Experts believe women are leaving hospital ‘Too Soon’ after giving birth

New mums in many countries around the world do not stay in hospital health facilities for long enough after giving birth, which could result in them receiving inadequate postnatal care, according to leading researchers. A team from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine looked at the length of time women stay in health facilities after childbirth in 92 countries, and found wide variation. The length of stay for women after they give birth to a single baby via a vaginal birth ranged from 0.5 days in Egypt, to two days in Ireland, four days in France and 6.2 days in Ukraine. For Caesarean-section deliveries, the average length of stay ranged from 2.5 days in Egypt to 9.3 days in Ukraine. Among the high-income countries studied, lengths of stay have been decreasing since the 1970s. Women in the United Kingdom stay in childbirth facilities for the shortest period of time after singleton vaginal births, with a mean of 1.5 days. The authors of the study warned that short stays can mean there is insufficient time to conduct checks and detect, diagnose or treat complications in mothers and 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. How long did you stay in hospital after giving birth? Did you feel it was long enough? Let us know on Twitter @HerFamilydotie.