How far from hospital

[Nimsay1]

I'm just curious how far you all are from your hospital? There's a hospital 10 minutes' drive from where I live but I've been for blood tests there and haven't had a great experience. The hospital I gave birth to my son in is now a 45 minutes drive away but I had a great experience there and they also treated me for all my miscarriages so I trust them a lot. I just don't know if that's too far to travel when in labour.

[Darkestseasonofall]

My second labour I definitely couldn't have been 45 minutes away, and my first I would have been pushing it. By the time I felt the need to go in (10 minutes away) I was 8cm dilated and the babies came about 2 hours later.

[Raindrop87]

My closet maternity hospital is a 10 min drive however it's shut due to covid so my next option is 25 mins away.

[LuckyFlash]

I’m 7w pregnant with my first And have been having the same dilemma. I have a hospital 5 mins away which I originally self-referred to. However they never responded to me and never picked up the phone the multiple times I called. It’s a really old hospital and they have terrible reviews. So I’ve referred to the next nearest which is a 25 min drive. We live in London so slightly nervous that could be longer at the wrong time of day. They have far better reviews and the hospital is way nicer though so I’m keeping fingers crossed it’s the right decision.

[PotteringAlong]

I only had to drive to hospital in labour once (was induced for the other 2) and it was the worst 10 minutes of all 3 labour experiences. No way could I have done it for 45 mins.

[Ajahd]

I live around 40 minutes from our nearest hospital. Seperated by a bridge that gets closed in bad winter and has a 90 minute detour when closed. Due in 4.5 weeks, I'm actually hoping for a bit of a longer labour to make sure hubby has time to get home from work and we have enough time to get to the hospital!!

[Emmy2020]

Mines about 40 mins away. I had my two children there before. I Will just have to leave sooner to get there in time!
I remember the journey there wasn’t great I just wanted to get the seatbelt off and get out of the car but it’s a really nice hospital. The only place nearer to me isn’t a hospital it’s a birthing centre, they said I’d have to call if no one was there so someone would come and open it, I don’t like the idea of possibly being the only one there and I’d prefer to be in hospital so long drive it is.

[IncyWincySpiderOnRepeat]

We are 45 minutes away from our nearest hospital so have no choice. I was in labour when we made the journey with my first as was 4cm on arrival. Journey was obviously uncomfortable but not un-doable.
Personally I would go to the hospital you are happier with, especially if you think it could lead to better care.

[PurBal]

I would say 45 minutes is fairly close for a hospital.

[HarrietM87]

I live 7-10mins from one but it’s a dump, so had my son at one 25mins away and booked in there again in this pregnancy. The journey in labour was horrendous but I think I’d have put up with it for longer to avoid somewhere I didn’t trust the care.

[Footlooseandfancy]

30 minutes if there's no traffic, could be up to an hour if it's rush hour. It took about 40 minutes when I was in labour with my first because I kept having to tell my OH to slow down when I had a contraction. Luckily it was very early in the morning The other nearest one for delivery is also 30 minutes but via motorway/dual carriageway so decided against that because of difficulties in case we needed to stop.

Weirdly I go to another hospital for appointments which is 15 minute drive and then up to 30 minutes to find a car parking spot.

[RandomTree]

45 mins would have been a problem for me with DC2 as I gave birth within 40 mins of getting to the hospital (after a long labour with DC1). I think it's a fairly common distance though.

[Burnthurst187]

Three minute drive, we walked to all our scans and it has been a godsend with DD going to A&E when she fell and bumped her head recently. Luckily she was okay

[Superscientist]

10 minutes for us, I would have had her at the side of the road if we were 45 minutes away as I arrived fully dilated and started pushing almost as soon as we arrived.

That said, had we been 45 minutes away I would have phoned to go back in earlier knowing that it would be the best part of an hour between phoning and getting any further pain relief etc.

I would look at the routes too, our quickest route was ~8 min but had lots of speed bumps so we went an alternative route which was more like 10 minutes but a less uncomfortable journey.

Distance isn't necessarily a problem provided you can plan around it. Make sure triage know you are a 45 minute drive away when you call and being assessed.

[tabulahrasa]

3 hours drive for my first...

[PlinkPlink]

Please don't judge a whole hospital based on one department. Go and visit the maternity ward there if you're allowed. Ours does a virtual tour online.

Your maternity unit may be fantastic compared to your standard maternity Day Assesment Unit, for example.

[RowboatsinDisguise]

I’m booked at the fourth nearest hospital 😂
There is one 25 minutes away, two 30 minutes away, and mine is 35-40 minutes away.
I work for the trust I’m booked at (although I’m the community) so I was keen to have my babies there. It means having my appointments on work days is easier (otherwise I could be travelling over an hour to get to hospitals in the opposite direction) and I can always park!

The only thing I would say about not being booked with your nearest hospital is that it can cause complications with blood results, schedule of care etc. If you are seeing a community midwife from one hospital but receiving your care from a different hospital.

[Iheardit]

About 20 mins drive, but we live in Cornwall and so can take at least an hour with the summer traffic

[Ohhiiii]

40 mins with no traffic 🙈, don't even want to check Google maps during rush hour haha

[PlinkPlink]

I would say take the nearest one if you can.

Trust me. Being a passenger in a car is not fun when you are having contractions. It was one of the most uncomfortable parts of my first labour.

And one of the many reasons I had my second labour at home