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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

TO Call an ambulance in labour?

164 replies

1997r2017 · 14/10/2017 21:55

So I’m 39 weeks today and we don’t have a car. For the past week I have had pain all down my leg, my midwife said I can take cocodamol occasionally so I did but it didn’t really help with the pain.

Today I rang the hospital explained to the midwife there, and was told to go in. So I went in and the senior/head midwife just laughed in my face saying ‘what do you want morphine?’ Obviously not, just preferably a stronger dose or codeine or anything that would help, I was very upset as that is why I called up beforehand .. she didn’t check me or anything. However this hospital isn’t my local hospital as I moved during pregnancy.

On Monday I will be going to my GP to ask to transfer, although I understand this may be late, so my question is if I call am abulance in labour will I be allowed to go to the local maternity unit.. I have had a low risk pregnancy so there is nothing to ‘plan’ about the birth and I can provide blood group info etc.

To help this make sense I have really bad anxiety battle anciety hospitals/ medical professionals and the thought of this midwife being on duty when I’m not in labour has had me crying all day etc ..

OP posts:
ProseccoMamam · 14/10/2017 23:40

Are you taking the piss OP? Pay for a taxi or have a family member on standby like every single other non-driving woman. This isn’t a TV show. Ambulances are for emergencies not labour

YoungGirlGrowingOld · 14/10/2017 23:51

Gobsmacked as ever at the maternataxi brigade.

I did end up going to the labour ward in an ambulance for labour OP - because I had vasa praevia and was spraying blood over a large area, plus the first responder couldn't find DS' heartbeat. Those are the circumstances where an ambo is required, not just because you had a tiff with a midwife. FGS.

lalalalyra · 15/10/2017 00:08

Please don't make an ambulance your plan. TWO ambulances are sent to an unexpected labour/potential birth. That is a lot of resources to tie up just to change hospital.

Speak to your GP about getting changed from the one you are currently booked into.

Ellendegeneres · 15/10/2017 00:11

Oh op. I feel for you. Get hospital changed fast or turn up in labour where you want to have baby. Are you registered in the north?
They can't turn you away. Different notes are harder to read and creates more paperwork for them, but tell them you couldn't get to your hospital. Have a birthing partner who knows all the answers, so knows you well if you can.
Don't call an ambulance unless it's an emergency, and standard labour isn't that. A cab will get you there, take towels for sitting on if waters are going

Laurah1979 · 15/10/2017 05:22

I see ambulances called out needlessly on a daily basis but I think you may have got the message that you shouldn't be calling one for labour! I think your original worry was being able to go to your nearest hospital instead of the one you are booked with. Rather than contacting the gp on Monday, call your surgery and ask for the contact details of the midwife at your GP surgery. She will contact you and arrange to rebook you for the new hospital. If you go into labour in the meantime and turn up at the nearest hospital in labour, they won't turn you away but it works better for all if you are booked at the correct hospital. Hope that helps.

flumpybear · 15/10/2017 05:32

Great band speak to your GP Monday

Ignore comments on here - see your GP and get drugs and support

Good luck

OhtoblazeswithElvira · 15/10/2017 05:37

Feeling sorry for you OP - the last weeks of pregnancy are always challenging emotionally and physically and it sounds like you have anxiety surrounding hospitals and medical professionals anyway. That midwife sounds like an unprofessional idiot Angry

I hope you can get a transfer to the hospital you want. Is your anxiety documented on your notes? Once you are in labour and go to hospital I would make sure you explain to your midwife/ team that you are anxious about hospitals and medical professionals.

Hope everything goes great for you Flowers

WitchesHatRim · 15/10/2017 06:00

Haven't read all the posts but isn't the OP just asking IF she ended up in an ambulance due to unforeseen circumstances could she choose where it goes (I think?)

No she was asking if she called an ambulance can she chose where she goes.

Calmanrose · 15/10/2017 06:09

Shame on some of you... the poor op is due to give birth and lots of you have clearly forgotten how nerve wracking the lead up to the big event can be. She clearly has anxiety issues on top so I doubt that the 'only call an ambulance if you're spraying out blood stories' are helping.
She knows that she shouldn't call an ambulance unless it's an emergency. She does. It's just her anxiety mulling over the situation and thinking about how best to gain control.
Op... you can go to your nearest hospital when you go into labour but maybe call your midwife and explain your concerns.
For what its worth I gave birth in a hospital I'd never set foot in before so it can be done

Mummyoflittledragon · 15/10/2017 06:23

I tried and failed on a home birth. I ended up being ambulances to hospital and a forceps delivery. Don’t be too disheartened the home birth isn’t an option.

I had (still have) chronic pain and was on crutches. I couldn’t walk without taking co codamol, which I took at maximum dose for the two months before birth. Had I not taken them, I’d have needed a wheelchair as I couldn’t walk without them. Dd is fine with no issues due to medication. Discuss this with the doctor on Monday and take some pain killers when you wake up.

Good luck with the birth Flowers

EmmaJR1 · 15/10/2017 07:45

I’m sure you can give birth wherever you want, a hospital isn’t going to turn away a women in labour. Just go to the hospital you want.

WomblingThree · 15/10/2017 07:55

There’s so much misinformation on this thread. As usual people cannot imagine any experience beyond their own narrow lives.

In some parts of the country, you absolutely can choose which hospital the ambulance takes you to. I’ve needed an ambulance twice in the last month, and both times they asked if I was ok with Hospital A and I said no thanks I’d rather go to Hospital B.

We live an hour (more in traffic) from a hospital with an ED or a maternity unit. There is no taxi in my town would drive a labouring woman to hospital. When they had finished laughing, they would ask why the fuck you weren’t calling an ambulance, as none of them would want a precipitous baby arriving in their taxi.

Before you rip into an OP, trying to be the nastiest bitch you can, maybe consider that not everyone’s circumstances are exactly the same as yours.

GreenTulips · 15/10/2017 08:11

lance unless it's an emergency. She does. It's just her anxiety mulling over the situation and thinking about how best to gain control

Well said!!

OP is just going through the possibilities and asked a question

Witsender · 15/10/2017 08:23

Some people just love to have a pile on, it isn't pretty

Bubblebubblepop · 15/10/2017 08:39

Tbf they're not going to send an ambulance to her anyway unless she's called because there is an emergency. Midwives usually arrange dispatching ambulances to births after you've called maternity and been triaged.

In my area they send an ambulance due to quite specific traffic problems mind

Nomad86 · 15/10/2017 09:12

Can you call the hospital where you'd like to give birth and ask if you need transferring or can just turn up? If the two hospitals are in the same county it'll probably be fine, as they use the same notes etc. Providing you're low risk, you should be able to give birth where you like.

If for any reason, you do end up at the other hospital where you don't want to be, the chances of getting the same midwife are low. Providing there are others available, you may be able to request someone else.

Try not to worry, when you're in labour, call triage straight away where you'll be assessed over the phone and told when to come in. Every midwife has your best interests at heart, even the ones you don't like (I've had similar experiences).

Make sure your birth partner knows your wishes so can be your advocate if necessary.

Oh and we don't have a car either, I've never known a taxi not take me. Take a towel to sit on though just for good faith!

everydayanewday · 15/10/2017 09:31

I got laughed at and told to go home (having been told on the phone to go in) when I was in labour with my first.

I’d just forked out £40 on a taxi as my OH didn’t drive, it was snowing and I was in labour.

Another midwife took pity on me and put me in an empty room for a couple of hours “just in case” and the unsympathetic midwife got miraculously more sympathetic when I projectile vomited over her! (Unintentionally I might add - turns out labouring turns me into something out of a horror film constantly projectile vomiting!)

JonSnowsWife · 15/10/2017 09:36

They won't send an ambulance unless you are literally about to give birth. Taxi

This. Went in a taxi with both my DCs.

DD was premature too.

Illstartexercisingtomorrow · 15/10/2017 09:39

This thread is an excellent study in why women are so much worse off than men in almost every aspect of life:
OP: I have anxiety and have been made to feel crap by the midwife at the hospital I am booked into. I am mulling over options
MN: You massive twat, I was in labour with triplets and still walked uphill through snow and frost, whilst carrying my mother on my back. You're a disgrace.

FFS. What is wrong with women. Most have deliberately bypassed the main point of the post and launched into making an already scared and somewhat vulnerable young woman feel a hundred times worse.

OP good luck, don't stress, labour and childbirth can go well regardless of where you are booked or who you see, so focus on that Flowers

PuckeredAhole · 15/10/2017 09:40

It's not clear cut though. First pregnancy we took a taxi and I gave birth 4 hours later. The second time everything happened so fast and from first real pain the birth it was 2 hours. My scared and panicked dh rang an ambulance and they decided to send an ambulance. The paramedic help me give birth within half an hour, gave me gas and air and the midwives came after the fact. I was so grateful that the paramedics were there as anything could have happened. NB I hadn't planned to give birth at home so we were completely taken off guard. I was in no fit state to get in a car and no taxi would have taken me.

everydayanewday · 15/10/2017 09:52

I’llstart - sorry if that was aimed at me. What I was trying to say is that even a midwife you’ve found unsympathetic and dismissive can suddenly find their sympathy and compassion once they realise that you are actually in labour.

If I’d been less uncomfortable or puking then maybe I’d have cared that she had been dismissive when I first arrived. As it was, she was great when I really needed it and so all was fine!

I’m actually trying to be reassuring...

Pigface1 · 15/10/2017 10:01

What's with all the 'I trekked to Everest base camp then gave birth in a shoe' stories? Snore.

OP - you've probably got the message that it's usually (though not always) inappropriate to call an ambulance in labour. I don't know about the transfer but I think it's reasonable to go and see your GP tomorrow, explain about the pain, the anxiety and the transfer and see what they say. They can't force you to give birth somewhere you're not comfortable.

Good luck and hope you feel better soon.

Ohyesiam · 15/10/2017 10:13

Well MN, you've done it again.
Someone obviously vulnerable asks a question, and the bitches descend. Deliberately misinterpret the op, refuse to see past the narrowness of they own experience. Be as nasty as possible because they can smell blood, and can't resist the chance to kick someone when they are down. Give huge amounts of misinformation, because it is ammunition in their attack.
You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Op, you can give birth in any hospital you like, providing there is a bed.
I worked in a central London birth centre, and we birthed all sorts of non resident women who happened to be/ chose to be in the area.
You don't formally have to change where you are booked, but see your gp/ midwife if you want to make it official. You should have your notes by now, just take then with you.
Best of luck with your birth and new baby.

shouldnthavesaid · 15/10/2017 10:19

OP hoping you are alright Flowers and have someone supportive with you today. I suffer anxiety too , I take panic attacks and am very hospital/gynae phobic so can understand in some way how you must be feeling Flowers. I would try to contact your GP or community midwifes tomorrow to talk it over xx

TheDisillusionedAnarchist · 15/10/2017 10:39

In London an ambulance will take you to your booked obstetric unit i.e. the one you don't want to go to unless a dire emergency.

Most London hospitals will also not accept transfers of care at 39 weeks. Your best option is to turn up at the unit you prefer and it is likely they'll see you.

Your safest option is to turn up at the unit you're booked at and refuse to see unsympathetic midwife.