How long you will be in the hospital
Longer than after a vaginal birth, and getting shorter over time.
Hospital stays after cesarean have shortened substantially. In a Danish national study of 164,209 cesareans, the median stay fell from about 4.0 days in 2004 to about 2.4 days in 2016.
In a US enhanced recovery program, stay after scheduled cesarean fell from 82.1 hours to 74.2 hours, roughly three days.
Going home earlier is generally good, but it moves the detection of complications from the hospital to your living room. That is why the warning signs in the next stage matter so much.
Where this comes from:
316. Shinnick JK, Ruhotina M, Has P, Kelly BJ, Brousseau EC, O'Brien J, et al. Enhanced recovery after surgery for cesarean delivery decreases length of hospital stay and opioid consumption: a quality improvement initiative. Am J Perinatol. 2021;38(S 01):e215-e223.
354. Kruse AR, Arendt LH, Jakobsen DH, et al. Length of hospital stay after cesarean section in Denmark from 2004 to 2016: a national register-based study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2021;100(2):244-251.
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This page is educational. It supports the conversation with your own clinicians. It is not consent to any treatment, and it cannot assess you. If you are worried about a symptom now, see urgent warning signs.