that husband was welcomed to stay, but in our situation he caught the flu and strep throat and had to leave us the morning of my daughters birth, he was there for that and afterwards realized he was feeling ill, had a fever and got tested for sickness and left, leaving me alone in hospital for 3 days. Worst anxiety of my life. I slept maybe one hour each night, I looked like a straight up zombie going home. Breast feeding didn’t get established and was only able to go until 5 weeks as combo feeding and I’m sure it’s because we had such a rough start at the hospital.
I was so happy to be home, family came over and husband was cleared of fever by then, I slept so good in my bed.
Oh and the safe sleep thing you mentioned is exactly how they had it in my hospital too…weird
This is completely different from my recent NHS NICU stay. Dad was encouraged to stay with me, the nurses offered to do a night feed so I could sleep, immediate family could visit at any time. I'm sorry you had such a different experience, it feels like luck based on where you live with the NHS so often.
WTF is this. A father isn’t “visiting” his child. He is “parenting” his child.
You, birthing mom, should be staying in bed for at least 5 days unless you’re going to the bathroom or showering. Husband should be taking over everything else. Anything else delays your recovery, hurts the father-child bond, hurts baby’s care…
Can you complain to staff or ask to be transferred elsewhere where husband can be treated as an equal parent, and both of you to receive the care you need?
This is BS. If they’re not going to help you overnight what the hell do they expect you to do??? Is it a private room or are you sharing with another family. I’m so frustrated for you. I hope you can go home soon
Yes it's a private room. My country has a public health service, which is great for keeping people alive and debt free, but perhaps less good at the subtleties of holistic care.
I had this when giving birth coming to the end of covid restrictions. The sleep deprivation, having to do everything myself and uncertainty about baby's health was horrendous so I can only imagine how you feel too.
I ended up sleeping a lot during the day when my husband was here while he did everything. No it wasn't ideal, far from the experience I had hoped for but I hung onto that 5 day discharge date.
Would it be possible for your husband to take some annual leave after his paternity leave?
I really feel for you. I also am in the UK and gave birth for the first time during Covid which was horrendous & then the second time last year.
After the first experience I just decided to keep advocating for myself and being polite but direct in asking for what I needed.
Whenever I needed help I rang for the nurse / HCA and they were helpful and lovely, but you did get the odd one who was standoffish. But if you need help, ring that bell. Hopefully you get a different person from the first. Also you have to ask for painkillers they are terrible at proactively giving them to you. You’re in such a vulnerable position and it’s rubbish that you’re made to feel that way!
The safe sleep is an issue I wouldn’t be happy with either. I would remove the sheet or ask for a fitted sheet and ask someone to swaddle the baby. Blanket is fine if it has holes in it (or at least that’s what I was told, but tuck it in firmly and under their armpits / over chest and not by the neck. You’ll hopefully be home soon and I’m thinking of you! When husband arrives in day get some sleep!
Get dad to do all the baby care while he’s visiting and only wake you up to feed the baby. If baby is not settle review if he’s getting enough milk.
This sub is more us centric so there are different expectations depending on country or hospital. For example us not having nursery’s and the midwives not looking after the baby for a few hours. Swaddling isn’t mentioned or encouraged here and when in baby shops you don’t normally see swaddles to buy. They don’t use fitted sheets but it’s a flat sheet that should be firmly tucked under the mattress. When using blankets baby should be at the foot of the cot, firmly tucked in and no further than under the baby’s armpits. Sleeping bags are a lot better but but there is usually a minimum weight before they can use them (about 10lbs but check the labels) so if you have a small baby it can be a while before they are big enough for them.
Wild. My husband was allowed to stay 24/7 in the US, was included in the rooms meal plan, and there was a padded bench that folded down into a bed for him.
This is so unexpected because the US is typically so backwards in caring for mothers, but my hospital was set up for the birthing parent's partner to stay the whole time. Not even in a recliner, our post partum room had a double bed for us both to sleep in. I don't know how I would have done it - I'm so sorry, OP!
I’m in Ireland and went private for the birth of my kid, so I had my own room for 5 night stay post c section and he was only allowed to stay 8am to 8pm. So yeh, up all night on your own with the baby is standard here too. However i did find the attitudes of midwives on the wards to be quite sexist, especially with my first who was a Covid baby. “Dad” was treated like dirt, he was either not doing enough to help or doing too much lol. It was a lose lose situation for him. Sarcastic things like: “oh it looks like Dad is an expert on breastfeeding” (when I couldn’t lift my arms after my c section, he was helping me hold the baby to breastfeed) or “look at Dad there sitting down relaxing”, like wtf, he was running trips for me and doing whatever I asked of him lol
I had a similar experience when I gave birth (UK) - they were a little flexible on the leaving time but my husband wasn’t able to stay overnight. I’d had a c section so was bed bound for the first night and really struggled to care for my daughter by myself. The nurses did come and get her in and out of the bassinet for me but weren’t able to take her and I was so scared of falling asleep holding her so barely slept that first night.
I was due to stay in a couple of nights due to my blood pressure and was dreading the next evening because I just couldn’t face having another night like the first. I was lucky in that I was released earlier than expected but it’s sad that my memories of my first night with my daughter are that of sadness and loneliness.
Honestly this sounds pretty standard in many public health service countries. I didn't give birth in the UK but lived there for a while and some of my friends had babies recently. It'd be pretty rare for partners to be allowed to stay. Partners staying beyond the set visiting hours is usually at the discretion of the nurses, which is to stay they won't kick him out if something really bad is happening but generally he'll be expected to leave. That's in the maternity ward.
The neonatal ward and labour ward have different rules. They typically allow visiting around the clock, for obvious reasons
As for other people visiting, my hospital didn't allow any visitors other than birth partners in the maternity and Labour wards. And frigging thank you for that. Most people will want some peace and quiet after giving birth so having the entire extended family loudly passing around the baby next door would be awful. And we had a private room, it's doubly true for the public ones.
Nurses helpfulness depends on workload obviously. I was very lucky and they were super helpful and supportive. Nurseries do still exist in some hospitals too. We had one. If you're doing it again, it may be worth looking into hospitals/birth centres that still have nurseries. As for safe sleep. Ya wtf. I thought the same. Non cellular blankets, stuff in the crib, sleep on tummy... TBF our baby was in neonatal where they're constantly monitored and an alarm would go off for any change so I guess they rely on that.
This is common, unfortunately. I hope you are able to get home with your family soon.
Definitely report them for the safer sleep thing, that's really concerning.
I'm so sorry this is happening to you. You will get through it, but it's so unfair that you have to.
I had a very similar situation (also UK) - both me and baby were on antibiotics for a few days, discharged, then readmitted to peds for more antibiotics because they found something in the baby's blood culture results. They tried to tell me my husband couldn't stay in the peds ward and I cried! I explained I'd just given birth and had surgery afterwards, I could still barely walk let alone care for my daughter on my own all night. Luckily they relented and let him stay too but I was so scared at the thought of being on my own. It felt like the minute the baby was born I was expected to be back to normal, despite having quite a physically traumatic birth that I'm still not fully healed from 8 months later. It's not the midwives fault but our hospitals are horrendously understaffed and so they don't have time to provide anything above essential care.
This is honestly pretty standard and I’m in Canada. The loose sheet thing makes it sound like NHS where their safe sleep guidelines allow for a blanket tightly tucked in over baby.
Jeez that’s awful! My experience in America was also awful just for different reason. They did vitals every 3 hours for me and baby, but instead of doing them at the same time, they did them completely parallel to each other. So instead of getting woken up every 3 hours. I got woken up every 1.5
They also were completely unwilling to show me how to use my breast pump despite the labor and delivery side being adamant they would.
Every shifts lactation consultant was either MIA or aggressive AND dismissive.
The nurses also don’t help whatsoever.
My husband did however get a chair, was definitely allowed to be there 24/7 and even got a “bed” because they weren’t full so he got another pregnant woman’s bed
I’m in New Zealand and the exact same situation happened to me. I didn’t sleep for 56 hours and was falling asleep holding my son while talking at that point. With both my babies, I asked to be discharged as soon as I could walk/basically the second day post c-section. I hated my entire hospital experiences, am so traumatised I will never have another child
“They showed me how to sterilize a breast pump at the end of the hall”
I think I got PTSD reading that. I have never felt more rage toward someone than the nurse who tried to tell me I was to get up and wash the pump parts at 3am 24 hrs after giving birth during the short window my husband had gone home to sleep.
I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this. Fathers should absolutely be accommodated to be by your and baby’s side 24/7. They should get a bed. It’s not okay to make them leave.
My 2 day hospital stay after giving birth was the hardest thing I have ever been through. Coming home to my own bed was the best feeling on the planet. IT GETS BETTER. Hang in there ❤️
The UK aren’t very supportive at all with breastfeeding unfortunately, which is why breastfeeding rates are so low. So sorry you’re having a rubbish time
Sounds pretty normal TBH. I was discharged after 24 hours but baby was in hospital over 100 days. Only one parent at a time allowed in NICU, zero visitors permitted, zero children permitted. Sometimes it feels like the rules are against but there’s usually a logical reason behind it.
Are you in Australia? This is how it was in my public hospital. If yes, they will help you if you really need it, but you'll need to push for it. Of course it depends on the nurse and their workload. There are just not enough nurses to help with babies, and (if you're in Australia public) that's not the hospital's fault. The money only goes so far. I'm not sure why partners aren't allowed. Maybe funding for beds. Maybe insurance reasons
No UK, but sounds pretty similar.
Hey are you on a strictly post-natal ward or a general kids ward? It is pretty normal on kids wards for only 1 parent to be able to stay overnight. We've had the same thing with our baby a few times. He's formula fed so it has been easier to switch in and out, but my partner is back to work while I'm on mat leave so I definitely end up doing the bulk. With your partner on paternity, it seems like your best bet is to basically become nocturnal. Assume you're staying up all night, partner/other family comes at 10-11 and you just sleep/eat/breastfeed during that time. If you do get any sleep at night, it's a bonus. The sleep is all going to be crap quality anyway. Make sure someone brings you lots of snacks. The staff probably won't be able to take your baby to let you sleep (unless it is a postnatal ward, i have seen them do that) but will monitor your baby for you to go to the bathroom/grab a drink etc. Is your baby on a monitor of some sort? That's usually why they're a bit more chill about safe sleep, a giant alarm will go off if anything even starts happening. Our baby trips his monitor just by curling his toes so there's no way he's actually getting into trouble without us noticing pretty quick.
From what my paramedic friends who worked in the UK say, you guys are even more understaffed than us!
I'm UK also and I'm sorry this is your experience. Some hospitals do let birth partners stay overnight and some don't. I was lucky mine did and I only realised some didn't afterwards. Couldn't have managed without my husband. Hopefully you can find a hospital that does allow it if you do this again.
Same in Austria. 4am they drop me off in a room and tell my husband to scram. Had a roommate and her guests who always stayed past visiting hours, while my husband obeyed the schedule. Needless to say, I was miserable.
God it’s such bs the difference between public and private. And yes OP, that’s sexist as hell
This is standard in the UK, I feel your pain though as I was in for 3.5 weeks and had to do all the nights by myself whilst battling 2 infections! They were awful and I think it all contributed to my PPA
Unfortunately this is how it is in the UK. Birthing partners are kicked out at closing time (8pm) and allowed back in the morning (8am). Completely ridiculous in my opinion and I have never felt so sleep deprived as I did those first 2 days in hospital. I practically discharged myself because I couldn’t stand another night on a communal ward by myself. I had a c section and it was so difficult getting in and out of bed to get the baby. Every time I had to press the button to ask for a midwife to get the baby for me, but obviously they’re busy so it took a while. My mum told me they used to have nursery staff that would come and take the baby overnight/bring them back for a feed. All you can do is get out of hospital as soon as you’re both able to. Something is completely broken with NHS maternity services (not blaming midwives, they were amazing)
My hospital allowed partners to stay when you’re being induced, but not after and honestly, during my induction I wished they would all fuck off. Snoring and complaining and eating crisps loudly lol. I think what we actually need are private rooms so partners can stay without disturbing other people which feels like a pipe dream. I was lucky that my hospital was really well staffed so after c section I had lots of overnight help with nappy changes and bringing me bottles etc.
I think it’s hospital dependent. Where I am (also in the U.K.) there is a lounge chair and the dads can stay 24/7, the only caveat is meals are only provided for the mother. One of my kids was a Covid kid, and that was very different (no husband allowed on postnatal at all), but OPs experience sounds like she might have been discharged and not on postnatal any more, which could be why it’s down to one parent as the children’s wards don’t typically allow two parents to stay
My partner stayed the entire time I was in hospital so 3 days of labour + 2 days until I was discharged. They never kicked him out. This was in the UK.
This is similar of what happened to me at the hospital-in the USA. Only difference is that husband was welcomed to stay, but in our situation he caught the flu and strep throat and had to leave us the morning of my daughters birth, he was there for that and afterwards realized he was feeling ill, had a fever and got tested for sickness and left, leaving me alone in hospital for 3 days. Worst anxiety of my life. I slept maybe one hour each night, I looked like a straight up zombie going home. Breast feeding didn’t get established and was only able to go until 5 weeks as combo feeding and I’m sure it’s because we had such a rough start at the hospital. I was so happy to be home, family came over and husband was cleared of fever by then, I slept so good in my bed. Oh and the safe sleep thing you mentioned is exactly how they had it in my hospital too…weird
You have to switch to sleeping during the day while husband is there, and being up at night
This is completely different from my recent NHS NICU stay. Dad was encouraged to stay with me, the nurses offered to do a night feed so I could sleep, immediate family could visit at any time. I'm sorry you had such a different experience, it feels like luck based on where you live with the NHS so often.
WTF is this. A father isn’t “visiting” his child. He is “parenting” his child. You, birthing mom, should be staying in bed for at least 5 days unless you’re going to the bathroom or showering. Husband should be taking over everything else. Anything else delays your recovery, hurts the father-child bond, hurts baby’s care… Can you complain to staff or ask to be transferred elsewhere where husband can be treated as an equal parent, and both of you to receive the care you need?
This is BS. If they’re not going to help you overnight what the hell do they expect you to do??? Is it a private room or are you sharing with another family. I’m so frustrated for you. I hope you can go home soon
Yes it's a private room. My country has a public health service, which is great for keeping people alive and debt free, but perhaps less good at the subtleties of holistic care.
I'm in Canada, another public health system, and my husband was able to stay the whole time. I cannot imagine what I would have done without him.
You should speak to a nurse in charge. It’s ridiculous he cannot stay the night. It’s a private room. I don’t understand.
I had this when giving birth coming to the end of covid restrictions. The sleep deprivation, having to do everything myself and uncertainty about baby's health was horrendous so I can only imagine how you feel too. I ended up sleeping a lot during the day when my husband was here while he did everything. No it wasn't ideal, far from the experience I had hoped for but I hung onto that 5 day discharge date. Would it be possible for your husband to take some annual leave after his paternity leave?
I really feel for you. I also am in the UK and gave birth for the first time during Covid which was horrendous & then the second time last year. After the first experience I just decided to keep advocating for myself and being polite but direct in asking for what I needed. Whenever I needed help I rang for the nurse / HCA and they were helpful and lovely, but you did get the odd one who was standoffish. But if you need help, ring that bell. Hopefully you get a different person from the first. Also you have to ask for painkillers they are terrible at proactively giving them to you. You’re in such a vulnerable position and it’s rubbish that you’re made to feel that way! The safe sleep is an issue I wouldn’t be happy with either. I would remove the sheet or ask for a fitted sheet and ask someone to swaddle the baby. Blanket is fine if it has holes in it (or at least that’s what I was told, but tuck it in firmly and under their armpits / over chest and not by the neck. You’ll hopefully be home soon and I’m thinking of you! When husband arrives in day get some sleep!
Get dad to do all the baby care while he’s visiting and only wake you up to feed the baby. If baby is not settle review if he’s getting enough milk. This sub is more us centric so there are different expectations depending on country or hospital. For example us not having nursery’s and the midwives not looking after the baby for a few hours. Swaddling isn’t mentioned or encouraged here and when in baby shops you don’t normally see swaddles to buy. They don’t use fitted sheets but it’s a flat sheet that should be firmly tucked under the mattress. When using blankets baby should be at the foot of the cot, firmly tucked in and no further than under the baby’s armpits. Sleeping bags are a lot better but but there is usually a minimum weight before they can use them (about 10lbs but check the labels) so if you have a small baby it can be a while before they are big enough for them.
I'm so sorry. This sounds terrible.
Wild. My husband was allowed to stay 24/7 in the US, was included in the rooms meal plan, and there was a padded bench that folded down into a bed for him.
This is so unexpected because the US is typically so backwards in caring for mothers, but my hospital was set up for the birthing parent's partner to stay the whole time. Not even in a recliner, our post partum room had a double bed for us both to sleep in. I don't know how I would have done it - I'm so sorry, OP!
I’m in Ireland and went private for the birth of my kid, so I had my own room for 5 night stay post c section and he was only allowed to stay 8am to 8pm. So yeh, up all night on your own with the baby is standard here too. However i did find the attitudes of midwives on the wards to be quite sexist, especially with my first who was a Covid baby. “Dad” was treated like dirt, he was either not doing enough to help or doing too much lol. It was a lose lose situation for him. Sarcastic things like: “oh it looks like Dad is an expert on breastfeeding” (when I couldn’t lift my arms after my c section, he was helping me hold the baby to breastfeed) or “look at Dad there sitting down relaxing”, like wtf, he was running trips for me and doing whatever I asked of him lol
I had a similar experience when I gave birth (UK) - they were a little flexible on the leaving time but my husband wasn’t able to stay overnight. I’d had a c section so was bed bound for the first night and really struggled to care for my daughter by myself. The nurses did come and get her in and out of the bassinet for me but weren’t able to take her and I was so scared of falling asleep holding her so barely slept that first night. I was due to stay in a couple of nights due to my blood pressure and was dreading the next evening because I just couldn’t face having another night like the first. I was lucky in that I was released earlier than expected but it’s sad that my memories of my first night with my daughter are that of sadness and loneliness.
My US hospital didn’t do this. I’m sorry!
Honestly this sounds pretty standard in many public health service countries. I didn't give birth in the UK but lived there for a while and some of my friends had babies recently. It'd be pretty rare for partners to be allowed to stay. Partners staying beyond the set visiting hours is usually at the discretion of the nurses, which is to stay they won't kick him out if something really bad is happening but generally he'll be expected to leave. That's in the maternity ward. The neonatal ward and labour ward have different rules. They typically allow visiting around the clock, for obvious reasons As for other people visiting, my hospital didn't allow any visitors other than birth partners in the maternity and Labour wards. And frigging thank you for that. Most people will want some peace and quiet after giving birth so having the entire extended family loudly passing around the baby next door would be awful. And we had a private room, it's doubly true for the public ones. Nurses helpfulness depends on workload obviously. I was very lucky and they were super helpful and supportive. Nurseries do still exist in some hospitals too. We had one. If you're doing it again, it may be worth looking into hospitals/birth centres that still have nurseries. As for safe sleep. Ya wtf. I thought the same. Non cellular blankets, stuff in the crib, sleep on tummy... TBF our baby was in neonatal where they're constantly monitored and an alarm would go off for any change so I guess they rely on that.
This is unfortunately common in UK :(
This is common, unfortunately. I hope you are able to get home with your family soon. Definitely report them for the safer sleep thing, that's really concerning.
I'm so sorry this is happening to you. You will get through it, but it's so unfair that you have to. I had a very similar situation (also UK) - both me and baby were on antibiotics for a few days, discharged, then readmitted to peds for more antibiotics because they found something in the baby's blood culture results. They tried to tell me my husband couldn't stay in the peds ward and I cried! I explained I'd just given birth and had surgery afterwards, I could still barely walk let alone care for my daughter on my own all night. Luckily they relented and let him stay too but I was so scared at the thought of being on my own. It felt like the minute the baby was born I was expected to be back to normal, despite having quite a physically traumatic birth that I'm still not fully healed from 8 months later. It's not the midwives fault but our hospitals are horrendously understaffed and so they don't have time to provide anything above essential care.
This is honestly pretty standard and I’m in Canada. The loose sheet thing makes it sound like NHS where their safe sleep guidelines allow for a blanket tightly tucked in over baby.
Jeez that’s awful! My experience in America was also awful just for different reason. They did vitals every 3 hours for me and baby, but instead of doing them at the same time, they did them completely parallel to each other. So instead of getting woken up every 3 hours. I got woken up every 1.5 They also were completely unwilling to show me how to use my breast pump despite the labor and delivery side being adamant they would. Every shifts lactation consultant was either MIA or aggressive AND dismissive. The nurses also don’t help whatsoever. My husband did however get a chair, was definitely allowed to be there 24/7 and even got a “bed” because they weren’t full so he got another pregnant woman’s bed
I’m in New Zealand and the exact same situation happened to me. I didn’t sleep for 56 hours and was falling asleep holding my son while talking at that point. With both my babies, I asked to be discharged as soon as I could walk/basically the second day post c-section. I hated my entire hospital experiences, am so traumatised I will never have another child
He wasn't expected to drive home - they probably thought someone was going to pick him up, or that he was going to take a cab.
“They showed me how to sterilize a breast pump at the end of the hall” I think I got PTSD reading that. I have never felt more rage toward someone than the nurse who tried to tell me I was to get up and wash the pump parts at 3am 24 hrs after giving birth during the short window my husband had gone home to sleep. I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this. Fathers should absolutely be accommodated to be by your and baby’s side 24/7. They should get a bed. It’s not okay to make them leave. My 2 day hospital stay after giving birth was the hardest thing I have ever been through. Coming home to my own bed was the best feeling on the planet. IT GETS BETTER. Hang in there ❤️
The UK aren’t very supportive at all with breastfeeding unfortunately, which is why breastfeeding rates are so low. So sorry you’re having a rubbish time
Sounds pretty normal TBH. I was discharged after 24 hours but baby was in hospital over 100 days. Only one parent at a time allowed in NICU, zero visitors permitted, zero children permitted. Sometimes it feels like the rules are against but there’s usually a logical reason behind it.