To wonder if anyone else has had an "atypical" labour?

[bgmama]

I gave birth to DS 10 months ago but this still bugs me.
At ante-natal classes we were always told to wait until we were contracting every 3-4 minutes before going into hospital. My labour lasted for about 24 hours but I never had such frequent contractions. They were usually about 6-7 minutes apart. I called the hospital three times during labour (at the beginning, after 12 hours and once towards the end when I was literally screaming with pain) and all the midwives told me I was in early/non-established labour and I shouldn’t go to hospital yet. At the end, we just decided to take a taxi and go anyway and when they examined me at hospital they found out I was well into the second stage. The baby was born 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital.
Giving birth was much easier and less painful than I expected. I am grateful for that and one of the reasons for this was probably everyone insisting I was not in established labour. However, sometimes I still wonder how common my experience is and what would have happened if labour was complicated and the baby was put in danger as a result of the midwives trying to keep me away from hospital. For example, when they broke my waters they found thick meconium and the baby had to be suctioned to make sure he hadn’t breathed any right after birth. If I had waited at home a bit longer and eventually gave birth at home, we wouldn’t be able to do that. I know I sound precious, but somehow I feel that the system has failed me.
IABU to think there must be other women with similar experiences? I am obviously not talking about hard and fast labours where people don’t have time to get into hospital.

When I was in labour with DS3 I phoned the midwives and was told to come into the hospital, I got to the labour ward and was told to wait in the waiting room. I waited that long by the time I was checked (after told to walk down the stairs to triage) I was 9cm! I had the urge to push on the triage bed so was taken up the lift and into a labour room. 6 mins later I gave birth. Quite the opposite from my 1st 2 DC's where I had to be on a drip to get my labour going.

Not sure whether dsis's labour was atypical but what happened was. She began experiencing regular and painful contractions called labour ward who on hearing her sent a midwife who was very close by. Midwife arrived, examined dsis and said not in labour would make her an appointment for GP later or tomorrow as she thought it was a UTI. Midwife left, dsis called 999 because she felt that birth was imminent. Ambulance arrived agreed dsis was definitely in labour and rushed her into ambulance to get her to hospital. Pulled up two minutes later as dsis delivered baby not twenty minutes since midwife left.

I was sent home from hospital at 1cm at 8.30 & my baby was born at home 2 hours later. When DH called as my contractions were 3 mins apart he was told this was just the start & that I wasn't even 2cm when she had examined me. In fairness I think she made the right call

I'm pregnant with DC3 now and this does worry me a bit.

DS1 - 2cm when I went into be checked. Midwives said nothing would happen for at least 12 hours, but let me stay in the labour ward as they were quiet plus my mum had brought me in and said there was no way she was driving me home again . DS1 born about 3 hrs later.

DS2 - induced. Got stuck on 2 cm for quite a while, but then went from 2cm to being born in under 45minutes.

So I'm thinking - DC3, if this labour is similar to the other ones, if I wait till contractions are every 3-4 minutes, hospital is 20 mins drive away if traffic is good, there's surely a serious risk that my baby will end up being born at the side of the road..... do midwives take speed of previous labours into account when advising when a woman should come into hospital?

I had a similar experience to honeysucklejasmine but ended up with a vaginal birth and terrible tears. I had to have a lot of corrective treatment down below which is not what you want to deal with post birth.
It took me a long time to get over it and even now (nearly nine years on) I feel a bit sick thinking about it. I had an apology from the hospital which sort of made me feel a bit better.

Josephine you could plan a home birth

Happened to me too, I "didn't sound like I was enough pain" on the phone.

Went in anyway, they still refused to believe I was in 'proper labour'. By the time they checked me (after they had tried to send me home but my mum locked us in the bathroom because she knew I needed to stay)
I was 10cm and DS was born 45 mins later

With dd2 I was told I couldn't be in labour because my contractions sped up too fast. The first two were ten minutes apart and within half an hour they were every 2 minutes. The hospital was 45 minutes away and my first two labours were fast so I went in anyway to be checked. We got there about an hour after my first contraction and I was already 8cm.

I do understand midwives not wanting everyone to come in at the first sign of a contraction but sometimes they need to listen to what a pregnant woman is telling them.

That not sounding in enough pain thing is a bugbear of mine.

Why do they want to make labour sound terrying

With dd2 I was in out in and out of hospital again. Stuck at 2cm for 50 hours. Then went up to 5cm. Managed to ping from 5 to fully dilated and pushing within 45 minutes (and whilst anaesthetist was siting epidural - poor man shit himself when my waters broke everywhere). Delivered dd2, delivered placenta, then the epidural kicked in. Despite all that it was fine just atypical.

I think a lot of it is educated guesswork and averages as there is such a wide range of normal. I waited at home till the textbook '3 in 10mins, 1 minute long' contractions, then phoned up and said I wasn't sure I was in labour because although they were regular they weren't very painful. They weren't even as bad as period pains by then. Was told to come in and I was only 3cm and in early labour. They put me in the nice MLU waiting room with bean bags though which was nice and then things progressed fairly quickly and more painfully.

Congratulations on your baby

With my first I was told about the contractions should be 1 minute long before coming in. As it happened I was induced for prolonged rupture of membranes so was in hospital for all the contractions, but they were NEVER one minute long - I was coping with the pain by counting through them and they didn't last longer than about 20 seconds, sometimes 30. If I'd have been at home and waited for the 1-minute-long contractions I'd never have gone in...!

I intentionally had my daughter at home and although contractions with her were longer than with my son, they were barely grazing 1 minute each. She came out very quickly! I'm glad we had already decided on home, because by the time I decided that yes I really was in labour, if we'd driven off then she'd have been born in the car and we were not very far from the hospital! Actually thinking about it, we didn't have a car then so we'd have had to wait 30 minutes for my mum to come and then another 10 to drive to hospital, or gone in on the bus