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Childbirth

What happens if I don't make it to the hospital in time?

12 replies

MB134 · 19/01/2019 23:18

So a bit of background here:

23 weeks so jumping the gun a bit but I can't stop thinking about it.

I live very rurally.

This will be my second birth. It's a high risk birth as my first birth ended in me losing a lot of blood. As a result I have been told I need to get to the consultant-led hospital which is 1.5 hours away when I need to go in. This is a problem for a few reasons:

When contractions start it could be the start of a 24 hour (or longer) labour or a 2 hour labour, not sure how I'm meant to know (could mean I don't make it on time).

The system here works in a way that you have to wait to call the midwife until the contractions are regular at least every 7/8 minutes OR if your waters go before that stage depending on which comes first.

The midwife then comes to assess you to see if you need to go in. The hospital she'll be coming from is a 30 min drive (nowhere near the consultant one) and that's pure driving, not including getting to car, gathering bits etc.

If I need to go in soon then DH will have to drive me as we'll need someone to stay with DC1. That's not a problem in itself but considering I'll be in established labour, what if I'd need pain relief or if we don't make it on time?! My midwife thinks I'm over worrying but I don't see how.

The only way I'd get an ambulance is if there was a medical problem. My midwife said IF I am unlikely to make it I'll have to have the baby at home- that's fine in a way but what about the fact that I'm high risk to haemorrhage again??

Sorry for all of that, it felt good to get it all out, particularly as in this stage she's kind of ignoring what I ask and I'm thinking about it a lot, but has anyone else ever been in the position where they wouldn't make it to the hospital on tome, and if so, what happened?

I'm aware this is written awfully and I apologise.

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MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 19/01/2019 23:28

Do you have appointments with your consultant? If so I would discuss it in depth with them

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MB134 · 19/01/2019 23:44

Sorry, I realise really only a doctor or midwife can tell me, just looking to see if this has happened to anyone else. Yes, I have the consultant next month but I remember my app with DC1 was precisely two minutes long with the actual consultant. May be longer this time due to high risk?

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TheLostTargaryen · 19/01/2019 23:59

We're far from our hospital too but only 45 minutes. They usually take this into account when you call up and ours allow us to go to the hospital much earlier than they advise patients who live nearer. We have midwives local to us so two times out of four they have come very quickly to assess me at home and sent me down to the birthing unit. The other two times the hospital okayed it without them.

When labour starts, you know yourself so just tell them straight on the phone.

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dontticklethetoad · 20/01/2019 00:03

I imagine, given your history, you will be advised to go in as soon as contractions start or you may possibly be induced to manage any post birth complications.

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HidCat · 20/01/2019 18:11

I would just go in and call on the way stating that you're in labour and high risk so have been advised to go straight away without waiting for the pre-assessment, even if it's a bluff. Worst case scenario they send you home but if you're confirmed to be in labour I doubt they'd bother given the 3 hour round trip.

I was told I needed to go to the hospital (30-40 min drive) early last time and when I called they tried to put me off saying they might send me home again but I told them I was coming anyway. My labour from first noticeable contraction to birth was 4.5hrs. I've been given the same instructions this time so will head down as soon as I have offloaded DS1 to his grandparents.

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Seniorschoolmum · 20/01/2019 18:20

I agree with Hidcat. If you think you need to leave early then do. I was an hour from the hospital and I was told to stay at home until my contractions were 5 mins apart & I couldn’t talk through them.
I left home way before that. No way was I having a baby in a lay-by. Smile

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Grimbles · 20/01/2019 20:27

I'm in a kind of similar position. Although I am only 20 mins from the hospital, our childcare arrangements would mean at least an hours wait before we can go to the hospital.

I'm 99% it will be fine but I keep dwelling on the 1%

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Grimbles · 20/01/2019 20:29

I'm actually more worried about DH not getting home from work in time if labour starts during the day - it's about a 90 min journey assuming no delays on the tube or trains Shock

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Wheresmrlion · 21/01/2019 00:35

Not quite the same as I’m closer to my hospital than you. But I had a very fast first labour (3 hours from nothing to baby) which has left me with a similar problem of what if I don’t make it on time?

My fear of not making it is so great that I’d arranged a homebirth for my second, due in a month. My midwives last week changed their minds about that because I have a raised BMI. Which left me in a really awful dilemma and I basically went and cried at a consultant last week and asked for a c section (which I didn’t really want, just seemed the best way of having some control over it).

He suggested a better option would be an induction at 38 weeks and that suddenly seemed like a fabulous idea. I get the vaginal birth I want without the fear of giving birth by the side of the road. It’s not perfect but for me it’s the best, safest and least stressful solution to the problem.

Could you think about something like that as an option?

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MB134 · 21/01/2019 00:43

I was induced the first time around and they think that was the reason I had the haemorrhage, they said they think I reacted to the hormone in the drip and as a result my uterus didn't contract back down. As a result I don't really want an induction (although I'm more scared of a CS Sad)

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stepbystepdoula · 21/01/2019 07:03

Try not to worry, speak with your midwife again.
Trust your instincts and set off early for hospital, regardless of their rules, your distance makes you an exception.
Have your midwife's out of hours numbers and have some basics at home, just in case you don't make it (old towels, heater to warm room more for baby)
Good luck 💚

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Echomama · 21/01/2019 21:12

Following.
My labour with my first was so short and now we live even further from a consultant led unit with absolutely no childcare for at least three hours.

When I spoke with a gp they gave me no help what so ever, but midwife has advised to just go in early regardless (especially seeing as my contractions I could always talk through and were never textbook length apart)

I'm curious if you have also been tested for gbs and if that also plays a roll in your decision making with regards to delivery?

I imagine even if you give birth at home and you don't have time to go tto the hospital, then a midwife will come to you, and if you can tell you're bleeding too much before she even arrives; 999 and get an ambulance to you first? In a worst case scenario.

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