Shell-shocked, stitched up and bleeding. This is how health reporter Henrietta Cook describes the situation she was in, only 19 hours after giving birth to her first child,  The problem? Rather than being tended to in hospital, she’d been discharged already. Instead, she was stuck in peak hour traffic, dazed and inching along a main road on her way home.

But she’s far from alone. Almost half of mothers in Australia are now discharged from hospital one day or less after having an uncomplicated vaginal birth, compared with about one in four women a decade ago.

This, despite recent research that found there was no evidence to support discharging new mums from hospital less than 24 hours after birth.

Today, health reporter Henrietta Cook on the havoc that this practice is wreaking on new Australian mothers.

Shell-shocked, stitched up and bleeding. This is how health reporter Henrietta Cook describes the situation she was in, only 19 hours after giving birth to her first child,  The problem? Rather than being tended to in hospital, she’d been discharged already. Instead, she was stuck in peak hour traffic, dazed and inching along a main road on her way home.
But she’s far from alone. Almost half of mothers in Australia are now discharged from hospital one day or less after having an uncomplicated vaginal birth, compared with about one in four women a decade ago.
This, despite recent research that found there was no evidence to support discharging new mums from hospital less than 24 hours after birth.
Today, health reporter Henrietta Cook on the havoc that this practice is wreaking on new Australian mothers.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

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