To think they would HAVE to let me leave the hospital?

[catholicatheist]

Even without a carseat once my baby is born?

I have just ordered a car seat and isofix base etc and it said it will be here by 15th. Now just say I had the baby before then (I dont live far from the hospital..about fifteen min walk) I have heard people say they wont let you go home without a car seat? Surely they couldnt force me to stay? What about people whodont have cars?

I think that this "prohibition" is an urban myth.

Social Serivces do not have time to deal with baby doesnt have a car seat issues..God if only they had those kind of resources and adequate staffing. Yes I doubt its enforceable and I think they would have real difficulty saying DH couldnt walk the baby because frankly that is not really their concern. Perhaps it is an urban myth...Oh well I just hope the car seat arrives in time and Halfords delivery service isnt too stretched. Thanks everyone.

YANBU

~Who are these "people you heard" ?

other people who have had a baby recently in hospital.

Wilkos sell really cheap carseats ( under £25) I think. If yours hasn't turned up by 38 weeks I think it would be worth getting one. If you leave it in the packaging, I'm pretty sure you could return it unused if yours does turn up before the baby

Sounds like you have it sorted OP, so no need to worry

fwiw I have had two children and neither time was I asked if we had a carseat - although it may have been obvious how we were taking the baby home when dh carried the carseat on to the ward (but we were never asked beforehand iyswim). Plenty of people get the bus/have fixed seats/come up with a perfectly good solution such as yours. If you are asked, explain what you're doing and I'm sure you'll have no problems.

karmabeliver: I didnt think of that but I imagine if I didnt open it up then they would accept a return. I know they are funny about car seats being returned for safety reasons but worth asking. Cheers.

Tigerfeet thanks, I am sure you are right. I am not going to worry..if it happens I shall deal with it then. I just wondered if anyone had experienced this 'you wont leave the hospital' nonsense but it seems others may have added exaggeration to their tale.

Thanks everyone.

I had this. We did have a car seat, but it was in the car and I was carrying DD out. I was told by a nurse that I couldn't carry DD out myself as it was against the rules and that she would have to carry her and put her in the car seat. I asked her to show me the Trust protocol detailing this, because unless she was questioning my mental capacity and planning on officially detaining me, which she wasn't qualified to do, then she should let me pass.

I didn't mean to be quite so abrupt and rude, hormones did funny things to me and I didn't want someone who I had never met before carrying my baby down 2 flights of stairs and across a car park.

really bingtata so its a health and safety risk to carry your own baby now..ffs..I am glad you pointed out the ridiculousness of it all!

then you need a seat that the child is strapped in.

oh and remember in the back of the car not the front, im sick to the back teeth of seeing babies and kids in the front.

it is illegal to have a child under 14 sitting in the bloody front! read up on the laws for gods sake.

When I had my little girl in May, we lived in the city centre (about 10 minutes walk from hospital). Once they had given me the OK to go home, I rang my other half who brought the pram to us and we just walked home, no one seemed to mind. (It did take rather longer than 10 minutes to walk it though!)

classydiva Your post a) Is not relevant to the OP and

b) Not true, it is perfectly legal for children to travel in the front seat (in the UK).

here

It is legal for the baby to travel unrestrained in a taxi if no restraint is available

www.dft.gov.uk/think/focusareas/children/childincar?whoareyou_id=&page=Overview

It's your call whether you feel this is more dangerous than a 15 minute walk.

Thanks chunkypickle

Why has no one actually read the OP's post?

The baby will not be in a moving vehicle at all, unless you count a pushchair powered only by leg power therefore she SHOULD NOT need a car seat at all. If the hospital insist, they are being absurd

ChunkyPickle

The OP is getting a taxi
the OP's baby will be being pushed home in a pram, by the dad
no idea of the risk of that, but people do it all the time without a car seat

oh sorry, were you just suggesting it as an alternative, arather than assuming that w as the OP's plan??

[climbs down off soapbox]

sparkle..lol

They might say you can't leave without a carseat but they have no legal right to detain you or your baby!

If they are concerned about the baby's safety they could call the police or social services I suppose.

When I had my baby in August, the midwife insisted on checking the carseat straps were done up tightly enough, and carried the carseat down to the entrance to the hospital. She wanted to see it put in the car too but we told her we were waiting for a lift from a friend and sent her on her way. I think enough was enough!

sorry ca, people not reading/misinterpreting the OP is my pet subject - ironically given I've just done it :)

Lol - yep, plus it's fuel if for some reason they even suggest checking for a carseat before letting them leave.

It was casually mentioned when I went to leave (also on foot with no carseat), but we did a bit of a cut and run as we'd been told we could leave that day, but no-one had actually signed us off by 2pm so we just got up and told them we were going... They were all clearly a bit flustered as they didn't bother checking our bracelets either. (although I'd been there 6 days so perhaps enough people recognised my face)

I just genuinely dno't get this, and I speak as someone who goes pretty much everywhere by car
If you plan to not travel by car between hospital and home then surely they can't make you!

Is this some new regulation, I wasn't asked about car seats for any of my 4 DCs. Not all born in the same hospital and I don't remember it even being mentioned at any of them. Are hospitals obliged to check nowadays ?

Moonunitalpha..ah well at least if the tories cut back on maternity services that midwife can always look for jobs in halfords..

Bingtata - our mw told us she had to carry the car seat to the car so that other hospital/security staff knew we were taking the baby (and the right one at that ) off the ward.

I think that it's the giving-birth urban myth equivalent of the one that does the rounds with 16 year olds about the government raising the driving age - before you actually get there, it's easy to 'believe' the myth.

If you're not planning on leaving by car, then common sense would surely dictate that you don't need the seat