New mums sent home in an hour

They could soon be called McBabies. With one maternity ward confirming a new mum was discharged half an hour after giving birth, some hospitals are offering a virtual drive-through service to mums-to-be.

Wellington Hospital says a woman packed up her baby and discharged herself from its delivery suite within 39 minutes of the baby's birth recently. That almost defies the amount of time needed for form filling and checks on the baby's and mother's health. And it may represent a growing trend.

Other hospitals also record strikingly short stays for new mothers and babies.

The next shortest time was at Waikato Hospital where a woman was discharged an hour after delivery. Another, delivered by caesarean, was on her way home within three hours. The normal length of time a woman stays in hospital after a caesarean is about four days.

National MP Katherine Rich asked all health boards about lengths of stay for new mums, concerned some could be rushed from the delivery suite before they had time to learn the basics.

"You get feedback from women who say they left because they felt they should, when in fact if they're not going to go home to community and family support, they should stay where they are until feeding has established and they feel they have recuperated," Ms Rich said.

"There is such an expectation now that you will go home at the earliest opportunity. Women should go home when they choose."

Hospitals reject any notion they are pressuring women to leave. Most, except Whanganui District Health Board, have stopped offering free nappies as an inducement to leave early. Since the inducements were first offered in the late 1980s, the average length of stay has dropped from several days to just over two.

All hospitals report that extremely short stays - where a woman is not shifted from the delivery suite to the maternity ward - are generally organised by the mother.

Mary Longmore, whose son Leon was born 10 months ago, was one of them. Mrs Longmore was home within nine hours of giving birth, preferring not to transfer to a maternity ward.

Her labour and birth were drug-free and uncomplicated, and she wanted to get home to her family. "We wanted to all be together as a family and Bob (her partner) could not stay in the ward so we decided to go home," Mrs Longmore said.

Otago University paediatrician Professor Barry Taylor said there were no concerns about early discharge from hospital as long as there was adequate support for mums and babies at home. There was no evidence that long stays in hospital were good for mothers or babies, he said.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY