Dublin mothers are returning home as soon as 24 hours after giving birth, under a pilot scheme at the Coombe Hospital. The usual post-birth period spent in hospital is three or four days.
Under the pilot scheme, babies get daily check-ups from visiting community midwives until they are five days old, and staff are on call should emergencies arise.
The matron at the Coombe, Ms Ita O'Dwyer, said the "early transfer home" scheme is proving popular with mothers, with 76 out of the 647 women who gave birth last month opting for it.
"This hospital was called `The Coombe Lying-In Hospital' because women used to lie-in for weeks," Ms O'Dwyer said.
"Now they are being discharged sooner, but they need at the same time professional support and reassurance . . . and that's what we are providing."
Ms Nicky Kearney (25), from Tallaght, said she could not wait to leave hospital after her baby, Katie Jane, was born last month.
"The staff at the Coombe were really nice, but I think as regards recovery, you just do it better at home," she said. "It's easier to pay attention to yourself and it's not as stressful because there are no visiting times or other babies crying throughout the night. And you get to sleep in your own bed."
Ms Kearney said she always had a list of new questions for the community midwife on her daily visits. She was given emergency and out-of-hours telephone numbers, but didn't need to use them.
The new scheme is currently available only to mothers living in Clondalkin, Crumlin and Tallaght, but will be reviewed next February. The clinical nurse manager, Ms Bridget Comerford, who runs the hospital's community midwifery scheme, said first-time mothers can choose to return home up to 72 hours after delivery, while women who have already had children can be sleeping in their own beds after 24 to 48 hours.
The National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street has, since January 1999, been running a similar pilot scheme which allows mothers living close to the hospital to return home between six and 12 hours after giving birth. The hospital's matron, Ms Maeve Dwyer, says the scheme is "very empowering" for women.
Dr Peter McKenna, master of the Rotunda, Dublin's other main maternity hospital, said early releases there tend "to be forced upon us rather than planned", but "I would like to have a service that would be more flexible".